Chapter 10 CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 10
YAEL
Classes had ended early, so I decided to walk into town. Pick up some groceries, maybe a few snacks, and just be normal for once.
I stopped at a small corner store, grabbed some chips, fruit, a carton of milk, and that stupidly overpriced granola Maya swore by. My headphones were in, music low, thoughts quieter than usual.
For the first time in days, I almost felt… fine.
After paying, I took the long route back to campus and saw a hill. It was quiet there, almost hidden, with a bench.
I sat down, dropped my grocery bag beside me, and just stared at the sky.
For a second, it was perfect.
Until it wasn’t.
“Didn’t expect to see you here, princess.”
I froze. My head snapped up so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash.
Knox.
Dripping wet hair. Tank top. Sweatpants that hung low enough to make me question life choices.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. “Are you following me now?”
He arched a brow. “Relax. You don’t own this place, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t say I did,” I shot back. “I just find it funny how you happen to show up everywhere I go.”
“Maybe you’re following me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. You wish.”
He smirked, stepping closer until his shadow fell over me. “You okay?”
The question caught me off guard. Not the words—just the tone. He wasn’t teasing.
“Yeah,” I said quickly, grabbing my bag. “I’m fine.”
He didn’t look convinced. “You don’t look fine.”
I forced a laugh. “Wow, thanks for that confidence boost.”
He leaned on the railing, watching me. “You were crying yesterday.”
My heart stumbled. “Excuse me?”
“I saw,” he said simply.
I turned away, heat crawling up my neck. “You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”
“Just saying,” he murmured. “You can lie to everyone else, but don’t lie to yourself.”
“Okay, Confucius,” I snapped. “Can you not psychoanalyze me right now?”
He grinned, infuriatingly calm. “You’re cute when you’re mad.”
“Knox.”
“What?”
“I’m leaving.”
I grabbed my groceries and stood, trying to ignore the weird way my pulse picked up when he looked at me.
But before I could even take two steps, he reached out—fingers curling around my wrist.
“Hey, wait—” I screamed dropping the groceries.
And then he jumped.
Jumped.
Off the ledge.
Dragging me with him.
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” I screamed as we fell.
The air rushed past, my stomach dropped, and then—
Splash.
Cold.
Sharp.
Icy.
I came up sputtering, hair plastered to my face. “YOU’RE INSANE!”
Knox surfaced right beside me, pushing his wet hair back like some kind of unbothered sea god. “It’s not that high,” he said, grinning.
“NOT THAT—” I gaped at him. “Are you crazy? You could’ve killed us!”
“You needed it.”
“I NEEDED TO BE THROWN INTO A RIVER?!”
He shrugged. “You were overthinking. Now you’re not.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You are so—so—”
“Hot?”
“—unhinged!”
He laughed, low and amused, like I was the funniest thing alive.
I swam furiously to the edge, dragging myself out of the water. My clothes clung to me, heavy and soaked. I turned—and froze when I saw his expression.
Knox wasn’t laughing anymore.
His eyes had gone dark—like, really dark—and they weren’t on my face.
“Stop looking!” I snapped.
He blinked, looking caught off guard. “I wasn’t—”
“You were!”
“I—okay, maybe a little.”
“Pervert!” “Don’t you have any manners?!”
He just stood there, water dripping from his jawline, smirking. “Didn’t know you’d look that good angry.”
“Knox!”
“Alright, alright.” He raised his hands in surrender, still grinning. “Calm down, princess. You’ll hurt yourself yelling like that.”
“I’ll hurt you!”
“Tempting,” he muttered under his breath.
I ignored the way my stomach twisted at that.
Knox climbed up the riverbank easily, offering me a hand, but I refused. “Don’t touch me.”
“Suit yourself.” He swung his bag over his shoulder and glanced at my soaked dress. “You’ll catch a cold like that.”
“Thanks for the advice, Doctor Chaos.”
He chuckled, then pulled something out of his bag and tossed it toward me. “Here.”
A hoodie. Black. Oversized. Warm-looking.
“I’m not taking your clothes.”
“Then freeze. Your choice.”
I glared, snatched the hoodie, and stomped off toward the trees to change.
Inside the woods, I wrung out my hair, cursing under my breath. The fabric of his hoodie brushed against my skin—soft, smelling like pine and spice and something annoyingly addictive.
God, why did he have to smell good?
“Focus, Yael,” I muttered to myself, slipping it on. It hung past my thighs, swallowing me whole.
When I came out, Knox was leaning against a tree, arms crossed, smirk firmly in place.
“Better?” he asked.
I grabbed my bag, refusing to meet his eyes. “No thanks to you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t say thank you.”
“You’re saying it with your eyes.”
“I’m saying you’re an idiot.”
He grinned. “Same thing.”
I turned away, clutching my groceries like they were armor. “You’re impossible.”
He fell into step beside me as we walked back toward campus, still dripping wet, still acting like dragging someone into a freezing river was the most normal thing in the world.
“You should smile more,” he said after a beat.
I shot him a look. “Why? So you can feel better about yourself?”
“No,” he said quietly. “Because it looks good on you.”
I stopped walking.
He didn’t. He just shoved his hands in his pockets, glanced back once, and smirked.
“See you around, princess.”
And just like that—he was gone.
I stood there for a long second, heart thudding, still dripping, still angry, but—
somewhere underneath all that fury, I felt something else.
Something dangerous.
Something I didn’t want to name.
“Unbelievable,” I muttered, turning away.
Still… I didn’t take off his hoodie.
And I didn’t stop breathing in the scent of him all the way back.