Infinity & Always (20 page)

His
answer is final, turning he hands me back my ring and looks
disappointed doing it.

“You
know, you made me a promise that you would never take this off, but
you’ve done it twice already. Correct me if I’m wrong,
but I get the feeling you don’t really want to marry me.”

Getting
up off the bed he walks out of the room bringing his pillow with him.
Putting my ring back on, I groan kicking my feet in frustration.
After a while the apartment is quiet and dark, the clock says four
thirty now and my eyes hurt from lack of sleep. Climbing off the bed
I put on my running gear and head out. I run around the campus track
until my legs ache and turn to jelly, letting me know I pushed myself
too hard.

I
lie down on the grass and stare up at the sky, wishing I could fly up
there. My music is off and I clear my mind of all the clutter and
bullshit, everything is out of control. Hot angry, frustrated tears
drip from my eyes down my temples. I watch the sun rise from my spot
on the grass, and watch it move towards the arts building. Once it
passes behind the metal and glass structure, I begin to walk back
home.

My
steps are slow, not from the aching muscles but because I am weighted
down again, with worry, with anger and with sheer disappointment.
When I arrive home, I hear laughter from the kitchen, shaking my head
I run a bath, locking myself in the bathroom. Sinking down into the
water I try to block out the fun being had in the other room, maybe
being an only child I just don’t get it.

Maybe
I don’t understand the dynamics of brothers, let alone twins.
Supposedly twins are closer than normal siblings, but how would I
know what they feel on a deeper level. A knock at the door draws my
attention, Paige asks if I’m okay and I tell her yes. She
leaves me alone to stay in my bath until the water runs cold. I don’t
bother moving, then either.

“Hey
Darlin', can I come in?”

“No.”

“Please?”

I
don’t answer him again, the door is locked, and I’m not
moving to open it. Paige says goodbye sometime later, telling me that
she and Max are going for lunch. When the front door closes, Knox
gently knocks on the door again.

“Baby,
you okay in there?”

Silence.

“If
you don’t answer I’ll have to break down the door and
then the landlord will be up my ass and you will be mad,” he
says.

Sighing,
I sit up making the water slosh around, reaching for the plug I let
the water drain and climb out. Wrapping a towel around myself I open
the door and walk into my room getting followed by him.

“Darlin’,
your lips are turning blue, what the hell?”

He
reaches for me, but I duck out of the way, resting his hands on his
hips he sighs.

“Can
you leave while I dress?”

“What
for, I’ve seen you naked millions of times.”

“I
don’t want you in here right now.”

“You
don’t want me seeing something I’ve had my mouth all
over?” he smirks at me.

I
turn away to hide my smile because it’s true he has kissed
every inch of my body, his warm hands circle my waist. He holds me
for a few minutes allowing his body heat to penetrate me, warming up
my whole body. He starts kissing the back of my neck and down my
shoulder.

“I’m
not having sex with you.”

Stepping
away from him, I pull some clothes from the drawers. Knox takes my
hands and places them on his shoulders.

“I
don’t want to have sex with you darlin’.”

He
grabs my thighs and lifts me up onto his waist. I lock my ankles
together and he just holds me, running his hands up and down my back
while his head rests on my chest.

“I’m
sorry darlin’…”

“Stop,
I don’t want to hear that word anymore.”

He
nods his head, kissing me at the base of my throat. His tongue dips
into the hollow point as he tastes my skin.

“Darlin’,
I love you more than anything in the world, you know that right?”

“Yes,
Knox I do but I don’t like you fighting with Max about our
friendship,” I sigh, trying to get down but he holds me
tighter.

“We
weren’t fighting about you darlin’. Well at first it was,
but afterward we went out for a ride, we’re good.”

Shrugging
my shoulders, I nod, accepting his statement, finally deciding that I
don’t get it because I don’t have a brother or sister.
Knox carries me into the kitchen placing me on the chair. He makes me
some lunch taking the seat beside me. I don’t get his one-
eighty mood swing but I’ll just go with it for now.

Knox

Watching
Bailey stew in annoyance about Max and I is killing me, but I made
him promise he wouldn’t say anything to her about the accident.
I’ll admit, when I saw them in bed like that I was pissed but
after a few minutes of killing zombies I realized what a dick I was
being. Even thinking they would do anything together is funny. I know
they are close, but it really is more like a brother-sister thing.

We
eat in silence and she keeps looking down at the charms on her wrist.
I hope she doesn’t think I was anything but truthful when I
told her what they were. My face fucking hurts like hell and my back.
I don’t think I could even have sex if I wanted to right now.
Getting up, I grab my medicine and some Advil for my pain and swallow
them fast so she won’t see. Max said he would call Dad and let
him know we are okay. I never thought she would start calling
hospitals or my dad.

We
only have today and tomorrow off before I go back to work, so I want
to hang out with her alone. Prove I’m not the asshole she said
I was, and that slap; fuck did that hurt, she is way stronger than
she thinks. It actually started my headache again it was so hard.

“Do
you want to go see a movie darlin’?” I ask, wanting to
get out of here with her. She sighs while she thinks for a few
minutes then finally agrees. I hide my smile behind my hand because I
know she doesn’t want to be mad at me but is trying to keep up
the show.

“Okay,
I’ll wait for you to get dressed while I check out what’s
on.”

She
leaves the room and I clean up our dishes and wait for her, the only
thing playing is some chick flick and a Christmas ghost movie. When
she comes back, I can’t help the smile I give her. She is so
fucking beautiful, her jeans hug her ass, and the sweater is clinging
to every beautiful part of her. Her hair brushes off the top of that
amazing ass and I want to reach out to wrap it around my hand.

Standing,
I take her hand and we leave the apartment. I actually love holding
her hand. It’s tiny inside mine, her delicate fingers thread
through mine as we walk down the street. I love this, I love that
such a simple act can tell the world that she is mine and I am hers
and nobody is breaking us apart.

When
we arrive at the cinema I get us tickets and she gets the popcorn and
all the other junk food she buys when we come here. I watch her wait
in line and check her out. I can see a few guys doing the same, and
while it used to bother me it doesn’t anymore. Unless they put
their hand on her, then, of course, they will be fucking sorry.

“Can
you grab these?”

She
asks, trying not to drop the bag of candy between her teeth, taking
it out of her mouth I swoop in and kiss her. I get a beautiful smile
in return and a view of her perfect ass as she walks in front of me.
We take a seat up the very top and settle in to watch this ghost
thing. The movie is a little weird, suspenseful but Bailey seems to
like it so far. Her hand is crushing my arm and I laugh at her.

“What?”
she asks.

“Nothing
darlin’, you scared?” I tease. She shakes her head no
while looking at the screen.

“Oh,
no don’t go in there,” she says. “He’s in
there…oh, look in the corner!”

I’m
laughing at her shouting at the girl in the movie, then she turns to
me.

“Did
you see that?” she asks, shaking her head in disbelief.

“No
sorry, I missed it.”

She
lets out a sigh then rests her head on my shoulder grumbling about
the girl in the movie. Kissing her head, I pull her closer to me and
relax back, the movie ends with the girl getting away from the creep.
Bailey stands up and stretches, her sweater rises up and I get a
glimpse of her stomach, leaning forward I place a kiss on it.

“What
was that for?” she smiles, down at me.

“No
reason,” taking her hand I follow her out. We walk down the
street with me pulling her closer to me.

“Am
I forgiven?”

“What
for?” she asks.

“For
being a douche.”

“You’re
always a douche,” she laughs, trying to pull away from me.

“That
so?” I tickle her ribs making her squirm against me. “So
I was thinking,” I start and she bursts out laughing, stopping
I look down at her.

“Did
it hurt babe?” she grins up at me and I just shake my head at
her.

“You’re
mean spirited darlin’, I had something really important to
say.”

I
pout for good measure and she frowns at me. I know I have her now,
but I wait a little bit.

“I’m
sorry babe I was just teasing,” her face falls a little and I
grin at her. She threatens me bodily harm and punches me on the arm.

“Okay,
okay, seriously…” I start and pull her close to me
again, “I was thinking of a June wedding.”

My
heart speeds up a little just throwing it out there like that, but I
want to marry this girl. I want to see her walking towards me in a
white dress. I want her to know that she is everything to me and
always will be.

“June,
of this year?”

She
looks a horrified when she tilts her head to me and my heart has just
crash- landed in my stomach.

“Yeah,”
I sigh, “you graduate in May, and you said you wanted to wait
until after that and you have a job already. You practically own
Mortenson Engineering, so what are you waiting for?”

“It’s kind of soon, no?”

She
chews on her bottom lip while she contemplates. I want to scream it
from the rooftops, I want to marry her and yes this June.

“Not
really darlin’, I mean if you don’t want to marry me…”
she cuts off my sentence with an elbow to my gut.

“I
never said I don’t want to marry you, but I don’t know. I
mean I’m only twenty-three.”

“So,
I’m only twenty-five,” I reply.

My
heart begins to pick up speed again, she hasn’t flat out said
no and I can see she is thinking it over. I begin chanting in my
head, please say yes, please say yes. She stays silent as we walk
further down the street and I’m not above begging, I’ll
get down on my knees right here, right now, if I have too.

“It
doesn’t matter,” I mumble.

“Don’t
be like that Knox, I love you, and you know it.”

Yeah,
I do, but I want to marry you! I shout in my head. She takes my hands
in hers and looks down at our rings. I even went as far as wearing a
black-banded ring to show that I am taken, not that it stopped some
chicks. My heart is still beating fast and I know my eyes are
pleading with her when she finally looks up at me.

“You
seriously want to marry me? That badly?” Her question is full
of disbelief and surprise.

“Yes,
darlin’ I do, I’d marry you right now if I could. I want
to make you Mrs. Bailey Porter.”

She
gives me her cute smile, the one I get when she is thinking about how
much she loves me. Leaning forward I give her a light kiss on the
lips while holding her hands against my chest.

“You’re
really serious about this, huh?”

I
nod my head resting my forehead against hers. “Okay then, this
June it is,” she smiles.

“Yeah?
You’re sure?”

She
nods at me and I pick her up twirling her around the street. “I
love you darlin’.”

“I
know, now take me home and show me what our honeymoon will be like.”

She
smiles at me and her blue eyes sparkle, taking her hand we walk very
fast up the street. Glancing over at her she gives me a quick look
from under her lashes.

How
the fuck did I get so lucky?

After
our honeymoon escapade, Knox and I start looking online at wedding
venues. I’m terrified and nervous, but also really happy.

“How
about Edgewater?”

I
type in the hotel name and wait for the site to open. Knox sits
beside me as it appears. He whistles low and his eyes shine.

“It’s
beautiful darlin’, but it’s kind of expensive.”

“We
can check out the prices and they have a coordinator to help.”

He
purses his lips as we flick through the pictures of the ocean view
terrace and the ballroom, the dining hall and best of all, the bridal
suite. He scratches his face and looks at me.

“Is
this what you want?” He asks, slipping his arm around the back
of my chair.

“It’s
just an option,” I shrug, in answer.

“If
you want it, then go get it darlin’, just send me the bill.”

“Babe,
if we are doing this, then it’s fifty-fifty okay?”

He
gives me his stern face, but I roll my eyes at it and kiss him
instead. After some back and forth about the cost, he finally caves
and agrees to let me pay for half.

“I
should call and see if they have any dates available, it is kind of
soon.”

“Okay,
I’m going for a shower and I have to call my dad anyway.”

He
kisses me once more and leaves. Grabbing my phone I call the hotel
and keep my fingers crossed. The coordinator tells me June is fully
booked, but she just got a cancelation for the end of July, without
thinking I agree. We set up a meeting for next Saturday morning so
Knox and I can go view the room and pick our menu. We have to choose
next week because of the time frame.