Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (4 page)

“Here
darlin’.” He winks, setting it in front of me.

I
take a sip, as Knox’s father looks at me.

“That’s
an unusual drink for a girl,” he says, watching me.

“I
am an unusual girl,” I answer opening, my textbook.

Knox
squeezes my hand. “Do you want to study in the back darlin’?”

I
shake my head no, smiling at him.

“What
are you studying?” Mr. Porter asks.

I
am not sure if I should be conversing with him but I reply, “Forensic
computers.”

He
nods. “That sounds interesting.”

Knox
is boiling. “Will you leave my girlfriend alone? Don’t
you think fucking one was enough?”

“I
am only talking to the girl, Knox, nothing more,” his dad says,
holding up his hands.

Knox
takes out his phone, punching out a text, but he stays close to me
until his dad leaves.

“Good
night Knox, young lady.” He nods to us, walking out of the bar.

“Darlin’,
I am closing early. I just text George and he said it’s okay.”

I
smile at him “Sounds good, babe. More time together.”

He
looks at me curiously. “What do you mean?”

I
smile at him. “Well I will tell you when I get back from my
pizza run.” I step behind the bar, kissing him.

“Hurry
back, I miss you already” he says, slapping my ass as I leave.

Walking
out of the bar I am met with a cold wind that makes me shiver; I
should have brought a jacket. I run across the road towards Pizza
Mia.

“Bailey,”
I hear from behind me and spin around to see Mr. Porter.

“Can
I help you?” I ask, backing up as he nears me.

“I
just want to talk for a minute,” he says reaching my side.

“I
am going for food.” I start walking away,

“I
just want to know how my son is. He won’t talk to me at all. He
won’t even give me a chance to explain.”

I
stop walking “Look Mr. Porter, Knox told me what happened with
Lindsey and I don’t want to get in the middle of it. She
already tried splitting Knox and me up. She is a viper and one day I
will kick her ass, so you tell her to stay the fuck away from my
boyfriend,” I snap at him.

I
am so sick of her interfering in my life. She was all over Knox when
she heard about Max. She couldn’t keep her evil nose out of our
business.

“I
haven’t seen her since that night,” he says, looking
sick. “I didn’t know she was still here.”

I
shrug. “I need to go,” I tell him, walking away from him.
By the time I get back to the bar Knox is pacing.

“Bailey what took you so
long?” He grabs my hands, inspecting every inch of me with his
eyes.

“Knox, I am fine. Chill
out,” I tell him and he relaxes and begins kissing me.

“Here
have your pizza.” I hand him the box, as I sit down on the
stool. “Why doesn’t George just close on Thursday’s?”

Knox
shrugs. “I don’t know. Max is off Thursday anyway, so I
am used to it.”

“What
time are we leaving?” I ask him.

“What
did you mean more time together?” he asks back and I smile.

“My dad left this morning
for two weeks,” I reply and Knox turns on his stool to face me.

“Really?
And when were you going to tell me?” He kisses my temple.

“That
would be now, baby.”

He
hums as he nuzzles my ear. “Can’t wait, do I have clothes
there?”

I
nod.

“Of
course you do babe, I am your girlfriend.”

I
feel him smile against my neck. “Yes you are darlin’.”

By
ten o’clock we are locking up the bar climbing into my car.
Knox is yawning all the way home.

“You
tired babe?” I ask and he smiles over at me.

“Yeah I am darlin’,
but I don’t have classes until noon so I can stay in bed.”
He continues to smile at me.

“Yeah
but my classes start at nine,” I reply and he groans.

“No Bailey, then just take
me home. I need sleep.” I laugh at him as I pull into the
garage.

“No
Knox, you are home.”

He
follows me into the house, wrapping his arms around me. “Okay,
so I am home, now what?” He kisses my neck.

“Now
bed, babe,” I say, patting his hands.

“My
kinda girl.”

By
the time I wash my face and climb into bed, Knox is dead to the
world. I brush the stray hairs out of his eyes, kissing his lips.

“Night
babe,” I whisper as his arms close around me, pulling me into
him.

“Love
you darlin’,” he whispers before his breathing steadies
again.

I
lay awake for a while just watching the moon through my window,
Thinking of Max. He looks terrible, almost emaciated. I need to bring
him food more often just to get him back to normal.

In
the middle of the night I wake to Knox squeezing me hard. I try
turning but he has a firm grip on me.

“Babe”
I say, I try to shake him. He groans then mumbles something. I guess
he is having bad dreams again. “Knox, wake up.”

I
push back at him until he moves his arms, letting me breathe then he
rolls onto his back finding sleep again, I however, can’t seem
to let my mind rest enough to sleep. I wake up to my alarm at six
o’clock so I guess I must have gotten some kind of sleep but I
am still tired. Climbing out of bed, I put on my running clothes and
take the back stairs down. Reaching the lake, I smile and watch the
sun ascend on the world, casting a beautiful orange glow.

I
take off on my path around the lake with my music pushing me on. By
the second lap I am finally starting to wake up and pump my legs
harder. Running gives me peace and time to think about things like
Max and Knox and this whole business with their dad. Hopefully they
can fix what is left of their relationship. As I round my last lap I
slow down. Once I reach our garden furniture I stretch my legs. I
notice a white van pull out of the drive so I walk over to the front
door. I pick up the box, and taking it into the kitchen, I grab the
box cutter and open it. Peering inside, I see another bunch of dead
roses and a note. My hand shakes as I reach inside, taking the note
over to the window I pull it open staring at the message.

Do
you miss me? I hope you like the flowers RIP Bailey.

Grabbing
the flowers, I run out to the trashcan and dump them inside. Standing
on the porch ledge, I kick them further down taking my anger out on
the dead flowers.

“Well
that’s not something you see every day,” Knox says and I
look up to see him smirking at me with his arms crossed over his
chest. He must think I am a lunatic, kicking the crap out of the
trash at seven in the morning.

Lifting
my leg out of the trashcan, I jump off the porch and walk over to
him. “Morning,” I mumble as I hug him.

“Yeah
mornin darlin’. What was that about?” he asks, following
me into the house.

“Nothing
I am going for a shower.” I run up to my room and pace for a
few minutes, trying to calm down.

After
my shower I walk into the bedroom and find Knox sitting on my bed
holding the note I left on the window seat.

“So
care to explain?” he asks, patting the bed beside him.

I
sit down, resting my head on his shoulder as he wraps his arm around
my waist.

“I
don’t know who is doing it but I am not letting it bother me.”
I sigh as he kisses my head.

“Yeah
darlin’, but this is serious shit.”

I
nod, looking up into his eyes. “I know but we have Max to think
about so lets just forget it. Besides it’s probably some idiot
having a laugh.” Knox’s handsome face creases as he
frowns at me and I run my hand down his jaw. “I need to get to
class,” I say, kissing him quickly then get dressed.

Max

Waking
up in a hospital sucks, everyone is milling around but no one says
hello or asks how you are doing. They all keep to themselves as they
hustle and bustle around the place. I am getting pissed off lying
here; I need something to do. Paige never came by last night and is
not answering her phone. I don’t understand what is going on
with her or us for that matter. Does she not want to be with me
anymore because I knocked her up? Or is she waiting for me to make
some kind of decision? All I know is that being in here with all
these thoughts is getting me down.

Looking
up, I see May my morning nurse, come into my room smiling at me. She
looks to be about fifty or maybe a little older, and she kind of
reminds me of a voodoo lady from New Orleans; she would play a good
one on TV.

“Morning
sugar.” She smiles, moving my blanket.

“Another
sponge bath?” I ask, a little dubious about these baths.

“Yes sugar, every morning
unless you want bed sores from lying on your ass.” She winks at
me. I have to say she is one upfront outspoken lady and I like it.
She gets to work on the top of my legs where the cast starts.

“Do
you know when I’ll get these off?” I nod at the casts.

“About
another week I think.” She moves to my arms and chest.

“Ready
for your back, sugar?”

Not
really but I nod anyway, bracing myself as she lifts me forward. Fuck
this kills. I breathe hard, and she lets me down and wipes the sweat
off my face and neck.

“Now
sugar, all done.” She pats my hand before leaving the room.

I
need more pain meds for that. Jesus, it hurts. Picking up my phone, I
scroll through my emails; nothing interesting, only junk and spam.
Man I am bored senseless in this place. I text Knox to see if he will
be in today and my phone beeps straight away, at least I can count on
him.

Knox
arrives by nine o’clock. I am surprised to see him but he
closes the curtains and sits on the bed.

“Hey
Max, I can’t stay long I have class at noon.” I nod.

“Yeah cool, I wasn’t
expecting you until later anyway. How’d you sneak by the
nurses?” He just grins and I roll my eyes. “So what has
you here this early?”

He
runs his hand through his hair and closes his eyes. When he opens
them, he looks about ten years older.

“Bailey
got another bunch of those dead roses and a card saying RIP Bailey.”

I
frown; I don’t know what he is talking about and I shake my
head. He tells me about the other bunches of dead flowers she has
gotten.

“Has she gone to the cops?”
I ask because I mean, that would be the obvious thing to do.

“No
she thinks it’s someone fooling around.”

I
watch him get more pissed off as he is telling me about this, Knox
the protector. He was always looking out for me, and mom. Sometimes
it’s hard to believe we are twins; he seems to have more wisdom
in his eyes than me or maybe he has had to grow up a bit quicker
after Lindsey fucked him over.

“It will be okay. She is a
tough chick, maybe you can gently persuade her to go to the cops,”
I suggest and he laughs at me.

“Yeah
maybe” Climbing off the bed, he gives me a hug.

”See
you later, bro.”

I
nod and watch him leave. The two nurses in the hallway stop talking
and follow him with their eyes; one of them biting her bottom lip and
it makes me laugh. Good ole oblivious Knox.

Bailey

Knox
drops me off at campus and I let him borrow my car to go see Max. I
won’t lie this flower business is starting to freak me out
again. I just can’t figure out who would be doing this or why.
I know it’s not Stacey, she admitted to everything except the
flowers. So who the hell else could it be?

By
lunch I am sitting at my bench on the quad reading for my next class.

“Hey
beautiful.” I look up, and smile at Knox as he leans down to
kiss me. I will never get tired of his kisses; they make my knees
weak and my stomach churn.

“Hi.”
I smile as he sits down beside me.

“I
brought you lunch.” He winks, taking out a pizza slice from
Mia’s making me laugh.

“How
thoughtful of you.”

We
eat our pizza slices while I read my notes and Knox plays with my
hair.

“How’s Max?” I
ask, looking up to him.

“He’s
good, waiting for Paige to show up.” He shrugs.

“Yeah
I haven’t seen her for a while. Maybe I’ll go see if she
is home later,” I tell him, finishing my pizza.

“Okay
darlin’. I have to get to class, love you.” He kisses me
then smiles before walking away. I watch the swagger of his hips as
he crosses the quad and I can’t help the tingle in my thighs; I
love that guy so much.

By
two o’clock, I am finally finished with classes and head over
to Paige’s apartment. I bang on her door for a minute then put
my ear to it, listening for any signs of life. Pulling out my phone,
I call her still with my ear to the door but I don’t hear her
phone inside, so I leave a note under her door telling her to call
me. I walk over to the café deciding to wait for Knox; it’s
only two hours. Pulling out my computer, I start writing my notes for
my assignment when the instant message icon bounces on the end of my
screen. Opening it, I smile as Knox’s little picture comes up.
I put it on for myself but I know others can see it.

Knox:
Hey darlin what are you doing, Still on campus?

Me:
No babe over having coffee, why are you on chat?

Knox:
Bored and I thought I would click on your name.

Me:
lucky shot I was just writing my notes for later.

Knox:
nothing lucky about it darlin I can tell these things.

Me:
sure you can now go back to class love you.

Knox:
love you more.

Just
before four o’clock I walk back over to my car and wait for
Knox. I spot him walking down the path talking to a girl who is
writing as they speak and walk. When he reaches me he smiles and
introduces me.

“Hey
Niki, this is Bailey,” he says and I smile as she waves at me.