CHAPTER 014: My Needs Are Satisfied
CHAPTER 014: My Needs Are Satisfied
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~~SLOANE~~
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Knox rolls his eyes and starts the car, turning up the heater as well. Warm air washes over my wet skin as we drive in silence.
No music. No snarky one–liners.
At some point, it becomes unsettling.
Knox is just… driving. At a normal pace. Like a normal person. No engine revving. No cutting corners like he’s in Fast & Furious. He doesn’t floor it. He just drives.
And I hate how uneasy that makes me.
I turn to him.
His eyes are on the road, focused. His lower lip is caught between his teeth, and I suddenly remember where those lips have been. What they did. My face flames.
“You’re driving at a normal pace,” I say, trying to distract myself. “Finally doing something right for the first time in your life?”
He doesn’t look at me. “Doing the right thing is overrated.”
“Only you would say a thing like that.”
“I just want to live long enough to do the wrong things with the wrong people.” When he says this, his face turns in my direction.
I look away, clenching my hands in my lap.
Knox Hartley is the kind of guy I spent years avoiding in high school and college. Especially after my parents‘ divorce which resulted in me living with my father before he remarried. Dad made sure I got the sermon nightly: stay away from bad boys, Sloane. They’ll chew you up and spit you out. He used to say it like it was a law of physics.
And I listened. I kept my head down. Stayed focused. Read books instead of flirting. Studied code instead of faces.
Avoided drama like it was a disease.
And now… here I am.
Lusting after a man who practically screams danger, and hating that I want him again even now, with his hand on the wheel and his jaw set like stone.
Sorry, Dad.
Now that I’m thinking clearly, beyond the rage of before, what was that all about in the club anyway?
Finn denied there being issues between him and Knox, but would Knox say the same?
I clear my throat, not wanting to sound unconfident as I ask, “Is there a thing between you and Finn?”
“A thing? We’re brothers. Didn’t you know that already?”
“You know what I mean, Knox.”
“Do I?” He leans back a little in his seat. “You assume too much, Kitten. My head is as free as a bird in the sky. Please clarify.”
I roll my eyes so hard I’m surprised they don’t fly out of my skull. Must be a Hartley thing–dodging questions like they’re landmines.
“Did something happen that led to a fallout?” I press. “I asked Finn. He was sketchy about it.”
“Fallout?” he repeats like the word is in a foreign language. “If you mean our little problems, it’s nothing we can’t or haven’t handled before.”
“I want to know.”
“Then ask your friend.”
“He won’t tell me. And you know that.”
There’s a pause.
Successfully unlocked!
“So you assumed I was the easier one?” he ask
These
are gonna put you in trouble, Kitten.”
“In essence, you’re saying you won’t tell me.”
“You’re right. I won’t.” He glances at me. “He’s already angry with me enough as it is. I don’t want to start more shit by telling his best friend our dirty little secret.”
1/3
CHAPTER 014 My Needs Are Satisfied
Hellooo? Did I bump my head and dive into an alternate universe where Knox has a conscience?
“Where is this puritanical bullshit coming from? Since when do you care about what Finn thinks? One minute you make bad decisions to piss him off, and the next you’re saintly and full of brotherly love.”
“Assumptions, once again,” he says. “I and Finn may have our differences and do hate each other ninety percent of the time, but make no mistake–I love him. And he loves me too. It’s the only reason we haven’t killed each other yet.”
I fall silent. There’s nothing more to say anyway.
The rest of the drive is quiet, but it feels louder somehow.
By the time we pull into the driveway of the mansion, I’m holding my breath.
He puts the car in park, but he doesn’t move. Doesn’t unbuckle.
“See you at the rehearsal tomorrow,” he says. “That’s, of course, if you don’t catch the next flight back to New York.”
I hesitate. “Aren’t you coming in?”
He shakes his head, staring ahead. “No. My parents will probably be home tomorrow. I don’t want to run into them yet. There’s only so much I can take in one weekend.”
“Alright.” I reach for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”
“You’re welcome.”
I step out, heels in hand, rain still in my hair, dress stuck to my legs like glue. I walk up the path without looking back. But halfway through, something makes me stop and turn back.
Knox is still parked.
Still watching.
Strange.
I continue my walk, get inside the house, and close the door softly behind me. The next second, I’m running to the window, pushing the drapes aside and peeking. I look just in time to see the red tail lights of Knox’s car fade down the street.
Now convinced he’s gone, I climb the stairs, heading for Finn’s room.
I need to fix this. Smooth things over. Whatever he felt earlier must have settled by now, washed away with the rain. Finn doesn’t hold onto things for long.
I find his door open. He’s lying on his stomach, scrolling through his phone.
“Finn?” I say softly.
He doesn’t look up. “Just leave me alone, Sloane.”
Guess that means he’s still mad.
I walk over anyway and climb on top of him, stretching out across his back like a human blanket. My head rests between his shoulder blades. He doesn’t shove me and my wet clothes off him.
Progress?
He’s scrolling through pictures on his phone. Old ones. Me and him. I look like a complete troll in most of them.
“Those are terrible photos,” I mumble.
“I like them,” he says. “You were a nice friend back then.”
I sigh. “Come on, Finn. I’m sorry.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “Do you have any idea that your clothes are wet?”
“I do. But I’m not letting up until you forgive me.”
“I can’t have you sleeping with my brother, Sloane.”
“It was a one–time thing. I was stressed. He helped me relieve it. That’s it. It’s never happening again.”
I roll off his back so I’m now lying beside him, damping the bed instead.
“Knox is not someone you should be around,” he mutters. “If you want to relieve stress, you can have literally anyone.”
Not everyone, I think. But I don’t say it.
“I know,” I say instead. “He used me. I used him. We both got what we wanted. My needs are satisfied.”
“You don’t know him. He’ll get into your head.”
“Not happening.”
“Are you saying that as a promise?”
I hesitate. Am I? “I… promise.”
3/3
CHAPTER 014 My Needs Are Satisfied “Prove it.”
I look at him, confused. “How?”
“I’ll only forgive you if you help me win back Delilah. Then I’ll know your bead is where it’s supposed to be. Not in my brother’s balls.”
Seriously? How charming.
“You’re back on the Delilah thing?” I ask.
“I never left it.”
I groan. “Fine. I’ll try my best.”
“That’s not an assurance.”
“I’ll help you, Finn.”
He smiles. “Good. Now come here.”
He pulls me into a hug, wet dress and all. I close my eyes and let him hold me.
But all I can think about is the deal I made earlier today with Knox. The way he looked at me when he said he’d violently pursue me and channel my obsession for Finn toward himself.
If I help Finn, Knox wins.
If I betray Finn, Knox loses–and so do I with Finn.
This trip is going to ruin me.
