Relativity (17 page)

“He’s always been a super nice guy and he was acting like he wanted to shank me when I started waiting on you to get off work so I was suspicious. It’s so obvious that he’s just using that girl to get your attention,” he rattles off, eyeballing the rest of my apple. I hand it to him, smiling.

“And you’re just cool with it?” I ask, hoping he’s right about Greer even though I know it doesn’t make a difference.

“It’s complicated for sure. I mean, you and Nat have been friends forever and she’s going to feel betrayed when she finds out, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she has some skeletons of her own and they aren’t named Connor,” he smirks.

“Jesus, who are you?
Gossip Girl
?” I tease.

“Oh, and just a little heads up, I got caught in a bit of a delicate situation with two juniors after prom the other night so if you used me as an alibi, you might have some damage control to do.” With that, he tosses the now nibbled-to-the-core apple on his pizza plate and strolls off, winking at me as he goes.

******

The chat with Tate made me feel a little better but I’m still feeling rather on edge today. I just hope I can keep my shit together at work tonight.

Knox’s Jeep is already here when I pull the van behind the restaurant to park. I let myself in the back door and hear humming. Greer must have made him pretty damn happy last night if he’s still whistling. I wonder if I ever made him whistle.

I pass by the refrigerator, hating that I still fantasize about dragging him in there and having my way with him. My body craves him no matter what words are spoken between us.

“I’m here,” I announce, warning him.

“Well, hi there, Ripley,” Mr. Parsons says, cheerfully. I’m stunned to see him standing where I expected Knox to be. A look of disappointment must cross my face even though I try not to let it show.

“Hi, Mr., uh, Chad,” I correct myself, still not used to using his first name.

“It looks like we both got played,” he jokes.

“Natalie had some errands to run,” I lie, hating that I still automatically cover for her.

He tosses a giant bag of flour on his shoulder and carries it into a closet full of extra supplies. “Yes, apparently Knox had some life-altering things to attend to as well and he had to use my truck. Plus, he’s super pissed at Bea and I for separating.”

An awkward silence hangs over the kitchen as I tie my apron around my waist. I busy myself stocking toppings to prepare for the upcoming night. “I’m sorry about that,” I force out.

“It was a long time coming. The kids don’t believe me but Bea and I have gotten along better in the last few days since we finally made the decision then we have in the last ten years. Some people just aren’t meant to be together.”

“It’s still really sad though,” I reply, ripping open a giant container of pepperoni.

He stops what he’s doing and says, “You’re right. It is.” But no matter what he says he seems happier than I’ve seen him in a long time and I wonder if Natalie might be right about him having an affair. I never thought he was the type, but how can you really tell?

“I think my dad is dating already,” I blurt out. I gasp, not believing that I just said those words out loud.

I glance up at Chad and his kind eyes are smiling back at me but there isn’t a hint of surprise or judgment in them.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of soon?” I ask, figuring I’ll go for broke now that I’ve let that secret slip.

“He’s just trying to figure out life without your mom,” he says, but his voice catches, betraying what he really thinks.

“Please don’t tell anybody,” I beg, hoping Dad and Karen don’t go running around town, arm in arm quite yet.

“Not in a million years,” he promises, making a zipping motion across his mouth. “But do me a favor and give your dad the benefit of the doubt. As much as we think we know somebody, sometimes we can’t ever know what’s truly in their heart.”

His cryptic response just confuses me more but at least I know he won’t tell anybody and that’s the important thing. He flips on a radio and we spend the rest of the hour before opening prepping the restaurant, lost in our own thoughts.

I never understood what the expression-shit eating grin-meant until Knox comes strolling through the door. I want to smack the I’m-so-happy-because-I just-got-laid expression right off of him but I just continue wiping down the chalk wall so another day of proclamations of love can start fresh.

“Hey, queenie,” he jokes, not bothering to make eye contact.

I don’t even acknowledge him, although my body does involuntarily.

Natalie flies in fifteen minutes late, her hair disheveled and her T-shirt wrinkled. I won’t even look at her. She’s been reduced to fucking in the back of Cale’s car on his lunch break and it makes me sick. Then, I remember how Knox made me come against the counter where we prep pizzas and I don’t feel quite so high and mighty anymore.

I curse myself for dredging up the memory of the last time Knox touched me. My panties get damp almost immediately thinking about his hands on me. I force myself to think about him with Greer and it cools me down pretty quick.

Luckily, people are showing up for dinner and we are all too busy to do anything but our jobs. It isn’t a crazy night but it is still busy enough that I don’t have to talk to Natalie or Knox about anything but pizza and refills.

I’m just about to flip the sign on the door to closed when a deputy walks through the door. I recognize him immediately. He is one of the officers that came to the house the night that Mom died.

“Is it too late to get a couple pies?” he asks, a smile spreading across his face.

“Um, I’ll check,” I answer, flipping the sign to closed, and hiding my face. The last thing I’m in the mood for tonight is the officer recognizing me and that now familiar look of pity killing the obvious good mood he’s in. I scurry past him and plow right into Knox coming around the corner.

He grips my arms to steady me, oblivious to the fact that him touching me has more effect on my body than our collision.

“There’s a cop out here that wants some pizzas,” I tell him, careful not to look up and lose myself in his eyes.

“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” I hear the cop asking me. He’s moved to the counter where he can see us.

“I don’t think so,” I murmur, pulling away from Knox and rushing to clean the dining area and get out of this guy’s line of sight before he recognizes me. I glance up just long enough to see Knox raise an eyebrow, obviously wondering why a cop would know me.

I hear Knox’s surprised voice behind me as he recognizes the cop.

“Holy shit, would you look at this? The city of Jasper made one of the biggest juvenile delinquents I’ve ever met into a cop,” he booms, his voice laced with laughter.

“Knox! I didn’t realize you were back, buddy. How’s it going?” the cop responds, pounding Knox on the back.

Mr. Parsons greets the cop and asks him what he kind of pizzas he wants then busies himself prepping and baking them while Knox visits with his friend. I watch Natalie swipe her dad’s phone when he isn’t looking and disappear into the refrigerator.

“Ripley, it’s ten, you can take off,” Mr. Parsons tells me.

“I’m almost finished,” I yell, wiping off the last few tables and making my way through the dining room, flipping chairs upside down, trying to disguise my eavesdropping. Besides, I don’t want to give the cop another close up of me. I know it isn’t the end of the world if he recognizes me but I just want to make it through one day of being just Ripley and not the girl whose mother died.

Knox and this guy are obviously old friends so they’ll be catching up on each other’s lives. I have to know if Knox brings up Greer. It is stupid and unproductive but I don’t care.

“I thought for sure you’d re-enlist,” the cop says, taking a seat at the counter. “Chicks dig a sailor.”

Knox laughs and replies, “I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, man.”

“Nothing wrong with that. We’re still young’un’s,” the cop jokes.

“How about you, man? Is that badge real?” Knox teases.

“It better be. I paid five bucks for it.
America’s Most Wanted
doesn’t exactly scout Jasper but there’s enough petty stuff to keep me busy. I don’t get to bust any serial killers or anything, but some of the work is kind of fun.”

“Plus, you get to drive fast and mess with those lights and sirens,” Knox reminds him.

“Those are definitely a perk,” he agrees.

“Give me some dish, dude. I want to know the secrets of the good folks of Jasper,” Knox says, encouraging him. I can feel his eyes on me and I can’t stop myself from bending over a little further than necessary, just to give him a show.

“Well, it’s all supposed to be really confidential these days and stuff,” he says, in a hushed voice. “But this is just too good to keep to myself. The other night I get a phone call from John Fonner, you remember him out there at the edge of town.”

I see Knox nod, riveted, out of the corner of my eye.

“He heard something suspicious out in his barn and wanted me to check it out. So I roll up all stealthy and shit. I’ve got my gun drawn totally expecting like Freddy Krueger to jump out and guess what I find?” He is really animated and practically bursting with excitement. I almost laugh but I don’t want them to remember I’m here, although I know Knox hasn’t forgotten.

“Don’t leave me in suspense, Officer Wheeler,” Knox teases, throwing a dishtowel over his shoulder. I long to be that towel draped over his shoulder and down his chest.

“It was so awesome. It was the only time I’ve ever actually wished I had on one of those body cameras the department keeps threatening to buy.”

“Just tell me already,” Knox begs. He looks so adorable joking around with his high school buddy. I could watch him all night.

“So I creep in and see these three kids going at it like crazy,” he says.

“Having sex?” Knox clarifies.

The officer nods his head, excitedly. “I haven’t even told you the best part yet,” he says.

I feel sick because I have a feeling I know exactly what he is going to say as Tate’s words on the quad come back to me. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions. The minute these words leave the cop’s mouth Knox is going to know I lied about being with Tate in the hotel room and then he will want to know why. He isn’t stupid and eventually he is going to figure out that I was covering for Natalie.

“So, he’s drilling away on one girl, her prom dress practically drowning her, and the other girl is behind him doing stuff that my fiancée won’t even do,” he laughs. “And the whole time, he’s got this crown on. I guess he was the prom king but, seriously dude, I felt like I busted in on some weird ass porno being filmed. It was classic.”

I stop wiping the tables and meet Knox’s eyes head on. I didn’t expect to feel so relieved that he knows the truth. Natalie is just going to have to clean up her own mess. I need to start worrying about myself.

“Why were they in a barn?” Knox asks, confusion clouding his beautiful features.

“You remember what it’s like, man. When you’re that age, you just fuck wherever you can. I guess the kid does some odd jobs for John so that’s why he picked his barn. I told them to get dressed and hit the road.”

“Here you go, Officer Wheeler,” Mr. Parsons says, handing the cop three pizza boxes.

“Awesome seeing you guys,” he says, making his way out of the restaurant.

I see Mr. Parson’s pat his back pocket, searching for his phone. Natalie is still AWOL looking for clues on it. I should probably try to distract him but I don’t even care if she gets caught.

Knox walks toward me but I can’t read him. He should be happy knowing that I wasn’t at the hotel with Tate. I know it probably doesn’t matter because he is with Greer now but I know he must have had some feelings for me because I couldn’t have imagined everything.

We continue walking toward each other and I fantasize that he is going to wrap his arms around me and kiss me passionately. To hell with anyone who doesn’t want us to be together. Natalie isn’t exactly begging for my approval with her love life and Dad seems to be ready to move on with his so why shouldn’t I be happy?

He stops in front of me, still unreadable.

“Why, Ripley?”

I know he wants to know why I lied but I don’t know how to answer. I just shrug my shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

“I am, too. You’ll never know how much. Because after everything we’ve been though, I still thought there was a chance. But now I know there isn’t. Anything I might have felt for you is dead.”

His words hit me like a burst of rogue wind to the face. I can’t catch my breath. The words he’s saying are all wrong. He’s supposed to be telling me how happy he is that I wasn’t with Tate and that no matter why I lied to him, we’ll figure it out. That we’ll be together forever.

“Knox,” I beg, choking on his name.

“I thought I knew you,” he says, shaking his head violently. “But I don’t know who
you
are.”

His eyes burn through me and it almost brings me to my knees because I finally understand. He thinks I was in the barn.

Instead of running after Knox and explaining that the cop didn’t recognize me from a threesome in a barn, but because he brought me the worse news of my life, I stood rooted to the floor of the restaurant. After a few minutes, I gathered my things and went home.

I pull into the driveway, barely remembering how I got here. When did my life get so damn complicated? When mom died it seemed to have a domino effect on my life. A bad day used to be when I slopped spaghetti sauce down the front of a new outfit. Now, a bad day is being forced to make a choice between my best friend and the man I love.

Dad is asleep in his recliner when I quietly open the front door. I go around turning off the television and all the lights then make my way upstairs. I take a shower to wash the smell of food off me then slip on my coziest pair of pajamas and crawl into bed with my phone.

I dial Mom’s number, knowing I will only hear her voice for a few seconds and I’ll never be able to tell her everything in the few seconds I get to leave a message but just hearing her brings me a small amount of comfort. I wonder if she was still here if I would have told her about Knox or Natalie. Probably not, because I would still be clueless about how lucky I was to have her in the first place.