The Do-Over (The Rooftop Crew #5) - Piper Rayne Page 0,34

between us.”

Somehow, I refrain from putting my hand over my heart and swooning. “Why?”

“Why what?” he asks, putting on his turn signal to get off at Cliffton Heights exit.

“Why do you want to get to know me?”

He smiles in this shy way that makes him even more attractive. “Tell you what? Let’s go to the apartment and we’ll go up to the rooftop. Have the actual conversation we should have had already.”

“You do know we’re, like, two weeks out from Thanksgiving?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll grab blankets.”

“Okay.”

Just as he said, while I was changing into warmer clothes and grabbing the blanket, he was making warm spiced apple ciders.

“Ready?” Knox asks.

I nod. My nervousness over having this conversation puts my fear of how cold it will be on the back burner.

He holds both cups of cider and I grab a blanket for him. “You know I’m too manly to actually use it, right?”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be all macho in front of me.”

“That’s good to know.” He grins and I swear to God my lady parts sigh.

He directs me up the stairs and out onto the roof, turning on lights that are strung across the roof.

“It’s so pretty.”

“Yeah, the girls seem to like it.” He sets the mugs on the table, one across from the other.

I pass him a blanket. “Just in case.”

“Ah.” He tosses it onto a vacant chair, laughing.

I’m enjoying this side of Knox. We sit down and the chairs are chilly, to say the least, but even with the cold, I don’t really want to go in. It’s romantic out here with the hanging lights, snuggled in blankets and drinking apple cider. Romantic except that he’s across the table from me and not next to me.

“Ladies first.” He holds out his hand between us and sips his drink.

“I’m cool to go second.” I sip my own, tightening my blanket around my legs.

“Okay then,” he says, laughter bubbling up his throat. “Leilani crushed me. Bulldozer crush.”

I wait to raise the white flag and call this over now. I want to know, but I don’t want to hear about how much he loved her either. I refrain from saying anything.

“I honestly didn’t understand why she couldn’t stay. You know? Like wasn’t I good enough and all that shit.” He sips his cider again.

I should tell him why he’s not enough to stay. That it’s not him, it’s her.

“Then after a few months, I figured out I was forcing her to be someone she wasn’t. When my college girlfriend screwed me over, that night at the bar, I just wanted to forget. I didn’t want to involve my heart in anything again. And for a while with Leilani, my heart wasn’t invested. Then… the next time she stayed longer, and I really fell for her. Wanted to protect her, but I’m not quite sure I ever really knew her.”

“I think closeness scares her.”

He nods. “Yeah. I got that, since she never shared anything with me. I never knew anything about her past. But to answer your question in the truck, no, I’m not the young idiot I was back then. Leilani hurt me, but I like to think there’s someone out there who wouldn’t mind me loving them. Who wouldn’t see my love as suffocation or me trying to change them or force them to be something they’re not.”

“Definitely.” I bury my head in my cup. “But are you sure you’re over her?”

“Yes,” he answers without hesitating, and our eyes lock for a moment. Is he trying to tell me something? But he diverts his gaze too quickly for me to be able to tell. “Now it’s your turn.”

I inhale a calming breath. “Well… um… Leilani and my families are close, as is most of the Polynesian community where we lived. But I’m not sure we would have been friends if we hadn’t been next-door neighbors and had our parents not been such great friends. I mean, we’re so different.”

He nods. He doesn’t have to mention them—I’m well aware of our many differences.

“I-in high…”

He sips his drink, and his gaze finds mine over the rim of his mug. Oh, screw it. What do I have to lose by being truthful?

“In high school, we were at a party and I was flirting with this guy. I ended up getting drunk and he took me upstairs. Leilani arrived right before the guy got what he wanted from me. His friends busted in and a huge fight started. Leilani got me out of there,