Such a negative event served as the foundation for everything we had. No wonder he hated me.
He finally looked up at me, but there was nothing recognizable in his brown eyes. “You’re content with your sexuality, you always have been. But not everyone else is, Knox. Not everyone wants to just move at breakneck speed.”
“I’m sorry.” I forced through my dry throat. “If I had known back then—,”
“Don’t.” He dropped his head again and looked at the floor. “It wouldn’t have changed anything.”
“Because you were stuck.” I repeated, “In something you didn’t want.”
He lifted his head and scowled at me. “I didn’t say I didn’t want it. I just didn’t fucking understand what it would cost me at the time! That’s why I want Lex to make sure she wants this and isn’t pressured into anything by us.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again, picking my keys up off my desk and walking out.
“Where are you going?” he called after me, but the frustration in his voice raked my nerves even more.
“Away,” I replied, throwing my jacket on as I crossed the garage. “So you’re not stuck anymore.”
“Knox.” He called out, annoyed. “Stop.”
It wasn’t the call of a man who was watching someone he loved walk away upset.
It was the call of a man who felt obligated to stop what he already started.
But I was already gone.
Chapter 26 – Hannah
Knox was missing, and I couldn’t breathe.
It had been two days since he left the garage on his motorcycle without a word to anyone and no one had heard from him since.
Brody came home that night, visibly shaken and upset, admitting what happened between them and that Knox left.
I tried to keep my anger with Brody in check because it wouldn’t solve anything after the fact. My priority had been to find Knox.
But I couldn’t.
He just disappeared without a trace. His cell phone was off and his bank account had gone untouched.
I was dying inside with every second that passed without information about him.
Was he hurt?
Was he lying somewhere in a ditch, dying all alone?
Would I ever see him again?
“Hey.” Lex came into the living room and sat down on the couch next to me, pushing a cup of tea into my hands. “You need to drink something.”
“I can’t.” I sighed. “Not until I know he’s safe.”
“I know, baby.” She put her arm over my shoulders, “He’s going to be just fine.” She put the tea on the table in front of us and pulled me back to lean against her side on the oversized comfy couch. “My guess is he’s somewhere processing everything that went down.”
“Why hasn’t he called then?” I wiped at stupid tears that wouldn’t stop falling. “He has to know I’m terrified right now.”
“I think his pain is so big he doesn’t have room to hold on to anyone else’s.” She reasoned. “And that’s okay. He deserves to feel this how he sees fit, and you have to let him.”
“I’m just so worried about him. He’s never gone MIA like this before.”
“I feel to blame.” She kissed my hair and settled in, “I think my wounds opened up Brody’s and then he caused some to Knox.”
“What a terrible turn of events.”
“I agree. But maybe he just needs time.”
“Have you heard anything from anyone?” I asked, hopeful that she’d somehow forgotten to tell me that someone in the search party found him.
“No.” She sighed again, “But Parker went off a couple of hours ago on a hunch. Maybe he knows something.”
Brody, Dallin, Parker, and Trey had been looking for him since he left. Reyna and Lex had been holding vigil with me at home, hoping he’d just pull up the driveway and say he lost track of time or something.
“I can’t believe my dad hasn’t even found him. You’d think the police commissioner would have some reach.”
She chuckled, “He does, but knowing Knox left on his own kind of complicates things a little. You know that.”
“I know.” I sat up, “I hate sitting here with nothing to do.”
“You just have to have faith and give him grace when we find him. Because he doesn’t need your anger right now. He needs your love.”
