Finding Us (7 page)

Yeah I’m the world’s biggest asshole for taking the covers and leaving her to sleep in the bathtub but truthfully this is the only way I’m going to get any sleep. I can’t have Jasmine sleeping in the same bed as me. It’s bad enough that I’m sharing my room with her.

Rex was worried about bringing Summer and Jasmine to the beach house. He knew it would be hard on me but I told him it was fine. It sort of is but it is a lot harder on me then I thought it would be. Every time Rex gets a chance lately he tries to convince me to drop my plan. That is something I can’t do.

I’m trying to keep the steel chains wrapped around my heart but honestly I’m doing a shitty job of it. When I saw her sitting down on the beach watching the sunset by herself I just about threw the whole fucking plan out the window but I reeled my shit in and tightened the chains.

I wake up to the sound of a steady stream of running water. I wipe the sleep away from my eyes, yawn and stretch. I start to sit up when I notice Knox in the bathroom, and then it clicks. “Please for the love of God; tell me you aren’t taking a piss.”

He nonchalantly looks over his shoulder at me, shrugs, and then goes back to taking care of business. He closes the toilet lid then washes his hands. When he’s done he leans back against the counter and eyes my messy hair and twisted tank top, “Morning, Sexy. How’d you sleep?”

I roll my eyes and ease back down against the pillow. “I slept just fine, although it’s a little chilly.”

His eyes drop to my chest where my nipples are on full display.

“I can tell.”

I cross my arms over my chest and mumble ‘asshole’ under my breath. Knox has no shame in trying to make me feel more uncomfortable than I already am.

He walks over to me and extends his hand, “Come on, let’s go for a run before everyone wakes up. Then I’ll cook you breakfast.”

I eye his hand, thinking to myself that there isn’t an easy way out of this. He’s not going to leave me alone until I give in. Right before I fell asleep last night I wiggled out of my shorts, leaving me in only my thong and tank top. I can’t get anymore more uncomfortable than this so here goes nothing. I throw the covers back and place my hand in his.

Knox’s grip tightens around my hand, “Um Knox.” I squeeze his hand a little before he starts to let go of mine.

I climb out of the tub and try to let go of his hand but he pulls me towards him. Knox’s eyes are smoldering with fire. The tone in his voice is both serious and promising. “You can’t dress like that or I can’t keep my promise to behave myself.”

I shiver in response. I want him and it’s getting harder and harder to fight the attraction. I don’t want to just be a challenge for Knox. I want him to want me for me.

This bathroom is too small and I need to place some distance between us.

I pat his chest with my free hand, trying to keep calm. His heartbeat is beating as rapidly as mine. “Keep it in your pants.”

He throws his head back and laughs, finally he lets me go. I pull everything I need out of my bag for our run: shorts, sports bra, and my Nikes. I grab my toiletry bag along with my clothes and walk back into the bathroom to get changed. Knox passes me when he steps out of the bathroom but I don’t dare look up at him. When I come out he’s sitting on the bed with his elbows resting on his knees.

“I’m sorry Jasmine, for being a dick last night.” He says quietly.

I throw my dirty clothes on the floor near my bag and stand there for a second with my eyes closed. I don’t want to fight with him. I really don’t. I’m here all weekend and I want to enjoy my stay so I say the only thing I can think of to keep things light. “It’s fine, Knox.”

I turn around to face him and he’s looking at me with sorrowful eyes, “It’s not, and you’re not sleeping in the tub tonight. If you don’t want to share a bed with me I’ll go sleep on the couch.” He stands and walks over to the door, holding it open for me. “You ready?”

I run back in the bathroom, grab a hair tie out and start throwing my hair up into a messy bun as I walk towards the door. Knox places a hand on the small of my back, I tense for second from the shock of his touch. As we walk through the house all is quiet, everyone is still asleep. Out on the back deck I start stretching, getting ready for this much needed run. Knox is doing the same but he’s turned his back towards me and I’m admiring the view. He has a really great ass.

Our run starts out strong. Both lost in our own heads. I keep glancing over at Knox who is only about two steps ahead of me but he doesn’t glance back at me once. Later on, Knox pulls his iPhone out of his armband, almost drops it in the sand but catches it just in time. He’s running with his head in his iPhone and I’m just waiting for him to see if he trips and if he does I’m going to piss myself from laughing. Eventually we slow our pace by a nearby pier. I paced back and forth with my hands on top of my head pulling as much oxygen into my lungs as possible.

Knox tips his head up to the sky, “I’m sorry I was acting like such an ass this morning.”

Still panting, I glance over at him, “Stop acting like one and you wouldn’t feel the need to keep apologizing.”

Knox walks over to me and takes my iPhone out of my armband. I tilt my head to the side wondering what the hell he’s doing. He unplugs my headphone adapter and plugs it into his and then puts his iPhone in my armband. He taps the play button and a fast tempo sounds from the ear buds. I watch as Knox hooks up my iPhone and then he nods back towards the house.

A song that I love,
Bloodstream
by
Stateless
starts up on Knox’s iPhone
.
I go to turn up the volume and I take note that I’m listening to Jasmine’s Playlist, I guess this is what he was doing while we were running. This song is dark, dreary, and emotional.
Is there supposed to be some kind of meaning behind this song?

Listening to song after song on his phone I’ve come to realize a few things about Knox’s music. A majority of his music is emotional, heavy, dark, intense and sad. Mixed in between those are some hardcore, pissed off, angry songs. His songs are like a roller coaster. You have your ups and downs but it’s your choice whether you throw your hands up in the air and scream at the top of your lungs or you don’t ride the ride at all.

When Knox and I get back from our run, which was a little intense, everyone is all piled in the living room. Some guy that wasn’t here yesterday is lying shirtless on one end of the sectional. His hair a crazy mess of dark curls, his bright green eyes are bloodshot making him look very tired. His upper torso is covered in tattoos along with both his arms. He’s all muscle, cut divinely everywhere. My mouth turns dry as I take him in. He catches me checking him out, I try to divert my eyes but it’s too late. He winks and smiles at me.

All of a sudden Cade starts laughing, loudly. Rex covers his face with his free hand and Summer, who is occupying his other hand, is looking from one person to the other. Tanner and Rhea are whispering to each other from where they lay on the floor. I look over at Knox who is glaring hard at Hercules over in the chair.

I nudge Knox in the side, “I’m going to shower then I’ll come help you cook.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us Knox? Or you know, I can handle it and show her to the bathroom myself.” The guy says while wagging his eyebrows at me.

What a douchebag!

Knox crosses his arms over his chest, still glaring hard. He didn’t seem to want to make the introduction so I start walking away. As I pass by Hercules, who’s smirking at Knox, he grabs my hand. I try to yank it back but when I do he tugs me hard and I basically fall onto his lap. Knox curses and storms over to us, I freeze in place. The rage in Knox’s eyes scares the hell out of me but in some weird way I feel a shield wrap around me within Hercules’ grasp.

“Jeremy, knock it the fuck off. Leave her alone. She isn’t one of your little toys.” Knox seethes.

I feel the rumble in Jeremy’s chest before he belts out a laugh that causes me to shiver. Knox grabs for me and Jeremy lets me go with no resistance. “Go upstairs and take your shower, Jasmine.” Knox tells me.

I look over to Rex for some kind of help but he’s just shaking his head. I’m a little hurt that Rex would just sit there and do nothing. I storm off down the hall but as I reach the stairs I hear Jeremy say, “Damn doesn’t she look just like—Omph.” His voice gets cut off.

Who do I look like?

After my shower I dress in a pair of cut off shorts and a white tank top with white flips flops. I braid my long hair over my shoulder and apply a little eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss. I forgo putting sunblock on for now because I’m not sure what the plan is for the day. I spray a few sprits of body splash and head downstairs to help Knox with breakfast.

My breath catches as I walk into the kitchen to see Knox standing at the counter. He’s got a pair of black cargo pants that are hung low on his hips and he’s shirtless and barefoot. His tattoos are out in full display and my mouth waters. He’s dicing vegetables and I watch as his muscles flex. Knox must have used Rex’s shower because his hair is wet and it’s standing up all over the place and I just want to run my fingers through it.

He must sense that I’m standing behind him because he slowly sets the knife down and turns towards me. He smiles at me and motions me to come over to him with a head nod. I hesitate for just a second before I go over.

“You want to finish cutting these peppers up for me so that we can throw them in with the eggs?”

I nod, “Sure. Um,” I look down at the peppers and there is only a few strips cut, “how do you want them cut?”

He grins. “In bite size pieces is fine.”

I get to work cutting the peppers while Knox moves around the kitchen getting other things ready for breakfast. Everyone else is in the living room watching a movie, probably some kind of action movie because I hear a lot of gun fire and yelling.

“You done?” Knox startles me.

I place the knife down and wipe my hands on the towel. I left a few strips so that I can munch on them while the eggs are cooking. “Yup, all ready for you.”

In a heartbeat Knox is in my personal space, my back against his chest. “Is that so?” I inhale sharply. Knox puts a hand on my right hip and slowly inches forward to my lower stomach. I start panting. He slides his hand lower on my stomach and my body starts to tremble. Suddenly Knox’s hand is gone and so is the hand towel that I was still holding on to. “I bet those peppers are gonna taste even better than I imagined.” His warm breath tickles my neck.

Embarrassment flushes me and stains my cheeks red. Needing something to distract myself I reach for a pepper and pop it in my mouth.

I see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. “Hungry?”

I shrug and smirk to myself, “Not as much as you are.”

Knox adds the peppers to the eggs and then mixes it up before pouring if into the frying pan. I perch myself on the counter and watch as Knox cooks. He reaches around me for a spatula and I get that electric shock and my breath catches. I know by the smirk on his face that he feels it too.

I take another bite of the leftover bell pepper and Knox groans. My eyes rise to his and I see him staring at me, his eyes are dark and hooded.

“What?” I ask him.

Knox just shakes his head.

I put another pepper in my mouth and suck on it, teasing Knox. He wanted to start something; I’m going to finish it. In a flash Knox stands directly in front of me. The pepper hangs from my mouth and both hands hold on to the counter shaken that he was going to try and move me.

Knox leans forward and the weight of him pushes my legs apart so that he can get closer to me. I freeze, afraid to move, anticipation coursing through me.

Knox stares intently at my lips. He inches forward again; he’s so close I can feel his breath on my face, minty and clean.

“If you don’t stop eating those peppers I’m going to do something that you’re probably not going to like very much. So if you don’t want that to happen I suggest you knock it off,
Jasmine
.” Knox whispers. His mouth slightly opens as he takes the other end of the pepper into his mouth. His full pink lips are so close.
So close.
Fighting the fact that my eyes want to flutter close I hear someone behind us clear their throat.

“Sorry to break up the moment but the rest of us are starving so if you aren’t going to cook can you get the fuck out of the kitchen so we can?” Jeremy says with a grin on his face.

Knox bites the pepper off and turns back to the eggs and Jeremy laughs as he reaches in the cabinet for a glass.

“Has anyone ever told you that red looks good on you?” Jeremy inquires.

Knox throws his head back and laughs.

I glare hard at Jeremy and Knox. “Assholes!” I hop off the counter and go to take Jeremy’s seat in the living room until Knox calls us for breakfast.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Cade says while piling eggs on his plate.

“Club Mango?” Rhea suggests.

Everyone but Summer and I bob their heads up and down in agreement. We’re the only two that have never been here so we don’t have a say.