Hard Knox - Riley Hart Page 0,19
can head out.”
He turned and went back into what I assumed was his bedroom. I could see the edge of a rustic, also dark wood, four-poster bed inside.
“Wanna go outside with me?” Logan asked.
I figured it wouldn’t be appropriate to say I wanted to be locked in that bedroom with Knox, so I said, “Sure.”
We went outside and sat on the swing. “Dad treats me like I’m a baby.”
“I’m sure it feels that way to you, but I think he treats you like a son he loves.”
“Did your heart thing make you feel weak when you were little?”
“It did. If people make a big deal out of it, sometimes it still does, but I try to remind myself that it comes from a place of concern. And that I’m lucky people care about me so much.”
“I wish I was more like my dad…” Logan looked down into his lap. “I bet he does too.”
“No.” I shook my head. My heart was thumping and breaking in my chest. It was so damn hard to feel like you weren’t enough, like there was something wrong with you, that the people who were the most important in your life would love you more if you were different. I didn’t believe Knox did anything to make Logan feel that, at least not intentionally, but I understood the emotions behind Logan’s view. “He doesn’t. I promise you that. He loves you, and he’s proud of you. You should have seen how excited he was to have you come and live with him. He likes you just the way you are, and it might not mean much, but I do too. The world can only have so many lumberjacks.”
I nudged his arm, and he chuckled.
“I’m serious, okay?”
He nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose just as Knox came out. “Why do I always feel like I’m missing something when I see the two of you? I’m feeling left out.”
“Guy talk,” I told Knox.
“Oh, and I’m not a guy?” Knox asked, locking the door.
“Not a cool enough one,” I joked, earning a laugh from Logan.
“Fine. I see how you are. Don’t invite me into your cool-kids club.”
“It’s actually a badass-cool-kids club,” I corrected.
“Yeah,” Logan added, then, “We’ll consider your membership.”
Knox smiled at his son. “Deal. Now let’s get out of here. I swear you two took forever to get ready.”
We laughed and headed for the truck. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so at ease, so comfortable. Like I fit, when really I didn’t. Not with them. This wasn’t my family, and I didn’t even know if I could consider Knox a friend or if I was just the dude his kid liked.
“Should we play road-trip games?” I asked when Knox pulled onto the highway.
“No,” Knox said in unison with Logan’s, “Yes.”
“Two against one. You lose. Also, that’s a point in the no column for the badass-cool-kids club. You’re not convincing us very well.” I cocked a brow. Knox looked over at me through his thick lashes, those eyes of his holding me in some kind of trance.
“I have to play road-trip games to be cool?”
“Well, it’s a start. I’m still not sure you’ll be badass enough yet,” I replied. Knox smiled through his dark beard and chuckled. It was a bright smile, one that lit up the space, the deep baritone of his laugh contagious. Oh, I was in trouble. He was too sexy and too kind. This wasn’t going to end well for me.
“Okay, fine. Logan picks first. What do you want to play, buddy?” Knox eyed Logan through the rearview mirror. He sat in the back cab.
We spent the next two hours playing silly games with different colors of cars and license plates and funny facts about ourselves. They made me laugh like I couldn’t believe, and both Knox and Logan seemed to enjoy themselves just as much.
Before I knew it, we were pulling up to an old farmhouse, where an older woman stood out front, watering flowers. She waved at us as Knox turned the truck off, and we got out.
“Hope you guys found it okay?” she asked, approaching us.
“Yes, ma’am,” Knox replied. “This is Logan and Callum.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Margaret.” She shook our hands. “Pups are around back.”
She led us to the rear of the house, where there was a large walk-in kennel and a bunch of brown, curly, fluff balls running around. I didn’t know why, but it struck me then how far we’d driven for