Worth It

“Knox,” she sobbed, crying even harder. “Don’t be funny. Not right now.”



My lips lifted at the corners. “I’m being completely serious. I think it’d kill me on the spot if I knew all this amazing hair was gone.”



“God, I’m going to miss you.” She pressed her face to my neck. “How long do you think we’ll be forced apart?”



“I don’t know.” I closed my eyes and soaked her in. I knew our time apart would be longer than it should be, though.



When neither of us could think of anything to say, I whispered. “Knock-knock.”



She sniffed. “Who’s there?”



“Olive.”



“Olive who?”



“Olive you.”



Smiling through her tears, she said, “Olive you, too.”



That’s when the door came open and her father stormed in, followed by her brothers, mother, and the sheriff.



“Get her out of here.”



Felicity popped her feet. “Don’t do this,” she pleaded. “Please. I’m sorry. I’ll do anything.”



But her brothers were already dragging her away. When she glanced back at me, she looked devastated. “I’m so sorry, Knox.”



My chin trembled. Without her there against me, all the bravery I’d been feeling failed me. I wasn’t ready for jail.



The door closed, separating her from me permanently. I was left with both her parents and the sheriff.



“What’s going on here, Abbott?” the sheriff asked, eyeing me warily. “Looks like you roughed the boy up. And why is he tied to a chair?”



“We had to restrain him because he hit my oldest son, Maxwell, first. Everything that happened to his face was done in self-defense after that.”



I could tell from the sheriff’s expression that he didn’t believe Bainbridge’s story, but he didn’t question it. “And what caused the whole attack? Did he trespass again?”



“No. It’s worse. He raped my daughter.”



The sheriff whirled to gape at me. “Is that true, kid?”



I glanced toward the closed door, the last place I’d seen City. The pink-forming bruise on her face implanted itself into my head.



Then I looked to her father. His stare bore into me.



Hoping upon hope that he had at least one honorable bone in his body, I returned my attention to the sheriff. “Yeah. I forced her.”



I guess Pick decided it was okay to put me on the same schedule with Felicity after I agreed to live with her, because that night we had to work together.



I dreaded it. After spending most of the day at the gym, stewing in my guilt and avoiding her so I couldn’t hurt her any more than I already had, I came home to shower and change. I was just pulling on my shirt when she quietly tapped on my door.



After tugging the shirt the rest of the way down and drawing in a bracing breath, I opened my door. She was already in her Forbidden shirt aa well, with tight black pants and her hair pulled up with butterfly clips.



Lifting her chin, probably to appear more distant, she said, “I was just about to head out and wondered if you wanted a ride too, since we’re going to the same place.”



I still felt shitty about hurting her earlier, and declining her offer would be pointless. So I nodded and mumbled a quiet, “Okay. Thanks.”



Following her out the door felt surreal. We were leaving our apartment together, in public, and spending the evening in the same vicinity. It was everything I’d ever hoped for, and yet, it was all wrong. I jammed my hands into my pockets, maudlin, and let myself feel resentment about everything we could’ve had together but now couldn’t because I could no longer be the person able to give her what her heart desired most.



She wanted everything; my heart, soul, dreams, fears, secrets, thoughts. And though some of those things she’d always have, others I was now too guarded to share, too scared to reveal, too smart to let loose and scar her too.



“You’ll, uh...just wait here a second,” she said as I approached the passenger side door of her car. “I have to crawl through my way and open your door from the inside. It sticks.”



I nodded and waited until she climbed in through her driver’s side door and then used her shoulder and all her might to heave mine open.



Sending me a rueful grin as I got in beside her, she tried to start the engine, pumping the gas to get it to finally fire to life. “Far cry from the Audi, huh?”



“Still nicer than any ride I ever owned,” I told her, since I’d never owned any car.