Chapter 69 CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 70
KNOX
My phone rang while I was showering. I had just finished classes.
“Knox?” Mom’s voice cracked right away. “He’s calling again. Erratically. Threatening me. Saying he knows where I am and he’s coming for me. I’m scared, baby. I don’t know what to do.”
I was already wearing clothes, grabbing my keys. “Where are you right now?”
“Still at the hotel. He found the room number somehow. I told him to leave me alone but he just laughed and—”
“Stay in the room,” I cut in. “Lock the door. Don’t open it for anyone. I’m coming right now.”
“Knox, please don’t go to him. He’s drunk and angry and—”
“I’ve had enough, Mom. This ends today. I’m not letting him keep doing this to you.”
She was crying on the other end. “You’re going to get hurt again. Please, baby, just stay away.”
“I love you,” I said, and hung up before she could argue more.
The drive to the house felt too short. My hands were tight on the wheel the whole way. When I pulled up, his truck was in the driveway. I didn’t knock. I walked straight in.
Dad was in the living room, bottle in his hand, eyes already glassy. He wasn’t blackout drunk yet, but he was close.
“Well, look who it is,” he sneered. “The big hero coming to save Mommy again.”
I didn’t waste time. “You stop calling her. You stop threatening her. You stay the hell away from both of us.”
He laughed, low and ugly. “You think you can tell me what to do, boy? She’s still my wife.”
“Not anymore,” I said. “She’s out. And you’re done.”
He swung first. His fist caught me right on the cheek. Pain exploded across my face. I hit him back harder, right in the mouth. He stumbled, then came at me again. We crashed into the coffee table. Glass shattered. He got me in the ribs, then the lip. I tasted blood. I grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.
“You ever call her again, I swear to God I’ll end you,” I growled.
He spit blood in my face and laughed. “You’re just like me, Knox. Always were.”
I punched him again. Harder. His head snapped back. We fought like animals, fists and elbows and knees. He split my lip open wide. I gave him a black eye and a bloody nose. When he finally went down on one knee, breathing hard, I stood over him.
“Stay away,” I said, voice shaking with rage. “Or I’ll make sure everyone knows exactly who you are.”
I turned and walked out. Mom was already calling me again but I didn’t answer. I just drove straight to Yael’s dorm, again.
I knocked on her door. My knuckles were bloody, my lip was split, and my ribs felt like they were on fire.
The door opened. Yael’s eyes went wide the second she saw me.
“Knox… oh my God, what happened?” She pulled me inside fast and closed the door. “Who did you fight? Tell me right now.”
I shook my head.
“Knox.” Her voice was soft but firm. She touched my split lip with gentle fingers. “You’re bleeding again. Sit down. Please.”
I sat on the edge of her bed. She grabbed her first aid kit and knelt between my knees, just like last time.
“Baby, talk to me,” she said while she cleaned the cut on my lip. “Was it your dad?”
I looked at her surprised and nodded once.
She dabbed alcohol on the split. I hissed.
She sighed and kept working. “You promised you’d tell me when things got bad. You said you wouldn’t shut me out anymore.”
“I’m not shutting you out.”
“You are.” She put a small bandage on my lip and looked up at me, eyes full of worry. “You’re shaking, Knox. Your hands are shaking. Please just talk to me. What happened?”
I looked away. “Doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” She cupped my face with both hands, forcing me to meet her eyes. “ Let me in. Please.”
I couldn’t. The words were stuck in my throat. Instead I pulled her up and kissed her hard, ignoring the sting in my lip. She gasped against my mouth.
“Knox—”
I kissed her again, deeper, desperate. My hands slid under her shirt, yanking it off. “I need you,” I said against her neck. “Right now.”
“Talk to me first,” she whispered, but her hands were already in my hair.
I shook my head and pushed her back onto the bed. “Not now. Please, Yael. I just need you.”
She let out a shaky breath and nodded. “Okay. I’ve got you.”
I stripped her fast, then myself. The second I was inside her I groaned, raw and desperate. I fucked her hard, almost punishing, hips slamming against hers.
“Fuck, baby,” I growled. “You feel so good. So tight. Take it. Take all of me.”
She moaned, nails digging into my back. “Knox… slow down… you’re hurt—”
“I’m fine.” I pinned her wrists above her head and thrust deeper. “Just let me feel you. Let me forget everything else.”
She wrapped her legs around me anyway. “I’m here. I’m right here.”
I kept going, desperate and rough, until the anger started to bleed out. Then I slowed down. My grip on her wrists loosened. I kissed her softly, tenderly, like I was saying sorry without words.
I let go of her wrists and she wrapped her arms around me. I came hard, burying my face in her neck. She held me tight the whole time.
After, I collapsed on top of her, breathing hard. She stroked my hair and my back, gentle and slow. I started shaking. I couldn’t stop it. The adrenaline crashed and everything I’d been holding in hit me at once.
Yael didn’t say anything. She just held me tighter, one hand rubbing circles on my back.
“You don’t have to talk,” she whispered.
I shook harder. She kissed my temple, my cheek, my split lip, soft little pecks.
I finally lifted my head and
just pecked her lips once, gentle and tired.
She smiled at me, eyes shiny. “I’ve got you, baby. Always.”