Infinity & Always (7 page)

He
told me it was the EMT’s. You weren’t moving, so they put
that machine on you. It wasn’t working and I was losing it. Max
had to physically hold me back. I can’t get that voice out of
my head. Then when it said it found a pulse, the EMT’s had you
in the ambulance in about ten seconds and you were gone.

The
next thing I know, I’m in handcuffs being dragged away and
getting questioned for beating you up.”

Although
his voice is steady and strong, I feel every one of his hot tears
land on my cheek. Pressing myself closer to him I hold on tight. “I
love you,” I whisper.

“I
know,” he says, resting his head against mine. “I love
you too, darlin’, so damn much.”

We
stay together for a while just holding on to each other. In all my
pain and anger, I forgot what he went through too.

“Okay
darlin’, let’s go,” he says, helping me to my feet.
He rubs his hand across his eyes and down his face drying his tears.

“Where
are we going?”

“To
the beach. I was supposed to have lunch with Dad yesterday, but we
can do it today. You get changed and I’ll call him.”

I
walk up the back stairs to my room, feeling drained. Reliving that
nightmare again was painful. Hopefully the next time I deal with this
situation it will be the last. I put on my bikini and a sundress and
walk back down to Knox. He gives me his megawatt smile and a kiss.

“Ready
for a day of fun in the sun?”

“Yeah,
so was your dad annoyed about yesterday?”

“Nah,
he’s cool. We can have lunch with him today. He has to run into
the office, but he said he’d be back later.”

Knox
drives us to his dad’s house and when we arrive Richard is
already home. He gives me a hug and asks how I’m doing.

“Fine
thanks.”

“Good,
you’re a strong woman,” he winks at me.

We
sit out on the back patio talking about the house for a while. Knox
decided to take a photo of us standing by the ocean and text it to
Max.

“You’re
mean.”

“I
know,” he grins, just as his phone rings. He and Max go back
and forth with name calling before finally being nice and saying
goodbye to each other.

“He
said I have to take care of you.”

“Yeah?
What can I say? All the Porter men love me.”

I
smile at him, then pull off my dress. We head into the water and
splash around for a while, then we act like five-year-olds and jump
over the waves. Knox picks me up and throws me over a wave.

“Get
back here beautiful,” he says, grabbing my hand.

I
hook my legs around his waist and whisper, “I love being here.”

“I
know darlin’, me too. It reminds of the night we got engaged.”

He
looks out over the water, shielding his eyes from the sun. I press a
kiss to his cheek and rest my head against his.

“I
don’t know if I ever thanked you, for saving my life.”

“You
did darlin’ and you don’t have too. If I am able to, I
will, not that I want to be in a situation where I’d have too.”

Turning
his face he kisses my nose and we rest our cheeks together again. The
sun is warming my skin and the water is lapping over us. Knox is just
holding me while we stand and daydream.

“I
remember one of the last times I just stood in the ocean. My Mom was
having a good day and kept Max and I home from school. We hung out in
the ocean all day and just stood here watching the sun go down.”

“Sounds
like it was a good day,” I whisper.

“Yeah,”
he smiles. “It is one of the best memories I have of her.”

Turning
around he walks back towards the house, only putting me down when we
reach the patio. He hands me a towel and I wrap myself up tight. One
of the perks of living in California is always having hot towels at
the beach.

“Who’s
hungry?” Richard asks out the window.

“Yeah
Dad,” Knox shouts back. “Do you want help?”

Richard
declines and Knox relaxes back in his chair. He takes my hand in his,
rubbing his thumb across my knuckles methodically. Closing my eyes I
relax further into my chair, the sun is keeping me warm and my
thoughts turn to the pending court date. Although I try to keep it
out of my mind, it tends to creep in when I least expect it. I’m
not sure how it’s going to go down and I’m not sure why
the jury needed another testimony from me. But as long as it gets Ben
put away, I’ll keep doing it if I have to.

“Darlin’?”

“Yeah,”
I answer, keeping my eyes closed.

“I
think we need to set a date.”

Opening
my eyes I look over at him, he tilts his face towards mine and smiles
at me.

“Is
that what you’ve been thinking about?” I question.

“That’s
all I think about, darlin’.”

I’m
actually a little stunned; we agreed to wait until I turned
twenty-five and I only just turned twenty-three. I can’t find
words. I have no idea what to say to him. Yes, the last two days have
been great but what if things go back to the way there have been
lately. He watches me intently, and I can see his jaw tighten. Just
as I am about to open my mouth, Richard walks out calling us for
lunch.

“Smells
good,” I smile at Richard when I sit down. Knox pours me a soda
and we dig in to roast beef sandwiches. I can only eat half of it and
rub my stomach, groaning. They laugh at me, calling me a
light-weight.

“Here
you finish it,” pushing the plate over to Knox. I nibble on
some chips.

“So
when is the first game?” Richard asks.

“Oh
in a few weeks, just after Thanksgiving.”

He
smiles and claps his hands. “Can’t wait, I’ll be
there. Just email me so I don’t forget.”

“Oh,
we got new uniforms.”

“Oh
God, no,” Knox groans. “Please tell me they cover more of
you.”

“No
sorry, they are actually tighter and shorter.”

“What!
They can’t get any shorter!”

I
nod at him trying to look sorry, but I’m not. I remember my
first few games. Knox was like a bull. He couldn’t handle all
the guys making crude comments about me, and cat calling.

“You
don’t have to watch, Knox.”

“Like
hell I don’t, those guys are fucking animals,” he snorts.

Richard
and I both laugh at him knowing full well he can be just like them. I
help clean up after lunch and Richard goes back to drawing up the
blueprints for my house. Knox and I return to the ocean for a swim.

“Are
you for real darlin’ or are you just messing with me?”

“About?”

“The
uniforms,” He frowns at me.

“Nope,
sorry, there was a vote before I got back on the team and they passed
it. We have a photo shoot a few days before the game for our
calendar.”

Knox
hangs his head and sighs. “More ass kicking,” he mumbles.

I
splash him in the face and swim away screaming as he chases me. After
a playful few hours, we finally get out of the water. Knox throws me
over his shoulder and walks me back to the house. We sit and watch
the sun go down. I am feeling more relaxed than I have in the last
two years.

“Thanks,
babe.”

“What
for darlin’?”

“Bringing
me here today; I think I really needed it.”

He
grins at me while drying off his chest with the towel. My eyes rake
over his body; he is toned, tanned and God Almighty sexy.

“See
something you like, darlin’?” he smirks at me.

“Yes,
very much so.”

Bending
down, I kiss him quickly. Protesting, he pulls me back and nibbles on
my lips until I kiss him again, properly this time, shivering as the
night air touches my skin. Knox wraps a towel around my shoulders and
rubs his hands up and down my back.

“At
this rate I’ll have a grandchild in a few weeks,” Richard
comments, out of nowhere.

Knox
and I both laugh at him and I leave to get dressed. We say goodnight
after a coffee and I drive Knox home. He begs me to stay at the
apartment, but I refuse; holding his hands up in surrender he kisses
me goodnight and walks backward into the building.

When
I arrive home, I take a shower and fill dad in on my day. He asks if
I can come to work tomorrow afternoon and I agree. I drag myself to
bed just after ten o’clock when my phone rings.

“Hey
Max, why are you calling me so late?”

“It’s
me darlin’, did I leave my phone in the car?”

“Let
me check. You’re lucky you caught me I was about to turn off
the light,” I yawn.

“Sorry
darlin’, but I can’t find it.”

I
walk out the garage and check my car, reaching into the door pocket
and under the seat. “No babe, let me ring it.” I hang up
and dial his phone hearing it ring from the trunk.

I
call him back. “Hi, it was in the trunk. I’ll have Dad
bring it in tomorrow.”

“Okay
thanks, darlin’, love you.”

“You
too, night.”

Hanging
up, I bring his phone up to my room to charge and get into bed. The
minute I hit the pillow I fall asleep.

I
am woken up by beeping, and cracking an eye open I see a glow on the
wall. Closing my eyes again, I roll over when I hear another beep.
Cursing, I get out of bed and grab the phone. I am met with picture
texts of naked boobs with captions. Another one comes in this time
lower with a crude message written above it.

The
number is private, so I don’t know who they are from because
there is no face, just girly parts. Another message pops up and I
almost vomit. I do not want to see some chick with her legs open. I
am beyond pissed off now. One, because it’s three in the
morning and two because this is Knox’s phone. I’ve never
snooped in his phone, but I know he has been texting a lot in the
last few weeks.

My
inner bitch rears her ugly head and I do it, I snoop. I scroll
through past messages and phone calls. There is nothing odd on the
phone; no other messages like this, but there are a few missed calls
from an unknown number, all after midnight. I put the phone down and
lie on my bed staring at the ceiling. More message come in and a
friend request for his social media page, which I didn’t know
he had. I click on the link and find Meagan has sent the request; my
heart incinerates in my chest.

Scrolling
through his profile all I see are girls, lots and lots of girls. He
has only about fifty friends and I know most them, but some of the
pictures are downright pornographic. Why the fuck do guys do this?
Turning the phone off I put it back on the nightstand and get dressed
to go run. It’s only four in the morning, but it’s not
like I’ll go back to sleep.

Running
around the lake does nothing for me, just makes me angrier every time
I pass my new house. I think of how my life was supposed to go, how
everything seemed okay these last few days, but in all honesty, Knox
and I have been hanging by a thread for a while.

When
I finally get home, my dad is up and drinking coffee. “Wow
sweetheart, you are up earlier than usual.”

“Yeah
couldn’t sleep,” I answer, grabbing water from the
fridge.

“Try
not to let this Ben thing get you down, Bailey. You are moving on,
you bought a house, and you and Knox seem to be doing better.”

“I
know, Dad, I’ll be okay.”

I
kiss his cheek and head up for a shower. Afterward, I grab my bag and
drive to the apartment. I know he will only be getting up now.
Walking into the apartment I find Max wandering around in his boxers.

“Hey
sis, what are you doing here?”

“Hi
Max, put some clothes on,” I walk into the bedroom finding Knox
getting dressed.

“Mornin
darlin’, this is a nice surprise.”

“I
bet it is, I got an even nicer one at three this morning.”

He
frowns at me and tilts his head a little while tying his tie, “What
do you mean?”

Taking
his phone from my pocket I hand it over, he smiles and says thanks
but I don’t return his smile. I’m jealous and angry and
majorly pissed off.

“Darlin’?”

“You
have interesting texts, Knox. Oh and not to forget a social media
profile.”

“You
went through my phone?” he asks, turning it on.

I
don’t answer because I know I am acting like a teenage girl,
but fuck! Who wouldn’t after seeing that shit! The phone beeps
a few times and he opens the messages, shaking his head he looks at
me.

“I
don’t know who this is,” he says, deleting the pictures.

“Well
they know you, by name,” I answer.

“Yeah
I know,” he sighs, “it’s been happening for a
while. She just keeps sending me pictures of her.”

“Yeah
Knox, pull the other fucking leg. You have been texting for months
way more than usual.”

“Are
you kidding me? You think I know this chick?”

Turning,
I leave the room and walk into the kitchen, finding Max dressed for
work and looking at me puzzled.

“Don’t
you even stick up for him,” I snap.

He
holds his hand up and gets up out of the chair. “I love you,
but you’re fucking way off, sis.”

“Sorry
Max,” I sigh.

He
nods and leaves when Knox walks into the kitchen. He looks at me with
that same stupid guilty expression. Tears sting my eyes; I’m so
angry right now.

“I’m
sorry I didn’t tell you about the page, but I know how you feel
about that site.”

“Don’t
even try to put this on me! If you were even thinking about me, you
would have put down that you are in a relationship, not single. And
what’s with all the fucking porn? Who are these people?”

“I
don’t know who they are, just some chicks putting stuff up,”
he answers.

“Yeah
well, make a fucking decision, Knox. Either you want what we can have
or you can go back to being the single twenty-five-year-old guy in
the band.”

Grabbing
my bag, I walk by him, banging my shoulder off his on my way. He
doesn’t call me back and I don’t turn around. I arrive at
college too early. I only have one class today from ten until noon. I
find a quiet corner in the café, pulling out my laptop I get
to work on my program.