Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (17 page)

We
hang up and I go for a shower. The shower gel stings my knee and
hands. Cursing myself for being so stupid and not looking where I was
running, I get out and dry off inspecting the cuts properly now that
they are clean. My knee looks like I got a cheese grater to it and my
hands like I fought with an angry cat. Putting on shorts and a tank I
find, my Sketchers and hop back down the stairs. I check the mail
before leaving. Finding a box from Anderson cosmetics, I smile taking
it to my car.

It
hurts to drive since I hurt my right knee but I manage. Pulling up at
the security arm of the parking lot, I punch in the code and drive
through just as Knox steps out of the truck. I pull in beside him and
open my door. Grabbing the box and my overnight bag from the
passenger seat, I slowly get out of the car.

Knox
laughs. “Wow, you ran that hard darlin’?” I nod as
he walks around the back of my car towards me. I can feel the warm
trickle of blood rolling down my leg and frown. “Jesus Christ!
What happened?” He bends down inspecting my knee.

“I
tripped over a branch.” I shrug and hop forward, but he scoops
me up, shaking his head and carries me to the apartment.

“I think you like carrying
me because you’re secretly a cave man.”

Laughing,
he puts me down at the door. “No because it would take you all
day to get up here.”

He
opens the door and I can smell food.

“Yumm.
What you cooking, babe?”

“Dinner.”
He smirks, walking backwards down the hall. Holding his arms out for
me, as I get closer he moves back laughing.

“Fuck
off.” I laugh at him as he grabs my hand and I wince. “Owe
owe hands!” Pulling my hand away, I show him my palms.

Cocking
an eyebrow he crosses his arms. “That must have been some
fall.”

I
nod, sighing, “Yeah over a branch and down the bank to the
lake, almost went swimming.” He stands staring at me, his frame
almost spanning the width of the hallway. The muscles in his forearm
twitch, as he flex’s his fist. “I fell Knox I swear.”
He relaxes enough to put his hands on his hips, but still he takes
over the whole place. “Move caveman, I’m hungry.” I
smile and hop to him.

Knox
laughs as I try to push past him. “Harder,” he whispers
and my face flames, Which makes him laugh more. Finally I manage to
get the top half of my body by him but with one sidestep, I am
trapped between the wall and him.

“What
the hell are you doing? Let me go.” I laugh as he begins to
tickle me. Finally I just give up and flop against his hip.

“Ha, ha my tough ass girl
giving up?” I nod in defeat as I lie over him like a ragdoll.
He moves and helps me to the kitchen chair. “I don’t
know, darlin’. I think I’ll have to bring you to the gym
with me; get those arms bulked up.” He smiles, opening the oven
and revealing a chicken casserole that smells so good my mouth
waters.

“Yeah,
maybe you should. I need to watch you work out.”

“No
you need to get stronger, weakling.” He kisses my head, putting
my dinner down on the table.

“Mean,
and a caveman,” I tut shaking, my head.

“Mean?
Just wait until I get your ass in the gym, then you will see mean.”
He nods at me, and smiles.

Shit
what did I just agree to? I don’t like lifting weights. I just
like running. Maybe I can weasel out of it.

After
dinner Knox cleans up, checking his watch “Okay sparky, get
changed,” he announces, making me turn in my seat.

“What
for?”

“The
gym, now move your butt.”

Laughing
I turn away; he can’t be serious. I am not going to the gym to
be laughed at by a bunch of dudes checking out their ‘guns’
in the mirror.

“Bailey, come on!” he
shouts from the bedroom, startling me.

“No babe, I am good. Go for
it,” I call back looking for a box cutter to open my Anderson
cosmetics package.

“Now!”
I jump at his voice beside me. Turning me, he lifts me up and brings
me to the room, then looks at my shorts and tank. “You’ll
do.” He winks, lifting his gym bag off the floor.

We
arrive at what looks like a derelict building with trash out front
and a few cars and trucks parked in the gravel beside it. Knox climbs
out of the truck then opens my door. “Let’s go darlin.”
I do my best to walk over, only slightly hopping on my right leg as
we enter I am hit with a god-awful stench of man, and sweat, and man.

“Ugghh!
Jesus, you work out here?” I ask, covering my nose with my
hand.

“Suck
it up, darlin’.” He nudges me with his elbow.

We
walk up to a desk with a monster sitting behind it. “Bro.”
He smiles and does that hand shake thing with Knox who signs us in.
“Who’s the broad?” he asks in a heavy Boston
accent.

Knox
looks at me then turns to answer, “A project.”

I
scoff and whack him on the arm. “Asshole.”

He
laughs at me. “Come on.”

Taking
my hand, he leads me to a bench in front of some dingy lockers that
look like one too many fights have happened to them. We walk across
the floor, my feet catching in the torn bits of carpet. I get a few
stares from guys but Knox keeps walking and I follow. He stops again
by a small leather bench and a wall rack of dumb bells. After
scrutinizing me, he picks up two five-pound weights.

“Here
you go, darlin’.” Taking them, I stand watching as he
chooses two, fifteen-pound weights, and then comes to stand beside
me. “Ready?” he asks me through the mirror on the wall.

Raising
an eyebrow at him, I nod. He tells me how to do a correct bicep curl
then shows me. Damn he looks so fucking sexy lifting weights as his
hair falls into his eyes. I stand there frozen, biting my bottom lip
as I stare at him in the mirror.

“See
something you like, darlin’?” he asks, smirking at me. I
nod as he lifts the weights again, and then puts them down on the
floor. Stepping behind me he holds my hands around the weights and
lifts with me. “See easy, light weight longer reps.” He
kisses my temple and steps away. We lift our weights as Knox counts
the reps. I am watching him the whole time, not even paying attention
to my arms but his. The way his biceps bulge as he curls the weight.

“Bailey.”
he smiles.

“What?”

Laughing
he puts down the weights again. “Darlin’, I know what
you’re thinking. It’s written all over your face.”

Shrugging,
I pretend I don’t know what he is talking about as I continue
my reps. “How many more do I have to do?”

He
watches me for a minute, “A whole lot more, keep going.”
Walking away, he stops to talk to a few guys and they all turn to see
what I am doing. Knox and another guy stop at the bench press. As
Knox lies down, the short sweaty guy spots him. Gross, I wrinkle my
nose and pump away.

“So
Knox got himself a little project?” I see the monster from the
front desk behind me.

“Yeah,
something like that,” I say, counting my reps wishing I could
stop.

“He
likes to bring ‘projects’ here,” he announces,
looking over at Knox.

“Yeah,
like who?” I ask, wondering why Knox would bring girls to this
dump.

“Never
tells us their names; just calls them projects. Last year a brunette
and a few months ago a tight ass blond.” He laughs like that is
the funniest thing in the world.

“Yeah,
what about Max?”

Monster
watches me carefully. “How’d you know Max?”

Smiling
I put my weights down. “From around.”

Monster
looks like he is trying to solve the big bang theory. “I don’t
see it. You’re not Max’s type, but him.” He nods
over to Knox. “He will have you in bed before you even get
wet,” he warns, giving me a stern look before walking away.

Marching
over to Knox with a slight hop in my step, I straddle him on the
bench and he coughs pushing the weight up onto the bar. “Darlin’,”
he warns between his teeth.

“Don’t
darlin’ me.” I point into his face. “How many
chicks have you brought here and when was the last one?”

His
eyes get large and the guy spotting him laughs, crossing his arms
waiting for an answer too.

“Last summer,” Knox
says glaring at the guy but he doesn’t budge.

“When
last summer?” I growl at him.

He
looks a little scared. “July I think.”

Standing
up, I punch him in the stomach and hovel away. “Fuckin asshole,
twenty-one year old punk. Bringing me to this shit hole where he
brought some piece of ass trying to impress us no doubt.
Fuckin..Aggaahh!” I keep on with my grumbling, trying to get
out of here, when monster holds open the door for me.

“Bye.”
He waves.

“Asshole,”
I spit at him.

“Bailey,
wait darlin’.”

Oh
my god! I just want to throw something at him. I stop at the truck,
waiting for him to open it. My hands are sore and I want to wash the
stench of B.O. off me from that damn place. He presses the alarm and
the locks pop. Pulling the door, I climb in and bang my sore knee on
the doorframe.

“Shit!”
I scream.

“Darlin’.”

Turning,
I glare at him. “Shut the fuck up and drive!” I shout
then turn to look out of the window, fuming at myself. No, him for
making me look like a fucking cling-on slut.

Arriving
home I slam his truck door, earning a frown but I walk away trying to
climb the stairs with some dignity but failing.

“Would
you like some help?” he asks from behind me with a hint of
amusement in his tone.

“No,”
I snap as I force my knee to bend and bite my lip at the pain when
the skin splits again.

Knox
opens the door holding it until I pass under his arm. “Bailey,
do you want to tell me what happened back there?” Marching into
the bathroom, I slam the door and sit on the toilet lid. Wetting some
tissue, I dab the blood on my knee. Knox opens the door and walks in
looking down at me. “Bailey?”

Shaking
my head, I keep dabbing my knee. “Go away, Knox. I can’t
believe you took me to a nasty gym where you brought skanks only a
few months ago. You made me look like a slut chasing you.”

He
kneels down in front of me, lifting the wet tissue off of my knee.
“Darlin’, I never brought a skank there. The only two
chicks I did bring there were trying to get in shape and asked me for
help both times. You and I were not together because you, my dear,
were still in Grove High school.” He looks at me.

“Oh.”
Taking a deep breath, he brushes his fingers across my cheek.

“Bailey,
what is going on? This jealousy shit is not like you and honestly I
don’t like it.”

Bringing
my hands to my head, I cover my face. “I don’t know what
is wrong with me. Maybe living together was a bad move.”

He
takes my hands away, looking annoyed at me. “No that is not it
so spill or I will walk away, Bailey. I don’t want to but
you’re making me crazy worrying about you.”

I
am shocked. Did he just say we would be over? Knox of all people, I
thought he understood me, and what I am going through. His own heart
was broken and he grieved for nearly a year but I can’t? I have
to smile on the outside and pretend that life is fucking perfect
while I break all over again on the inside. Hot tears course down my
cheeks as I stand.

“I thought you loved me no
matter what?” I ask. Walking out of the room.

“I do. Darlin’, but I
want to know what is going on inside your head. How can I help when I
don’t know what to do?”

“Help!
How can you help? Can you raise the dead? Can you magically stop some
psycho from sending me dead flowers and notes wishing me dead? No you
can’t so how the hell can you help me when I can’t even
help myself?” Kicking off my shoes, I climb onto the bed and
hug his pillow.

“That’s
my pillow,” he jokes, but I am not in the mood so I throw it at
him.

“Take
it. You’re just like everyone else; always taking from me
leaving me empty.”

Knox
sits on the bed. “I don’t think so, darlin’. I give
more than I get and that is how I got fucked over the first time.”

I
jump up, wiping my eyes. “Are you serious? Do you really think
that I don’t love you? That I don’t hurt when we are not
together. If I didn’t love you then I would have walked away
last year when you had your make out session with the very person who
fucked you over.” I watch him flinch as I shout at him and his
eyes get sad.

“Okay,
well I guess you do love me,” he says quietly getting off the
bed.

“Don’t
walk out, Knox.” He stops at the door with his hands on his
hips and his face tilted toward the ceiling. “Don’t leave
me alone like everyone else has. Everyone I love is gone and you’re
all I have left.” My voice cracks as I say the words and I know
deep down that I have feared it for a long time; feared that he would
leave me for someone who wasn’t so messed up.

“I’m
getting some water. I’ll be back.” He walks out of the
room, leaving me alone.

I
know he is trying to figure out what to do but I will make it easier
on him. Climbing off of the bed, I put my shoes back on and pack up
my stuff walking out of the room. I can hear him in the kitchen
pacing around and I hear the crunch of the plastic bottle as he
drinks. I open the front door and leave, feeling numb and alone; it’s
nothing new.

“Get
back in; here we are not done.” I force myself down the stairs
as Knox huffs. Following me, he steps in front of me on a lower step
so we are eye to eye. “I said we are not done. You don’t
get to run away, Bailey. Not now, not ever, so suck it up, and get
your ass back upstairs and talk to me.” He points over my
shoulder and glares at me until I backtrack my steps. “Now sit
down because we are talking.”

I
sit on the bed feeling a little scolded as Knox sits in front of me
with his back to the foot of the bed and his leg bent in front of
him.