CHAPTER 035: Our Bet
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~~SLOANE~~
I don’t think I can see beyond the cloud of rage in front of my eyes.
I stand still, arms folded over my chest, watching the two of them–Knox and Hunter–staring each other down like opponents in a ring. Knox’s face, as always, is unreadable. Hunter, on the other hand, looks… tired and confused.
Today isn’t turning out as I expected it to. It’s coming with a lot of anger.
It started the moment I opened my eyes to find someone beneath me. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. But when I turned, ready to fight, ready to scream or hit or run, I saw Finn. Lying on my bed like he belonged there. Said he couldn’t sleep. Said he needed to talk.
That was when he told me.
That Knox had asked him to end our friendship. Because Knox wanted me.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Just grabbed whatever clothes I could find, yanked them on, and demanded one thing: tell me where Hunter is staying. Finn knew. Delilah had mentioned it while her tongue was apparently halfway down his throat the day I flew into Asheville.
So here I am.
Not because I wanted to be noble. Not because I thought Hunter deserved the truth. No. I came here for one thing. Revenge. I wanted to see Knox squirm. I wanted to throw his games right back in his face. To unravel something for once- just like he always unraveled me.
And then I saw him standing in this room with Hunter.
So much better. He’d witness me giving him a taste of his own dish.
But Knox isn’t showing even the faintest hint of emotion. Just calm, composed silence. And somehow, that makes the rage burn hotter in my chest. Something about this doesn’t feel like a victory. Not yet. Not the way I imagined it.
Not until he finally breaks.
“You dated Delilah?” Hunter finally asks, putting an end to the silence.
Knox’s hands slide into his pockets, his eyes steady on Hunter. “I did.”
“I’ve been with Delilah for a while now. You didn’t think to tell me?”
“I thought it didn’t matter back then. It looked like a fling. No need digging up ancient history. But then you got serious. You proposed. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Hunter stares at him, stunned. “How about starting with, ‘Hunter, I was once fucking your fiancée?‘ That might’ve cleared the air.”
“It doesn’t matter, Hunt. These histories… they don’t mean anything.”
“They don’t mean anything to you,” Hunter cuts in. “I don’t even understand how that could be possible. Were you screwing your brother’s girl?”
A tight tick pulses in Knox’s jaw. The first break in his composure.
“You know I wouldn’t do that.”
“Do I? Because right now, it sounds like I don’t know you at all. We’ve both dated the same girl. So has your brother. And you used the fate of my wedding to manipulate him? Just to get close to his best friend?”
“Me wanting to jeopardize your wedding shouldn’t come as a surprise to you.”
“No, Knox. I’ve always known you were a bit of a dick, but you’ve never turned that toward me.” Hunter’s voice is quieter now. Almost too calm. “Today’s my wedding day, man.”
My stomach twists.
I shouldn’t have come.
The longer I stand, the more the fire in my che Successfully unlocked!
What am I doing?
I came here swinging, ready to set a match to someone’s life on their wedding day. A man I barely know. A man who–until I told him the news–had done nothing but smile politely at me. I was so sure I was right, so sure Knox deserved to be exposed, that I didn’t stop to ask myself why. Why I was here. Why it mattered this much. Why I let myself get pulled so
deep into his orbit that I forgot how to breathe outside it.
I’m not the vengeful type. Not really. I don’t make scenes or shatter worlds. But today, I walked into a hotel room with every Intention of ruining a friendship, just to prove a point. Just to make Knox hurt.
And now I’m standing here, watching the hurt bloom in someone else’s face–someone innocent–and I’m wondering who I‘ ve become.
Knox makes me mad. Unreasonably mad. Furious in a way that fogs the edges of my judgment. He gets under my skin, into my bloodstream, rewires my thoughts until I can’t even think straight. And maybe that’s what scares me most. Not what I did. But the way he makes me do it. The way he makes me forget who I am.
“I’m sorry, Hunter,” Knox says softly. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Hunter steps back. “I need you both to leave. Right now.”
“Hunter-”
“Please.” His voice hardens. “I want to be alone.”
I don’t wait to be told again. I move for the door, pull it open, and step into the hallway. The second it shuts behind me, I start walking.
Then I hear it. The door opens again. Footsteps. Rapid. Coming closer.
I speed up.
The footsteps get louder.
“Sloane,” Knox calls.
I break into a run, but it’s too late. He catches up in just a few strides, wraps an arm around my waist, and lifts me clean off the floor. Then he throws me over his shoulder.
“Knox–what the hell–put me down!”
“If you want to start fires, Kitten,” he says, “you better be willing to feel the heat.”
I squirm and slap his back. “Let me go, or I swear to God I will scream.”
We turn a corner. He doesn’t even slow down. A few paces later, he stops in front of a door, pulls out a key card, and swipes it. The lock clicks open, and he steps inside the suite.
The door shuts behind us.
The room is dark at first until he turns the light on. Sleek furniture. A king–sized bed. Floor–to–ceiling windows covered in blackout drapes. His scent is everywhere–clean and musky and completely him.
He sets me down.
I bolt for the door, but he catches me again, gently this time, spinning me around until I’m facing him.
“Are you happy now?” he asks, low and controlled.
My chest rises and falls. “Don’t put this on me. You told Finn to dump me just so you could be with me.”
“You make it sound like you two were dating.”
“We weren’t. That’s the whole point. Friendships can be more important than sexual relationships.”
“Is that right?” he murmurs, stepping closer.
- “Of course you wouldn’t know anything about that. That’s why you tried to screw your friend over just to fuck me.”
His hand cups the back of my neck–firm. “You’re right. I do want to fuck you. And right now, the only thing you’ve succeeded in doing is turning me on more.”
“Stay away from me, Knox.”
I step back. He follows.
Until my back meets the wall.
“Do you think that stunt back there will break me and Hunter apart?” he asks.
His eyes fall on my lips. Then they travel to my chest.
And even as my pulse pounds with anger, my body–traitorous, aching–responds to him.
“There’s something you need to understand about me, Sloane,” he says. “The people I want… they always want me back. They can’t help it. Just like you.”
He slips a hand beneath the hem of my shirt, brushing his palm up until it covers one breast through the bra. He leans in, mouth close to mine. I can smell him–cologne, skin, the faint trace of smoke and alcohol. His touch is rough, familiar. Electric.
CHAPTER 035: Our Bet
“You hate me,” he says. “But you want me. I can feel it. Hear it in your voice.”
My back presses tighter to the wall.
“Hunter will come around,” he whispers. “A few days or weeks from now, give or take. He’ll need time to adjust after calling off the wedding.”
“Calling off the wedding? You’re out of your mind if you think him finding out about Delilah dating you will make him call off his wedding.”
His hand goes behind me to my bra clasp, and with a swift, confident motion, he undoes it. As soon as the bra is hanging loosely around my chest, he traces his fingers from underneath, skimming the sensitive skin until he reaches my bare breast. He rolls my nipple between his fingers, and I tremble, anger and desire coursing through me. My body betrays me despite the whirlwind of emotions raging inside me.
“You’re just trying to make yourself feel better for ruining the wedding,” he says, his fingers still on my nipple. “He won’t call it off, Knox. That’d be insane.”
He draws back suddenly, his hands gripping my shoulders. Before I can react, he flips me over, planting my chest against the wall. He comes close, his breath hot on my neck, his body pinning me in place. I can feel his hardness pressing against me. I try to push back, to create some space between us, but he’s unyielding, his strength overpowering my struggles. His hand snakes around my waist, his fingers finding their way back to my breast. I can feel my resolve weakening, my body melting into his touch. I hate him for what he’s done, for the way he’s manipulating me, but I can’t deny the desire that’s coursing through my veins. I’m trapped in a web of my own making, and I’m not sure I want to find a way out.
“You know what’s even more insane?” he says, his voice a low growl in my ear. “You singlehandedly gave me everything I needed to win our bet, Kitten.”
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