I do believe him, though. In my gut, I know Knox wouldn’t intentionally hurt me like that, even if he’s impulsive and a complete asshole most of the time. I’ve experienced the other side of him, the soft and sweet one he keeps buried.
“Speaking of our time in the maintenance room…you’re not going to like what I tell you next.”
My gaze darts up to him, and he sighs, sitting forward and bracing himself on the arms of my chair.
“Kennedy and Brex saw us on the security cameras.”
And now my cheeks catch on fire.
“Oh my God.” I shove one of his arms away, so I can get up, feeling nauseous. “They watched us?”
“Fuck. No, baby, they saw us in the hallway before we went in.”
The compression in my chest lessens, but I still feel heavy, my breathing off. Knox straightens and hauls me against him, wrapping his strong arms around me.
“You know…” He pauses to kiss the sensitive spot under my ear, and I shiver, relaxing a little. “Since everyone knows, I can feel you up in the service hallway anytime I want now.”
All the tension returns to my muscles, and I pull back to look up at him. “What?”
“They all know we’re together, so we can ax the secrecy bullshit. We’ll need to figure out how to tell dad and Sidney, but the rest took care of itself.” His hands move down to cup my ass, but I back away from him.
“Knox…”
Without me even finishing, he knows what I’m going to say, and a shadow falls over his chiseled face. “We’re not done with the secrecy bullshit, are we?”
I bite my lip, swallowing hard as I shake my head. “I’m going to tell everyone the rumors aren’t true, and I want you to tell them too.”
And once the words are out, the set to Knox’s jaw says there’s no putting them back.
Chapter Fourteen
Knox
The fucking clock on the wall ticks so goddamn loud, I swear I hear it echoing in the room while Leighton and I stare at each other. I’m not even touching her anymore. I think I took a step back in fucking shock at the words that came out of her mouth.
“You know how the ivies act when they think someone’s threatening what’s theirs,” she says.
“But I’m not theirs, Leighton.” I close the space between us and cradle her face in my hands. “I’m yours. All fucking yours. And the second you let me, I’ll put every one of them in their fucking place.”
Brex was right. I’ll fire the entire staff if I have to—but I won’t. I’ll get rid of Danielle, and the rest will scatter.
“Give me twenty minutes, and Danielle’s sniveling while she packs her bags.”
“And then what, Knox?” She pulls my hands away, shaking her head. “If you fire her because she’s talking shit about me, then it will only pour gasoline on what she said. Can you imagine what they’d think?”
“I don’t care what they think,” I growl.
“But I do,” she shoots back. “And I’m the one everyone is talking about. I mean, fuck, Knox. You get to be the guy fucking a lowly townie because you’re bored and horny. Meanwhile, I’m a desperate whore, selling myself to the Knox Cabot, hoping to get knocked up so I can extort my way into a better life.”
“But you’re not,” I bite out. “And if you’d just stop hiding the fact—”
“What, that our parents are getting married? You think we can just run around the Cove as boyfriend and girlfriend if everyone knows you’ll be my stepbrother in a few months?”
“Why the hell not?” I ask, and then it hits me. “Wait, is that what this is about?”
She fidgets, avoiding eye contact.
“Dammit, Leighton. Our parents met two years ago. You’ve been in my fucking head and clawing my chest apart since we were twelve.”
“People won’t see it that way,” she says quietly.
“This is fucking ridiculous.” I walk away, but then drop my head back and blow out a breath. Then I turn around and clench my fists at my sides. “So, what does that even leave us, Leighton? You want to hide that we’re together? Sneak around and fuck in closets and on the weekends?”
She sniffs, rubbing her arms. “I want to wait until the end of summer.”
My brow lowers. “You mean you want to wait to tell people we’re together?”
Her gaze lifts to mine, her eyes shiny, and it crashes into me like a fucking train.
She doesn’t want to wait until the end of summer to tell people we’re together. She wants to wait to be together.
“Fuck, Leigh.”
“I’ll be off at school by then,” she explains, her voice strained. “And we won’t have to deal with our parents being involved or ivies or town—”
“No,” I growl lowly.
“What?” she whispers.
“No, Leighton.” I shake my head, my jaw ticking. “I’m not acting like you’re just some fucking townie for the next eleven weeks. Or sharing a house and not waking up beside you. I’ve already spent too long pretending I’m not in love with you. I won’t do it anymore.”
Tears spring to her eyes, and she bites her bottom lip when it starts to quiver. “If you’ve waited that long, what’s another few months?”
“They’re everything, Leigh.”
The room fills with the ticks of the clock again, the two of us staring at each other until I physically can’t be there anymore.
“Fuck it.” I swipe my keys off the desk and pass her without another glance. “Lock up on your way out.”
“Knox—”
I stop at the door and look over my shoulder. “Unless the rest of that sentence is I’m being an idiot, and I want to be with you, don’t finish it.”
She opens her mouth but then closes it, and so I do the same with the door. Except I’m on the other side when it shuts.
***
It takes me a while to calm down after the showdown with Leighton in my office. By the time I do, I have to make my appearance at the luau on the beach. But the entire time I nod and shake hands with men who clap me on the back and comment on how much I remind them of my dad, my mind is entirely on her. On us. On this entire fucking mess.
When I finally can’t stand it anymore, I stalk toward the parking area. I jump into my cart, driving straight to the cabins to finish our less than pleasant conversation from earlier. Not that much has changed on my side.
Most of the employees are at the party, either working or getting precious face-to-face time with the guests, but I still park at the staff cabin and check around before heading down to Leighton’s. I climb the stairs to the door but peek through the window first in case any of her bunkmates are inside. Leighton’s on her cot, headphones on and tapping away on her phone. I’m about to step to the door when my phone vibrates in my pocket, so I fish it out. Shit. Looks like I wasn’t the only one stuck in a Leighton-Knox spiral.