“Is that why you wanted to call me?” she asked. “So, you could tell me how weird my name is?”
He could hear the flare of annoyance in her tone, and he grinned. He loved being able to rile her up. He loved being able to elicit some sort of reaction from her. It was stupid, he knew, but there was a power to pissing her off, and he liked that he had that power. If he wasn’t already drunk, he’d be delirious with it. After all, she had answered him even though she was supposed to be on some fancy date with Kent Cavile.
“No.” He shook his head adamantly, then remembered she couldn’t see him. “I know you can’t see me, but I’m shaking my head, but that really wasn’t a great idea because now my head is bubbling up and it’s like - hey. Do you think you can get so drunk, the bubbles cause your head to detach from your body until you’re floating away?”
“Jesus Christ, Knox, what is going on with you?” she muttered.
Knox furrowed his brow, which was probably the worst thing he could have done because all those bubbles that had been trying to lift his head suddenly popped. He groaned, dropping his chin to his chest.
“God, this is your fault, Beth,” he growled.
He heard laughter behind him - probably the guys again - but he ignored them. The fact of the matter was, Knox didn’t like this. He didn’t like being drunk like this. It was hard to explain. There was a difference of getting tipsy with the guys and fucking around compared to feeling like shit and needing a drink to numb that feeling away. He thought he had been in the first group, the one where he was socially drinking with the guys. They were drinking too, after all.
But it wasn’t like that.
He was pissed off about Beth, and he didn’t want to deal with it. Didn’t want to think about her with another guy. Didn’t want to understand why he was pissed in the first place. He wasn’t ready to deal with that yet.
Maybe he never would be.
“My fault?” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “How is this my fault?”
“You went out with Kent,” he mumbled, like that was enough explanation.
And, to him, it was, at least in this moment. There was nothing else he needed to say. That was enough.
“Can I talk to Brandon?” she asked.
“Why?” Knox got out. “You want to go out with him too?”
“What? No, of course not. I want to know why he let you drink so much -”
“No one lets me do anything,” Knox said. “You know, it’s not really fair that you look at me like I’m some kind of obnoxious kid, Beth. You’re not my mom.”
“Trust me, I’m well aware of what I’m not to you, okay?” she asked.
“I don’t get it,” he continued. “Why do you hang around us if all you’re going to do is treat us like your children? Do you like being viewed as some kind of mother hen? Because you’re a lot hotter than you give yourself credit for, you know. I just don’t get it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said slowly. Knox couldn’t be sure but it almost sounded as though she was clenching her teeth as she spoke. “Are you saying I’m just some mother hen to you and the guys? If you’d prefer, I can stop hanging out with you, if that’s what you think of me. It’s not my fault you guys can be so immature that I have to get you out of the messes you’ve dug for yourself all the time. Wasn’t it just a couple of days ago where I literally had to pick all of you up from jail? If I wasn’t there, then what, Knox? Then what would you do?”
“Are you saying I can’t live without you?” Knox asked.
“Uh, Knox?” Steve said from the couch. “This doesn’t seem like the best discussion to have -”
“Maybe you should give me my phone back,” Ryan put in.
“Maybe you should fuck off,” Knox returned.
“Excuse me?” Beth said.
Knox pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course she would assume he was talking to her. His head pinched slightly, which caused him to frown. That was not what he was expecting. His head was light, bubbly. He felt good even knowing she was on a date with someone else. But when people tried to take the phone back, when Beth used that tone with him, it caused his head to pinch. And that did not feel good.
“How’s Kent?” He snapped the word like it was some kind of curse, some kind of thing that caused terrible things to happen. “Did he take you on a nice date or were you, you know, bored out of your mind? Does he talk about himself? He looks like the kind of asshole who talks about himself all the time.”
“Actually, I’m still on the date,” Beth said.
There was an edge to her voice that rubbed Knox the wrong way. It almost sounded as though she was mad at him. But that didn’t make sense. Why would she be mad at him? What did he do to her to cause her to get so annoyed? He was calling her to check in. That was what friends did for each other, right? He was being a good friend to her. Because friends was all they were.
“Still?” Knox said. “But, like, didn’t you leave for your date hours ago?”
“I think your time is off because of the fact that you’re drunk, Knox,” she said.
“Drunk? I’m not drunk,” he insisted.
“I can barely understand your words because of how slurred they are,” she said.
“That sounds like a you problem, not a me problem.” Had he just said that? That didn’t sound like something nice to say, something he would never say to Beth.
“You’re an ass,” she said.
“Are you still on your date?”
“Why do you care so much about my date?” she retorted. “Do you want to come and take my place. Because, if so, go for it. You can’t seem to get your head out of your ass to realize what a jerk you’re being right now.”
“There’s no need for name calling,” Knox said, placing his hand up. From his peripheral, he could see Ryan about to reach for his phone, and that was something he was going to prevent from happening because clearly he and Beth needed to talk. “Wow, Beth. You’re better than that.”
“Says the drunk hockey player,” Beth replied. “What do you want, Knox? I’m actually having a really good time and you’re interrupting it. What. Do. You. Want?”
“If you’re having a good time, why did you answer the phone?” Knox’s lips curved up into a triumphant grin. It was only when he looked at the people in front of him, he remembered that Beth wasn’t here to see it.
“Because I needed to make sure you were okay,” she said as though it was obvious.
Something akin to guilt started to sweep across his body, but he pushed it aside. There was no reason for him to feel guilty. He hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t as though he was the one on a date with someone else. It wasn’t as though he wanted to be with anyone else.
He blinked. Wait. Why did it matter if he was dating someone or not? That shouldn’t matter. His preference in dating, his desire to see someone, shouldn’t have anything to do with her free time, with whom she wanted to date. And yet, it did, and he didn’t understand why.
“You worried about me?” he asked. His lips were curled into a smirk, and even though she couldn’t see it, Knox knew her well enough to know that she could hear it. He knew her better than anyone, even the guys he was with currently.
“You’re my best friend,” she said. Like that was some kind of explanation.
And maybe it was. Because his heart stuttered in his chest at the words. But there was something lacking in them, almost like it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to just be her friend, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Beth,” he managed to get out.
She said nothing. Waited for him to get his shit together and actually say something except he had no idea what to say. There was a heaviness to this moment, like even the angels were holding their breath to see how this was going to end.
“I have to go, Knox,” she said, when he still hadn’t said anything.
He didn’t want her to go. But he couldn’t find the right words to say to get her to stay. It was like
they were lodged in his throat and he couldn’t clear them up no matter how many times he coughed.
“Give me the phone, man,” Brandon said.
This time, Brandon snatched it away from him. “Hey, Beth,” he said.
Knox couldn’t hear what Beth was saying in response to Brandon, but considering his friend’s face contorted into something wrinkled, he could guess Beth was lecturing Brandon about Knox drinking.
“You think when you’re done romancing that hockey player, you can come by and pick up these drunk assholes from my place?” he asked.
A beat.
Brandon’s brows perked up in surprise.
“But Beth, what am I -” He stopped, looking down at the phone. “She hung up on me!” He slid his eyes over to Knox. “What did you do to piss her off, man? She won’t even come and pick your asses up, which means now I have to deal with you.”
“Unless she’s getting laid tonight,” Ryan said, snatching his phone away from Brandon.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Knox announced before he all but ran to the bathroom and loosed the contents of his stomach in the toilet.
10
Beth
Dinner was perfect. Kent was charming and polite. He genuinely wanted to know more about her and would ask questions that indicated he actually listened to her when she spoke to him about things. Beth found herself asking questions about his life as well.
But for the rest of dinner, she couldn’t get Knox off of her mind. She didn’t understand why he was being such a jerk. She didn’t understand why he felt the need to say the things he had, especially things he didn’t mean. It wasn’t fair. It was like he knew exactly what to say to break her, what to say to bring her to her knees.
And she let him.
She knew what was coming and she didn’t care. She stayed there on her knees and let whatever happened because it was coming from Knox.
And she hated herself for it. She hated him for it just the same.
There was this beautiful man standing in front of her, all but demanding her attention and willing to give her his attention, and this was how she repaid him? Peppering him with questions she didn’t really care enough about in comparison to trying to figure out why Knox would get drunk and if it had to do with Kent and why it would even matter because there was no way he could love her.
And she wasn’t going to settle for anything less than love. She wasn’t going to ruin their friendship for one fuck, even if it would be the best fuck she ever experienced.
“You okay, Beth?”
The waitress had just finished removing their plates and placed the dessert menu on the table. Beth hadn’t even noticed it, and Kent had been looking at Beth before he grabbed the menu.
“You’ve been relatively quiet since that phone call,” he pointed out. It was clear he was asking about the phone call without actually asking about the phone call. Somehow, she knew he wouldn’t push, either, if she wanted to drop it. “You want to talk about whatever happened there?”
Beth sighed, glancing down. This time, she did notice the dessert menu and she grabbed it, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the way her fingers shook. At least he couldn’t hear the erratic beat of her heart as her eyes read words that didn’t actually register in her brain.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said quickly, gesturing with a hand as she flipped the menu over. She didn’t even know what they had, but felt very sure she wanted something, just to give her something to do with her hands that would help them not talk anymore. “One of my friends wants me to pick up Knox because apparently he got drunk at their place. But I said no. He’s just going to wait to get sober before taking Knox home himself.”
“Knox is drunk?” Kent wrinkled his nose, as though the words didn’t make much sense to him.
“Yeah,” she said through a sigh, shaking her head. “What about the cheesecake? Want to split it? Or do you have some kind of diet you’re on because of the season? We don’t have to -”
“I’d love to split it with you,” Kent said, gently cutting her off. His lips were turned up in a small smile, and Beth’s heart stuttered at the sight of it. He really was beautiful.
And he was a man.
Not a boy.
Not some jerk who got drunk and then blamed her for it.
Not some asshole who drunk dialed her for no apparent reason.
She couldn’t believe Brandon had the audacity to ask her to actually come pick him up. Yeah, right. Maybe before she would have. Before he drunk dialed her. Before he told her all those things. But she needed space from him. She needed to move on from these feelings that were clutching at her heart with hope.
With the hope that maybe he didn’t want her with Kent because he wanted her for himself.
But even if that was the case - and Beth didn’t entirely believe that just yet - that wouldn’t change things. At least not right away. She wasn’t going to sit around and wait for Knox to come to his senses. Honestly, he was being an asshole. He needed to figure out what the hell he wanted before he got to dictate what she did.
Actually, he didn’t get to dictate what she did at all.
“You okay?” Kent asked again after he flagged down the waitress and put in the cheesecake order.
Beth shrugged. “I just don’t like when Knox gets like this,” she admitted, fiddling with her nails. She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. I’m not, I don’t want to be that girl who’s on a date with an incredible guy and talks about the asshole the whole time, you know?”
“Well, you’ve been friends with him your whole life,” Kent said with a small smile. “I think that makes it a little different, you know. And I’m all for giving Knox shit.”
Beth smiled, despite herself. She waved his concern away, trying to blink back tears as subtly as she could. If he thought something was weird, she could just pretend she had something in her eyes.
“I appreciate it,” she said. “Really, I do. But I’d rather just focus on us. The whole thing with Knox isn’t something I want to concentrate on because then I won’t be such good company. And I really want to impress you.” She laughed nervously, not intending to reveal so much.
Kent chuckled as well, his eyes sparkling. At that moment, the cheesecake was brought out with two clean forks and new napkins. The two both grabbed a fork as the waitress disappeared again and Kent tilted it in her direction.
“You’ve already impressed me more than I care to admit,” he said. “In fact, I’m a bit nervous, if I’m being honest.”
“Nervous?” Beth reached out and grabbed a bite of the sweet. “What could you possibly be nervous about? I mean, look at you.”
“Are you telling me you’re only here because you like the way I look?” he asked.
Beth giggled nervously, her entire face turning red. She never giggled. At least, not in front of people. Knox and the guys would give her shit if she ever did anything so girly. She would hear it for weeks. Kent, on the other hand, seemed to like it. Maybe she was reading too much into it. Maybe she wanted to see things that weren’t there, especially after her encounter with Knox on the phone. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, it still had some kind of effect on her. She didn’t want it. She was here to get over it, and the damn phone call caused feelings to rush and that was the worst thing that could have happened to her.
Instead, she focused on Kent, on his chiseled face, on the way his eyes rested on her. He was older, more mature, and he seemed to be interested in her.
Her.
Just because Knox didn’t see her as anything more than a friend didn’t mean that she was undesirable by other people, other guys.
“I like the way you laugh,” Kent said, scooping up another bite of cheesecake.
Thank goodness too because Beth was sure she would burst if he kept looking at her with those twinkles in his eye, the kind that caused butterflies to come from their cocoons.
“I like when you make me laugh,” Beth murmured. She waited until he put his
fork in his mouth before she grabbed another bite.
“Laughter. Okay. It’s noted. To impress you, I need to do more of that.”
Beth’s smile pulled at her cheeks this time. “I think you’re doing a pretty good job of impressing me,” she said. “You don’t really have to try hard.”
This time, she could swear she saw Kent’s face flush. It was cute. She didn’t think she had that sort of power, to make someone like him turn a light color of pink. She didn’t think she would go and say it was an actual blush, but it was more than she had ever done to Knox.
Not that she wanted to think about him.
After that shitty phone call, she promised herself she wouldn’t think about him at all.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “You would think being a professional hockey player would be enough, but I’ve found the ones worth getting to know, the ones worth spending time with, aren’t as easily impressed.” He set down his fork. “And before you jump in, I don’t typically date. Especially during the season. If anything, I focus on the sport, and during summer, I see where I am. I’m not looking for anything serious.”
Beth tried to make sure her face didn’t fall. She didn’t want to be one of those girls who threw a fit because her date didn’t want anything serious. They were only in the initial phase of dating. This was where things tended to not work out more often than not. She should have expected as much. And honestly, it was okay. It wasn’t like this was a bad thing. She had a good time with a hockey player at a fancy restaurant. Security hadn’t been called. Ryan and Steven hadn’t trotted through the fountain outside. Brandon wasn’t hitting on everything with legs and attempting to chain smoke inside. And Knox...Knox wasn’t here. Even if he had called. This was a good thing for her, despite not working out.
And there would be someone else.
Eventually.
She had to believe that.
“You okay?” Kent asked, cocking his head to the side.
“No, I just...I appreciate you taking me out, I guess,” she said, tucking hair behind her ear. “You say you don’t date, and I guess that means we won’t get the opportunity for another one, but regardless, I had fun, and I hope I didn’t bore you.”
Rookies Hit It Better Page 6
