Page 12 of The Space Between Heartbeats
My breath hitches. “I’m not scared of you.”
“No?” He leans in, just slightly, and I hate that my stupid pulse jumps in response. “Then why are you pressed against that pillar like you’re willing it to open up and swallow you whole?”
“Maybe I just don’t want to be near you.”
“Liar.”
The word lingers between us, thickening the air every second it hangs there. My fingers dig into my arms, and I don’t realize what I’m doing until pain from my nails biting into my skin registers. And that look he’s giving me…his pupils so blown they’re like black holes threatening to suck me in.
“You don’t know me anymore, Knox.”
My words must hit since he steps back, hanging his head. I almost feel bad, but it’s true. He doesn’t know me and that’s on him.
I’m grateful for the space…for the air that I can suddenly gulp down normally again.
He opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again, his words stuck somewhere between his throat and lips.
“Knox!” Ella’s voice cuts through whatever he’s about to say. She’s waving from the restaurant entrance. “They have our table!”
His gaze holds mine for one more loaded second before he looks away. “You coming?”
There’s nothing else to say so I just nod.
He walks away without waiting for me, his shoulders rigid, and his hands shoved in his pockets. I watch him go, my heart hammering against my ribs, my skin still buzzing from whatever the fuck that was.
My phone chimes from my bag.
Owen:Where’d you go? We got a table by the window. Can’t wait to destroy those onion rings!
God, he’s too sweet, too good. I feel like shit almost instantly. I type back a quickOn my wayand force my feet to move.
When I reach the entrance, I take a moment to collect myself, watching them through the smudged window.
They’re sliding into a booth, Owen first, already grabbing the menu. Ella sits across from him, and Knox stands glancing behind him like he’s just now realizing I didn’t follow.
The last time we sat at that booth, I was fourteen and trying not to cry.
We’d gotten to the park early that morning, both families piling out of separate cars in the parking lot like we always did. But the mood was off. I may have been a dumb kid, but I felt it.
I’d heard my parents arguing the night before. They tried to keep their voices down but the walls in the vacation cottage were much thinner than our walls at home. My father’s tone was so sharp. So defensive. And Mom’s was pleading and desperate.
“Just tell them the truth, David. Before it gets worse.”
I didn’t know what truth she meant. And I guess I didn’t really care. I was too busy planning out my outfit for the park the following day.
But when their mood didn’t shift that morning, and they barely looked at each other until they slipped on masks of happiness as soon as the Aldrichs knocked on our car window, then I started to care…more than I wanted to.
At the restaurant that afternoon, I’d ordered my usual, chicken tenders with honey mustard, but I mostly pushed the food around my plate while Knox goofed around, teasing his brother about which ride would make Owen puke first.
“I’d bet my next paycheck it’ll be the Starship 3000,” he said, stealing a fry off my plate and drenching it in my sauce.“You always get that look right after, like you’re about to blow chunks.”
“You’re full of shit,” Owen protested.
“Wanna bet? This is you…” Knox made this ridiculous exaggerated queasy face that had me almost smiling through my bad mood.
“You look constipated,” I muttered.
“And you look like someone kicked your dog.” He studied me with those sharp eyes that never missed anything. “What’s going on with you?”
