Page 74 of Chasing Callie

“If it meant getting his hands off of you.” Brax shrugs. Jax nods as if this is a totally normal reaction, and Knox grins, though he doesn’t say it, I can tell he’s on their side.

“You guys are unwell,” I mutter, shaking my head.

“Jax,” Lulu says, voice soft. “I’m so sorry I thought it was you.”

Jax exhales. “Falsely accused of ass stuff.” He shakes his head. “It’s really stuck with me, Lu.”

“Oh, screw you,” Lulu mutters. “You weren’t a saint.” I chuckle and she looks at me and my mouth snaps closed. “And you,” she says, poking my arm. “You were worse than them half the time.”

“I wasn’t,” I protest, but we all know it’s a lie.

She taps her chin. “Remind me who put spiders in Frank’s underwear drawer?”

“Pretty sure that was Jax.”

“Hey!”

Lulu makes an uh-huh sound. “And who stuck my keys in a bowl of soup and froze it?”

“Oh, that was Knox.”

Knox gives me a look. “Don’t drag me down with you.”

“And who thought it would be fun to steal the snowplow?” she asks.

“In my defense,” I begin, straightening in my seat. “The driver shouldn’t have left the keys in the ignition, and he was slacking on the job! I had somewhere to be.”

Lulu’s eyebrows lift. “You mean you had to get home before your parents realized you didn’t make curfew?”

I press my lips together.

“So what I’m hearing is that we haven’t caused nearly enough trouble,” Jax says, sipping his beer. “Maybe it’s time to do something naughty.”

“Frank would whoop your ass,” Lulu says with a grin.

Knox takes a swig of his beer.

“I’d like to see Dad try,” Jax fires back with a melancholy grin.

“You know he’d do it,” Brax says with a laugh.

“I miss him,” Lulu says softly.

Knox pushes away from the table so suddenly the four of us still sitting jolt in surprise. He storms out of the front door. Jax and Brax trade looks.

Lulu shakes her head and releases a heavy breath. “He’s still not talking about him?”

“Won’t even say a word,” Brax says.

“We can’t talk about him without setting him off.” Jax glares at the door. “He can’t keep bottling it up.”

I chew on my cheek, worry gnawing at my gut. Knox has always kept his emotions carefully controlled. Almost as if he doesn’t want to feel things. My gaze skips to the shadowy figure in the window pacing back and forth across the porch.

“Go on,” Lulu murmurs, nudging me. “Maybe you can get to him.”

Doubt rushes through me, but I’m willing to try. “I’ll be back,” I tell them, nodding at the twins before heading out into the warm humidity of the night.

Knox stops pacing, scowling at the trees that surround Lulu’s home.