“Bernadette lives further away," I say to him. "Why don’t you go with her?”
I can feel Knox’s eyes urging me on without even looking in his direction. If this takes too much longer, he’s probably going to come stomping in here and making a scene. I quickly lay two twenty-dollar-bills on the table and stand.
“Thanks for the invite, guys.” I say being cordial, but remember to have a pained look on my face. “Have a great show, Casper.”
“You sure you don’t want me to come?” Ben asks, suddenly grabbing my wrist.
“Um–“
But before I can yank my arm away, Knox appears as a wall of steel to my back, a band of muscle around my waist, and he’s breathing puffs of rage that are peppering the back of my neck.
“Get your fucking hands off the lady.”
I’m under no illusions what this must look like to my coworkers as Casper’s eyes widen in surprise and Bernadette clears her throat with discomfort. It looks as if I am this tall, tatted, neanderthal’s property and that they were the last to know.
“Who in the God Bless America hell are you?” Casper asks, as both he and Bernadette gawk at Knox.
I don’t blame them.
Knox is a sight to behold and definitely something to gawk at.
“I meant no disrespect,” Ben says and sits back down in his seat.
“On the contrary, I think it’s quite disrespectful to put your hands all over a woman who didn’t ask for it, beg for it, or pay for it,” Knox tells him.
“Let it go,” I say embarrassed.
“Damn, girl, you’ve been holding out on us.” Casper grins and winks mockingly. “I bet you don’t have to beg for it! Is this tall drink of water why you suddenly have a stomachache and want to go home tonight?”
“Absolutely not,” I respond as if I’ve just been insulted. “This is… a family friend who’s visiting from out of town. He just misunderstood the situation.”
“Uh-huh.”
Knox steps away from me, and I instantly miss his protective shield of his warmth.
“Let’s go, Gigi.”
The way he’s barking out commands doesn’t help the situation, but I know not to test him right now. He’s in guard dog mode. When we were in high school, I’d seen this mood many times before.
“Have a good night everyone.”
“Make sure he rubs that tummy and make it all better, Bish!” Casper practically cackles as we walk out of the restaurant together.
Knox slams the door after he climbs into his truck. He’s not just angry about Ben touching me. He’s pissed about something else, which seems to be why my punishment is spending the next ten minutes listening to a satellite radio station devoted solely to the music of 1990s lithium rock. I had no clue Nirvana had this many hit records. It’s freaking depressing.
Since the two of us aren't talking, I take out my phone and text Matthew again just in case he didn’t see the earlier ones about meeting me for dinner.
Me: Hey, Matt, I’m just getting off work. Can we chat tonight? I can talk anytime.
Still nothing.
The station finally switches from Nirvana to Beck and now we’re listening to an extended version of I’m A Loser Baby (so why don’t you kill me). I’ve finally had enough. If this goes on for too much longer, I’m going to throw myself out of the car and into the middle of Broad Street. Death would be better than this music.
“Can we change the station puh-lease?!”
I lean over to press one of the control buttons before he says yes or no.
“Don’t fucking touch it.”
My hand freezes in mid air.
“You’re a sad human being.” I defiantly adjust my seat all the way back and close my eyes. “Just wake me up once we’re there.”
My body violently jerks forward when Knox suddenly swerves over to a parking lane, stops the car, and turns down the music.
“Dammit, Knox, you’re going to give me whiplash!”
“So, I’m a family friend?”
His left eyebrow twitches a bit after asking the question. Ooh, he’s really pissed.
“Is that what you’re mad about?”
“When did you become such a goddamn snob, Gigi? When did all of us become something for you to be embarrassed about? I swear I just don’t understand it.”
“I’m not sure what you wanted me to do back there. I thought bad boys moved in silence and all that good shit. Did you want me to formally introduce you to the table and give them your full legal name so that Ben or Jake or whoever the hell that was in there can get to you too?”
“You still don’t believe me about him, do you?” he glares at me as if I’m the dumbest woman on the planet.
“No, I don’t just automatically assume that Ben is a serial killer, or a hired assassin because you suspect he is. I don’t suspect the worst in people. That’s no way to live, Knox. What’s easier for me to believe is that Ben could be a man who may have changed his name to escape a past he rather not remember. God knows, that’s starting to sound like a great idea to me. What do you think of me changing my name to Keisha or Deidre?”
Knox turns the music back up and Nirvana’s Dumb is playing. I roll my eyes as he pulls the car back onto the busy street and starts tapping his hand against the steering wheel as the song plays. When I sigh heavily because the song is practically curdling the blood in my veins, he turns the volume up louder.
“Deal with it or you drive,” he says, knowing full well that’s impossible. I’ve never wanted a driver’s license more in my life until this moment. I turn on my side underneath the seat belt and send one more text but this time to my mother.
Me: Come get Knox Masterson out of my house or I’m not coming to Thanksgiving dinner.
Mom: We’ll miss you. LOL! Gobble. Gobble.
Ugh.
Thirteen
Gigi
Three days later
* * *
“I’m a prisoner in my own home,” I say to Knox as he stands in nothing but a pair of basketball shorts in my kitchen, cooking something that smells divine.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You won’t let me go to work or hang with any of my friends or breathe!”
“You can return to work once your father tells me what he wants done about Jake.”
“Felons need jobs too.”
“You still think this is a joke, don’t you?”
“I specifically asked you not to mention what happened the other day to my parents.”
“But then you tried throwing that potted plant at me when we got back to the house, so all bets were off at that point.”
“I apologized for that, but to be fair, I went temporarily insane after thirty minutes of all that lithium rock.”
“When are you going to learn that you can’t throw for shit? Your aim is off and your release is slow. You should stop trying to throw things at people.”
“We’ve always handled our issues between us, Knox. Didn’t we agree in the ninth grade over mushroom pizza and a Coke that we would never snitch on each other? You know how irrational and overprotective my parents are when it comes to me. For some reason I don't understand, my brother has always gotten a free pass but not me.”