Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Knox

“You’ve been holding out on me.”

I step off the bus and see my sister standing there, arms crossed, foot tapping, her expression full of sass.

Christ, I don’t want to deal with this right now.

“Your man is right behind me,” I say, going for distraction.

Which she doesn’t buy in the least.

“Hmm,” she says dryly. “No pithy comment about your matchmaking skills.” Her arms wrap around me when I get close, words for my ears only. “Now I really know that Riggs wasn’t lying about you holding out on me.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, like Riggs has that many words.”

A chuckle before she presses her lips to my cheek. “Funny.” A beat. “Like always.” Then she pulls back, hands on the outsides of my shoulders, eyes fixed on mine.

Eyes searching mine.

Fuck no.

I’ve had enough soul-searching of my own accord, enough friendly interference, enough fucking teasing and then encouragement from my teammates. Hell, I’m being so obvious that I even got it from Callie .

And frankly, if I stop and think about it, if I accept the feeling that’s growing with each waking moment I’m getting back on the bus and riding the fuck out of here.

L.A.

Tahiti.

Antarctica.

Anywhere that’s far away from here.

Only…I don’t want to leave Ivy.

Or Evie.

Or—

Mine.

Terror grips my insides as I pull out of my sister’s hold, my voice sounding strained, even to my own ears when I say, “I need to go get Winter.”

“Yeah, about that?—”

I freeze, know in my haste that I’ve made a critical error.

I haven’t really talked to Ella about Winter.

Because I’ve been too fucking obsessed with Ivy.

With falling in love with Ivy.

A cold sweat breaks out on my nape.

“—when am I going to get to meet the new lady in my brother’s life?”

“I—”

“And when am I going to hear about my brother adopting a dog?” she asks slowly, crossing her arms again, tapping that foot for good measure. “Furthermore, when am I?—”

“Go easy, cherié. ” Riggs shoves me back a step, wraps an arm around her waist, and lays a kiss on her that should be illegal.

In public parking lots.

In front of brothers.

“Ugh,” I mutter averting my gaze. “Get a fucking room already.”

“We’ve got one of those,” Riggs says tone tinted with amusement. “An entire house worth of them.”

“Ew.”

Ella just grins and shrugs at me. “He’s not wrong.”

If I hadn’t set them up, if I didn’t know exactly how much Riggs loves her, if I haven’t been a witness to how well he treats her and how happy my sister is…

Well, murder would definitely be on the table.

As it is, it’s already hard enough to remember all of that with his tongue down my baby sister’s throat, let alone them talking about having an entire house of Fuck Rooms.

“What’s up with the dog?” Riggs asks.

I exhale. “Nothing really. I found her on the side of the road. She was freezing cold and hurt, and the vet didn’t think she would make it. But she did.” I feel my mouth curving, know my voice is filled with pride. Dumb probably, to be proud of a dog, but I can’t help it. Winter’s a fighter.

“So you adopted her?”

“More like she adopted me.”

Ella smiles. “Sounds about right.”

“And Ivy?”

My heart pulses. “What about Ivy?”

Riggs snorts.

Her lips twitch, but my sister isn’t as big of a pain in the ass as I am—or maybe she knows all the shit that I’m feeling, so gives me a pass, just this once.

She leans in. “You’re not Dad,” she whispers. “Never have been. Never will be.”

“Ella—”

“And we’re not our past. You showed me that.”

“It’s a fuck-ton easier to believe that when you’re not the one in the line of fire.”

Her mouth hitches up. “Believe me, I know.”

“You’re annoying,” I grumble.

“Also something I know.” She bumps her shoulder against mine before Riggs snakes an arm around her waist and draws her back against his chest.

“Never, chérie .”

My sister’s face softens and she pats his jaw. “One second, honey. Okay?”

He nods, but his gaze comes to mine and I don’t miss the warning. “She’s worked too much while we were gone,” he tells me. “And this morning. Don’t keep her too long.”

Damn, he’s good.

Something I know.

It’s why I pushed them to get together.

Christ, I want what they have.

But I’m a fucking coward.

“Knox,” Ella murmurs.

I absently rub a hand over my chest, trying to ease the ache there. “Yeah?”

Her hand drops to my forearm and she squeezes. “Be brave.”

My heart thuds hard against my rib cage, but I force my tone to be light. “Hey, who’s the one who always killed the spiders?” I tease. “And checked under the bed for monsters?”

“And forced me to see past my fear of what could go wrong if I opened my heart to love so that I could realize how incredible all the right parts feel?”

Another thud of my heart, this time hard enough that it’s nearly impossible to get the next words out in a normal voice. “You deserve it, Ells.”

Her smile is bright and beautiful and bold—just like her. “I know.” Another squeeze of my arm. “And soon enough you’ll realize that you deserve it too.”

“Ells,” I mutter. “I?—”

Squeeze. “Be.” Another. “Brave.”

“I—”

“Or,” she says, “if you need me to pull out Mean Ella then I’ll phrase it differently—shit or get off the pot, honey.”

I jerk.

“Because if anyone could understand what we went through, it’s Ivy.”

What the fuck?

“And,” she goes on, “if anyone deserves someone to show her—and Evie—how beautiful love can be”—she rises on tiptoe, presses a kiss to my cheek—“it’s Ivy.”

With that bomb, she drops back down onto her heels and turns away, heading for Riggs, who’s waiting with Nova and Lake. They’re probably talking shit or gossiping, and yeah, I’m grumpy about it, but I can’t summon any real anger.

Mostly because I know that if the tables were turned, I’d be doing the same.

Hell, I’d be the head gossip.

It just sucks when I’m the one who’s being a fucking pussy.

It sucks that I’m scared.

It sucks that?—

Fucking enough.

My sister is right.

I need to stop being a pussy and step the fuck up.

“Actually, Ells,” I call. “I do have a question for you.”

She lifts her brows, starts walking back toward me. “What’s that?”

“How hard is it to learn how to braid?”

Her steps falter.

But then slowly, oh so slowly , she smiles