Chapter 35 CHAPTER 35

Chapter 35 CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 35
KNOX
The water was freezing. Good. Exactly what I deserved.

I stood under the spray, head bowed, palms flat against the tile, trying to let the cold burn her out of my system. Trying to shock my body back into something that wasn’t aching for her.

It wasn’t working.

Because the second I closed my eyes, she was there again. Not the sweet, shy Yael who blushed when I teased her. Not the girl who argued with me in the library until we were both laughing.

No.

This version was the one I’d almost had tonight. The one who’d whimpered my name when I kissed her neck. The one who’d arched into me like she couldn’t get close enough.

My hand moved before I could stop it.

Down my stomach. Lower.

I groaned, low and rough, the sound swallowed by the water.

I shouldn’t.

I really, really shouldn’t.

But I was already hard. Had been since I walked out of her room. Since her taste exploded on my tongue and her thighs squeezed around my waist and she said my name like she was begging.

Fuck.

I wrapped my hand around myself and squeezed, just once. Hard.

A shudder ripped through me.

I pictured her on her knees in that oversized shirt, hair messy, lips swollen from my mouth. Looking up at me with those big eyes like she wanted whatever I’d give her.

I stroked slow at first. Too slow. Torturing myself.

Then faster.

I imagined pushing her back on that bed, spreading her open, tasting her until she was shaking and crying my name into the pillow.

My breath hitched.

I thought about how wet she’d been. I’d felt it. Through those tiny shorts. When she rocked against my thigh like she couldn’t help herself.

I wondered what she’d sound like when I finally slid inside her. If she’d gasp. If she’d claw my back. If she’d say please, Knox, please like she was dying for it.

My hips jerked into my fist.

I was close. Too close.

I bit down on my forearm to stay quiet, water pouring over my face.

I saw her riding me, slow and filthy, hands on my chest, mouth open, eyes locked on mine while I told her how good she felt. How tight. How perfect.

That did it.

I came hard, vision whiting out, a broken sound tearing out of my throat.

My knees almost buckled.

I stayed there, forehead pressed to the cold tile, breathing like I’d run ten miles.

The water had gone from icy to lukewarm and I still felt like I was burning.

Slowly, I straightened. Turned the shower off.

The silence was deafening.

I grabbed the towel, dried off rough and fast, like I could scrub tonight off my skin.

But when I walked back into the room, her hairband was still sitting on the counter.

Mocking me.

I stared at it.

Then I laughed. Short. Bitter.

“Yeah,” I muttered, voice hoarse. “Real fucking smooth, Knox.”

I was so screwed.

And tomorrow, I had to sit across from her brother and pretend I hadn’t just jerked off in the shower to the thought of ruining his little sister in every way possible.

Fantastic.

I collapsed onto the bed, stared at the ceiling, and accepted the truth I’d been running from all night.

Sleep was not happening.
Not even close.

I lay on my bed for maybe five minutes before sitting up again, rubbing my face like that could erase every image of Yael from my mind.
Spoiler: it did not.

Her lips.
Her voice.
The way she whispered stop without meaning it.

I groaned into my pillow. “I’m losing it.”

Then I grabbed my hoodie, my keys, and left my apartment like a criminal sneaking out at midnight. The halls were quiet. Too quiet.

I needed cold water. Silence. Something stronger than a shower.

So, of course, I ended up heading to the school swimming pool.

The doors were locked — obviously — but I’d learned how to sneak in during freshman year.
Don’t ask how.

Inside, the lights were dim and the water glowed faint blue.
Perfect. Peaceful. Empty.

I didn’t bother hesitating. I threw off my hoodie, kicked off my shoes, and dove straight in.

Cold hit me like a slap.
Good.
I needed that.

I swam down, deeper, letting the pressure crush my chest until everything else — Yael, her mouth on mine, the way she trembled — blurred out.

Just water.
Silence.
Cold.

Then I heard footsteps.

Shit. Security.

I stayed under until my lungs burned, listening to boots echo across the tiles above me. The guard paused, his flashlight beam cutting across the surface.

Hold.
Hold.
Hold—

The footsteps faded.

I surfaced quietly, dragging in a shaky breath.

“Close one,” I muttered.

Then—

Splash.

I jerked, scanning the water.
Someone had jumped in.
At midnight.
Into a locked pool.

Either they were stupid…
Or exactly like me.

A
head popped up across the pool, water dripping down familiar lashes.

Yael.

I blinked hard. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Her eyes widened. “Knox?!”