When his gaze pulls away from his phone and meets mine, a bright smile stretches across his face. “Hey, Em.” He walks up and pulls me into a hug. Caught a little off guard, I don’t return it right away, but when he squeezes me tighter, I wrap my arms around him, letting my hand land on his muscular back.
Oh my. There’s a whole bunch of hard back there. Neil’s back NEVER felt like that.
“Thanks for meeting up with me.” He pulls away and drags a hand over his face. “I spent the last four hours in the library trying to get this paper done and I’m toasted. Ice cream is the only cure.”
“Are you a big sweets person?” I ask as we walk up to the counter.
“Guilty.” He winks and then looks over the counter and into the cooler. “Can I get cookies and cream in a waffle cone?”
“Sure thing,” the employee says.
“What do you want?” Knox asks, eyeing me.
“I’ll take the strawberry cheesecake in a cake cone.”
“Good choice,” Knox says, reaching for his key card to pay.
Before he can scan it, I block him and say, “I can pay for this one.”
“Nah, my idea, I’m paying.” He scans his card, takes the ice cream for both of us, and heads over to a small table off to the side. When we take a seat, he hands me my cone, but not before taking a bite out of it.
When my mouth falls open in shock, he chuckles and says, “Just a friendly tax.”
I point at his cone. “I want a bite.”
“What? No way.” He shields his cone away from me.
“Knox Gentry, it’s only fair.”
“You’re going to take a giant bite. I need this ice cream more than you.”
I wiggle my finger at him. “Bring it over here. It’s only fair.”
He studies me. “How about this, a bite for your phone number.”
“Ha, nice try.” I shake my head and lean back. “I’m not that desperate for a taste, which can I say, it didn’t slip past me that you got cookies and cream. Are you obsessed with everything Oreos?”
“If you didn’t order the donuts from Frankie’s, I would have gotten the Oreo-encrusted donut.” He takes a lick of his ice cream. “I’m an Oreo lover and will eat them with pretty much everything. You know how some people are obsessed with peanut butter and will even eat it on their burgers? That’s my loyalty with Oreos.”
“That’s kind of . . .”
“Freaky?”
I chuckle and shake my head. “No, I was going to say cute.”
His brows raise. “Yeah, well then, should I tell you I made an Oreo-encrusted steak the other night?”
I motion my hand to tamp him down. “Baby steps, Knox, don’t show me all your freak tendencies just yet.”
He holds his arms out wide. “I’m an open book to you, Em, and what you see is what you get.”
“Should I be scared?”
He leans forward. “Maybe a little.” His smile pretty much destroys any defenses I tried to wear on the way down here. He’s entirely too charming and sweet, then again, so was Neil. It’s the charismatic personalities I need to be cautious around. “I like your sweats by the way, super sexy.”
“It’s the holes, right? Sexy in a way you never thought possible.”
“They’re tempting for sure.”
I cross my legs and say, “I’ve had them since middle school. I can’t seem to ditch them no matter how many holes they have in them. It seems after each laundry cycle, they become more and more comfortable. They’re like a safety blanket at this point.”
“Don’t ever get rid of them.” He takes a bite out of his ice cream and leans back in his chair, observing me. “I like this side of you.”
“What side is that?”
“Casual, not all dressed up. Don’t get me wrong, your skirts have a good hold on my balls, but I like the comfy side of you. Makes me want to take you up to your dorm and cuddle you.”
“Is that supposed to be a pickup line?”
“No.” He pauses. “But if it was, did it work?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“No,” I lie because the thought of taking Knox back to my dorm to cuddle sounds incredibly appealing.
He’s a large guy, broad shoulders with thick muscles wrapped around them, tall, must be at least six two, which is a good height for his sport, and his arms look like cannons, ripped and carved unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I can’t imagine he looked like this in high school, but a few years under Coach Disik’s tutelage and the once boy is a lean and powerful machine.
The way he shifts and the tightness of his shirt, I catch glimpses of the six-pack that’s beneath the neoprene fabric of his shirt. And I shouldn’t forget to mention the slight bulge I always see when he’s wearing sweatpants. He’s big. His hands, his legs, his shoulders, wide and broad, and if he wasn’t so nice, I’d be intimidated by his sharp features and mesmerizing eyes that always hide under the bill of a hat.
“Have you always been a ball-buster, Em?”
“Not always,” I answer honestly. “Took me a while to find enough courage to show my true self around guys.”
“Really? Were you demure and quiet?”
“Pretty much.” I take a big lick of my ice cream. “I was shy growing up, but it wasn’t until college I actually let my true colors show. I think it was one of the things my ex started to really dislike about me. Probably what drove him away. He hated my jokes, my teasing, my outspokenness around his friends.” I twist my lips to the side. “Now that I think about it, he would always reprimand me after, telling me not to talk to his friends like that.”
“Sounds like your ex was a real dick.”
“He wasn’t at first. He kind of swept me off my feet in high school. Very charming, friends with everyone, took me under his wing and challenged me to break out of my shell.” I glance up. “Kind of like you.”
His brows draw together, and I can tell he didn’t like that comment at all, but I think it’s fair for him to know where my apprehension is.
“I’m not like him, Em.”
“You don’t know him.”
He sits taller in his chair. “And you don’t know me well enough to make that assumption.”
“I don’t.” I hang my head, feeling a little guilty.
“Then get to know me.” He leans over and lifts my chin. “Like I said, I’m an open book, Em.”
Instead of anger, all I see is kindness, understanding, and if that’s not my undoing, it’s the smile that trails after.
Whispering, he continues, “Ask me anything.”
I bite my bottom lip, trying to figure out what I should ask. What do I want to know?
“Don’t be shy,” he adds, casually draping his arm over the back of his chair. “I’ll answer anything.”
Honesty. If there is one trait I see in Knox, it’s honesty. He knows how attractive he is, that eyes follow him when he enters any room. Yet he doesn’t look for that attention. He’s not exactly humble, but he is . . . unassuming. When Neil walked into a room, it was with attention-seeking noise. As if everyone in the room was much better because of his presence. Asshole. As much as I hate comparing the two, Neil had been the man in my life for too long not to. Until he wasn’t.