Chapter Twenty-Six Bee

Chapter Twenty-Six Bee

Saturday night, December 23, 2023

Bee couldn’t bring herself to think clearly, the texts from Ayana searing into her brain.

Ayana: Clover was at the party tonight

Ayana: with Beth

Ayana: WITH BETH

Ayana: Did you know they were still talking to each other?

Ayana: They were cozied up too. Like, this was not a platonic get-together between gal pals.

Ayana: I saw them kiss before they left.

Ayana: Bee, they kissed

Ayana: BEE ARE YOU THERE

Ayana: okay my wife is telling me that I shouldn’t hyperventilate when guests are around

Ayana: CALL ME

Bee put her phone down and rubbed her eyes. Then she picked her phone up again. The texts were still there, clear as day.

She had not, in fact, hallucinated them. Knox’s ex, whose bed Bee was currently sleeping in, had been seen kissing her sister.

She thought, perhaps, that her head might explode. She took a deep breath and put the phone back down. This had to be a problem

for Morning Bee. Midnight Bee was going to lose her shit.

Her phone buzzed again, and Bee thought it might finally be time to go off grid, but when she looked to see what fresh horrors

her best friend had wrought on her, a different name caught her attention.

Knox: I think Kandi might be the only one who doesn’t stress me out on this show.

She stifled a giggle and then a groan. What was happening right now? Still, as she read and then reread Knox’s text, a thought she hadn’t allowed herself to let blossom stuck in her mind. If Clover was spending time with her sister, would she mind if Bee spent time with her... well, her ex-fiancé? Thinking it out loud, Bee could admit the two situations were not exactly comparable.

Still, she hadn’t crossed any lines yet, and she didn’t intend to. But it was late, and now she knew it would be impossible

to sleep. She checked her phone again. It was unlikely Knox would have fallen asleep in the three minutes it had been since

he first sent his text. Before she could convince herself otherwise, she put on her warmest pajamas and a large overcoat,

making sure her twists still looked cute in the bun atop her head. Then she turned on the flashlight on her phone and trudged

into the night toward Knox’s cabin.

Knox answered on the first knock, his eyes wide with bewilderment. “Hi,” he said.

“Hey.” She lifted her phone for him to see, his text bright on the dark stoop of his cabin. “Want to explain this to me?”

He laughed and put his hands up defensively. “I needed the distraction! And I wanted to know what happened.”

“Without me?” she asked, her voice rising with a joking shrill.

“I’m sorry!” he exclaimed. “I now see the error of my ways. Your rage was so powerful that you trudged through the snow in

the middle of the night to chastise me?”

“Absolutely,” Bee said. “I couldn’t let you get away with your transgressions.”

“You should come inside,” Knox said, still laughing. “It’s seriously cold out here.” That was when she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She could see the smooth ripple of his muscles against taut pale skin, and she resisted the urge to run her fingers over his chest.

“Then why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” she asked instead as he closed the door behind her.

“Oh.” He cleared his throat, one hand gesturing toward the heater in the corner of the room. “I get night sweats,” he said.

“It makes sleeping in the cold a little complicated. I have to wear thin layers, and I take my shirt on and off throughout

the night. One reason among many I’m getting a new place soon.”

The thought came to her far too easily: I could keep you warm. Suddenly, Bee realized coming to his cabin in the middle of the night was not the best decision she’d ever made in her life.

“So,” they said at the same time, and then Bee laughed awkwardly.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have just come over without asking.”

“It’s fine,” he said quickly. “I mean, I could use the company. Who else is going to explain the backstories of the Housewives cast to me. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to place Kim Fields for the life of me.”

“I’m still bothered that The Facts of Life rung a bell before Living Single .”

“Only for a split second,” Knox said. “And don’t tell Jimmy. He’d never forgive me.”

“I’ll consider it,” Bee said with a practiced air of haughtiness. Knox took a seat at a small desk by the door, and she hesitantly sat on his bed. As she looked around, her eyes caught on a guitar leaning next to it. “How are rehearsals going?”

“Pretty good,” he said. “I’m still working out a chord, though, for the solo I’m doing.”

“You never said you were doing a solo!” Bee shrieked.

“I’m full of surprises,” Knox said. She couldn’t deny that.

“What are you planning to perform?” she asked.

“You’ll find out,” he said, his dimples starting to show. But then his look turned thoughtful. “I wanted to do something for

Jimmy. It’s been a hard year for him. He won’t show it, but... I wanted to thank him for everything he’s done for me over

the years. Even after everything with...” He looked at Bee and paused for a second. “Everything with Clover,” he said finally.

“He still acts like my pop.”

“Do you still miss her?” Bee wanted to know. She needed to.

“Yeah,” he said with a breathless laugh. “She’s my best friend. I think I’m always gonna miss her.”

Bee thought about that for a moment. “She sounds like someone worth missing.”

“Yeah,” he repeated. “It’s been over a year, though. I think it’s about time I let the part of her I had go.”

Bee didn’t think she’d ever felt so hopeful in her life, but she tamped it down with all the force she could muster. She didn’t

say anything. She didn’t trust herself to. Knox looked to the side, seemingly thinking about something for a little while

longer, and then he reached for the laptop on the desk. He picked it up and brought it over to her. “Can I join you?” he asked.

She nodded, and he pressed play on his screen. They sat next to each other stiffly for a few moments. Then, as Housewives rolled on, their bodies began to lean and shift, until, eventually, Bee found herself snuggled beneath Knox’s left arm, both

of them now horizontal, the computer on his stomach. Her fingers splayed out on his chest. They were both unusually quiet.

As the credits for the episode rolled, Bee looked up at him, curiosity in her eyes. He matched her gaze.

In one swift motion, he moved the laptop to the floor and shifted Bee’s body beneath him. His lips met hers, and she let him

in without hesitation, his tongue probing, tasting her with an intensity she thought only she had felt. Her fingers wrapped

around his neck and pulled him closer. He moved his arm beneath her waist and pulled her body up to meet his. She moaned,

and the sound he made in response made her kiss him harder.

All at once, it became far too apparent that she was wearing too many layers. Embarrassingly, her sweater got caught on her

thick twists, but Knox’s fingers were deft. He gently lifted the sweater and she shimmied out, and when her bun came undone,

he offered to fix it for her. Instead, she let her hair unravel. The way he looked at her made her ravenous.

His fingers hesitated on the skin of her stomach, beneath the hem of her thin pajama shirt. Bee searched his eyes and then

arched her back, slipping her shirt off and sinking into the feel of his mouth on the swell of her breasts, now pushing against

the fabric of her bra.

She moved her palms over his chest, letting her fingers graze his skin as his lips moved to her neck. Her nails dug into his back. He lifted one of her legs and wrapped it around him, and when his tongue found the tip of her nipple, she swore.

She could feel how hard he was as he pressed against her leg. She wanted him to feel her too. She reached for the band of

his pajama pants, but a thought crashed into her mind with such sudden ferocity that her hand was pushing him away before

she even realized what she was doing.

“Are you okay?” Knox asked. He was breathing heavy, blue eyes darkened, lips swollen, hair messier than ever. “Do you want

me to stop?”

“I...” She paused, letting her thoughts collect. “I really like you,” she said.

“I like you too, Bee,” he said.

“No.” She pushed gently against his chest, and he sat up this time, giving her space to sit up and adjust her bra. “I mean,

I think I actually like you. And I don’t want to be your rebound. I know I’m just a guest here, and I’m leaving soon, but I still don’t want this

to just be... for fun.”

Knox swallowed and leaned the back of his head against the wall. “I understand,” he said.

She waited for him to say something else, and when he didn’t, she moved to grab her shirt and the many layers of clothing

that now covered his still-open laptop.

“I’m catching my thoughts,” he said. He grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her back onto the bed. “I like you,” he said.

“A lot. And we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Bee shuddered out a breath. It was nice to hear, but it wasn’t enough of what she wanted to hear. She pulled away from him again. Knox watched her quietly from the bed as she finished dressing.

“I’m gonna go,” she said finally.

He stood up quickly and followed her to the door. “I’ll walk you back,” he said, but she stepped away from him and grabbed

the door handle.

“No,” she said. “I think I’m okay on my own.” She reached up and touched his face, and when her fingers brushed his lips,

he turned his face to kiss them. “Good night, Knox.”

“Good night, Bee,” he said. He sounded so unsure, and Bee hated the way it made her heart hurt. But that was the frustrating

thing, wasn’t it? No matter how good they felt together, she needed him to be sure. She knew all too well what it felt like to fall for guys with one foot out the door.

When she closed his door behind her, Bee adjusted the scarf around her neck and steadied her breathing. Then she turned her

phone’s flashlight back on and let its light lead her home.