Hard Knox - Riley Hart Page 0,22

at Griff’s, but I didn’t know you were straight. I respect that.”

My eyes snapped to his, and that tumbling feeling was back, like my gut was doing somersaults down a hill. “Wait, you were?”

“You couldn’t tell?” Callum replied, then added, “Oops. I figured you knew.”

I knew he’d been staring at me weirdly and, well, now that I thought about it, that made sense. Kellan had said something about Callum noticing me, but it had come as a surprise. A man wanting me.

We were standing there, looking at each other over the bed of my truck. Callum crossed his arms on the edge and bent forward, head facing down and forehead on his arm. “Shit. Now I made it worse.”

“No, you didn’t,” I rushed out. “It’s fine. I wasn’t uncomfortable. It wasn’t something I’d considered, which makes me feel dumb now, but then, it would make me a cocky asshole if that had been my first assumption. I… Thanks.” Jesus Christ. Had I really just thanked the guy for having found me attractive the first time I saw him? “Now I made it weird,” I added.

Callum lifted his head, looked over at me, and laughed. The second he did, I was doing the same. I couldn’t say exactly what it was that was so funny, but I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to. He wiped his eyes as if he laughed so hard, he was crying, before we finally settled down.

I shook my head as I went for the tailgate and opened it. “It’s not very nice to laugh at me.”

“But you were laughing at you…and me. I think we were both laughing at me too. Doesn’t that make it okay?”

“Yeah, I guess. We’re quite the pair. I mean, not pair, pair, but…” And then we were at it again, and I tried to remember the last time I had this much fun. The last time I laughed until my stomach hurt. I couldn’t remember when that would have been.

As if reading my mind, Callum said, “I think you need to have more fun, Knox Wheeler. I’m going to take it upon myself to make that happen. I’m going to open up your whole world. I can feel it.”

I wouldn’t say it, but somehow I could feel it too. “How about you take it upon yourself to help me get this shit inside,” I teased.

“Yes, sir!” He saluted me.

“Smart-ass.”

We grabbed the stuff and brought it inside. “I think Logan’s out back,” I said and nodded in the direction of the kitchen toward the rear of the house, where the door was. Callum followed behind me.

“Wow. Your home really is beautiful.”

“Thanks. I’ve always wanted a place like this. Carol—my ex—she’s a suburbs girl, and I get it. That worked for us when we were married, but I’ve always wanted some kind of cabin in the woods. Is that crazy?”

“No. I get the appeal. I mean, not that anyone would ever believe me when I say something like that. I grew up in Richmond and left for college as soon as I could. I’ve been a city boy ever since—apartments or condos, night life and all that, but…I don’t know. I don’t think I realized it at the time, but it felt like something was missing. Like I wasn’t settled or…fulfilled? That probably sounds stupid, but—”

“No,” I cut him off. “I get it. I’ve felt like that a lot.” Though it wasn’t something I ever shared with anyone, and I wasn’t sure why I was doing it now. “It was hard for me when I moved to Havenwood. I’d been with Carol since I was eighteen, and my kids weren’t with me, yet a part of me felt more at home than I ever had. Which made me feel guilt. How could I be at home and settled without my kids?”

We were standing there, staring at each other as we stood by the back door, but neither of us moved.

“I think some parts of us can feel like things are right, while still missing someone. Or maybe you felt settled in new ways, but knew you were still missing something in others? That’s possible too.”

And that felt…right. Like he voiced something I felt but didn’t have the words for. As happy as I was and as much as I knew Havenwood was my home, as much as being there was a dream come true for me, there were other things I’d been missing—maybe more than just my kids.

“Thank you,” I found myself