Hard Knox - Riley Hart Page 0,53

a T-shirt out of his drawer and threw them at me. “Spare bedroom upstairs.”

I nodded and ran out, not breathing until I was upstairs, safely behind the door. I had no idea how I was going to explain wearing Knox’s clothes, and in some ways, it didn’t matter. I was still flying high on what Logan had said about me. It was one thing to have him talk to me about his problems or for Knox to tell me Logan cared about me, but another to hear him tell his buddy that I was one of his best friends. I’d never thought I would have something like that. Hell, I’d never known I wanted it until he’d come into my life—until they both had.

Yeah, I was fucked.

I put on Knox’s shirt and the shorts and sat on the bed. I wasn’t there long before I heard Frankie Blue in the house. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and opened the door.

“Can I go see if Callum is awake?” Logan asked.

“Let’s give him a few minutes, buddy,” Knox replied as I was walking out of the room. Frankie heard me and ran for the stairs, so I kept going.

Logan looked up and saw me on the landing. “You’re up! I can’t believe you had a sleepover and I missed it!”

I bit back a smile and wondered if Knox was losing his shit. “It wasn’t planned.” I headed downstairs. “I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me.” Lies, lies, lies. I had done something that very much agreed with me. “I feel better now.”

Logan came over and gave me a hug. I ruffled his hair, while holding on to Knox’s too big shorts with the other hand. “You look funny in Dad’s clothes.”

Yeah, well. I wasn’t sure what to say about that, but Logan continued talking anyway. “I thought maybe you were mad at us or something. You haven’t been around at all.”

I tried to hold back my emotion at hearing him say that. Knox was right. If this went bad, we risked hurting Logan. And chances were that it would go bad. Did I really think Knox was suddenly going to want a serious relationship with a man? “No. I would never be mad at you. I just had—”

“It was my fault,” Knox cut me off. “But everything is fine now.” His eyes caught mine and held, with an intense look I couldn’t read. “Do you have plans today?”

“No.” I shook my head as though he didn’t know what the word meant. I was in uncharted territory and feeling off-balance.

“We’re getting a late start, but what if we took a drive to the beach today? Could be fun. We’re expecting rain next week, so this is our chance to do something fun like that.”

“Oh my God! Really? Can you go, Callum?” Logan’s small body bounced with excitement.

My heart broke open, tugged them both inside, this intense want filling me up. I wanted this. I wanted to be a part of them. “Yeah…yeah, I can go.”

“I’ll go get my stuff!” Logan ran for the stairs.

“Did you take your—”

“Yes, Dad. God,” Logan cut him off and then was gone.

Knox looked unsure for a moment, then nodded toward the kitchen. I followed him. When we were tucked out of sight, he brushed his hand down my cheek. “We’ll figure it out. No regrets,” he said again, and not gonna lie, I almost died. Then he reached over, grabbed a clip that went on chips, lifted my shirt, and clipped his shorts so they didn’t fall off me. “And I don’t think you look funny in my clothes. It’s kind of hot.”

“Only kind of?” I tried to act like I wasn’t secretly swooning inside.

He smiled, almost shyly. It was such a juxtaposition on someone like Knox, who was so big and oozed confidence.

“More than kinda.” He paused, leaned in, and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I, um, we should get ready. Your clothes are in the dryer, and I don’t know if they’ll be done in time.”

I was struck stupid for a second, looking up at him, then wishing I could drop to my knees for him. Bad Callum. “We’ll have to stop by my place anyway.”

Which was what we did. They got ready, we had a quick breakfast of bagels and eggs, then drove to my house. Knox had a cooler for drinks, and beach chairs and other supplies in the back of the truck.

He and Logan waited in the