Hard Knox - Riley Hart Page 0,79

thing, they would always say the opposite as each other.

“We can flip a coin to decide.” Callum pulled a quarter out of his pocket and looked at me. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, yeah of course.” I put my hand on the back of his neck and brushed my thumb along the soft skin there. I didn’t realize what I was doing until Charlie practically flung herself at me, tugging my arm away.

“Hold my hand, Daddy.”

Logan looked at Callum. “Charlie is a daddy’s girl. She wants all his attention when they’re together.”

“I do not!” she argued, and they were at it again, bickering back and forth.

“Stop it! Both of you. We’re trying to have a nice time today.”

Logan looked down. “Yes, sir.”

“Sorry, Daddy,” Charlie replied.

Callum cleared his throat. “Okay, so heads we ride bikes first and tails we go to the petting zoo first.” He flipped the coin, looked at it and then us, “Tails.” Callum showed it.

Logan cheered.

Charlie grumbled.

Cal looked…sad.

Damned if I didn’t feel a little bit that way too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Callum

It was one hundred percent clear that Charlie hated me.

Every time I tried to engage with her, it didn’t go as planned. I felt like I always said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing.

At the petting zoo, I was telling Knox something when she pulled him away.

We ate lunch outdoors at a small café in the park. He sat next to me on one side of the picnic table, with Logan on the other. Instead of sitting by her brother, she squeezed between the two of us.

Knox looked at me over her head and gave me a small smile I was pretty sure was meant to be reassuring, but all it did was make me feel depressed. “Why don’t I sit over here by Logan?” I tried to play it off like it didn’t hurt.

We rode bikes, then went to climb trees. Logan had no interest in the last one, and honestly, I didn’t either, but I asked Charlie, “Can I climb with you?”

“If you want.” She shrugged. “I want Daddy too, though.”

This sadness crushed my chest. “I’ll let you guys do it together, then.”

“You can climb with us,” Knox said. “We’d love to have you.” But I shook my head before walking over and sitting with Logan in the grass.

“It’s not your fault,” he said.

My brows pulled together. “What?”

“Charlie. It’s not your fault, and don’t take it personally. Like I said, she’s a daddy’s girl. She always wants to impress him, and she’s used to having a lot of his attention because they like the same things.”

I couldn’t help wondering how Logan felt about that, about Charlie having all Knox’s attention. “Does that bother you?”

“It used to.” He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“You know your dad loves you. More than anything.”

“I know. I used to wish I was more like her, which you know. I feel better about it now, and it’s been awesome, living with Dad and finding our own things, like working on the models, taking the art classes and stuff. I don’t feel like Dad wants me to be someone else, like I used to. And technically, I know Charlie doesn’t mean anything by it, at least not with me. You, on the other hand, I feel like it might be on purpose.”

“Thanks for that,” I replied, though I knew he was right. I also knew the kid beside me was pretty great. “You’re old beyond your years, you know that? And you’re also one of my favorite people in the world. No matter what, you always will be.”

“Thanks.” Logan nodded. “You’re one of mine too…and Dad’s.”

My eyes shot to his. Was he saying what I thought he was? Did Logan know there was something more going on between Knox and me? “We’re, um…good friends. The best.”

He didn’t reply to that, just said, “Do you wanna start one of the stories? In the book?”

“I’d love to.”

We lay in the grass, reading The Raven.

Knox called our names and waved to us from the tree. As much as I enjoyed spending time with Logan, I couldn’t help the melancholy weighing heavily on me. I’d wanted this day to go so much better than it had, and even though I knew it was likely normal that it hadn’t, I couldn’t stop myself from being disappointed.

That was why when we were in the truck, almost home, and Knox asked, “Do you want to come to the house for a while to hang out?” I replied, “I’m a little tired. Do you mind