Page 95 of The Knockout

The three of us stay quiet for a minute, then follow the sound of angry male voices.

Shit.

Ares

“You had to go for Gracie? My. Wife’s. Sister.” Cross turns on me, furious. “What—you fucked your way through the rest of Philadelphia and decided you needed someone respectable, so you might as well go for Everly’s twin?”

Listening to my woman stand up for herself should have been a good thing, but instead, my brother has somehow twisted it into something else. Something darker.

“What the fuck, man? It’s not like I’m some evil mastermind with a devious plan to steal away the quiet little virgin.”

Cross’s nostrils flare, and for a minute, I think we’re going to throw down the way we used to as teenagers.

“That’s my wife’s family you’re fucking with, Ares. Her family. My family. You hurt her—you hurt Everly. And I’m not going to let that happen.”

I think about hitting him.

I really do.

It would feel good too... for about a minute.

But the last thing in the world Mom needs or Dad would have wanted is for Cross and me to come to blows in their back yard. “The fuck? Do you know me at all, asshole?”

The girls walk around the corner of the house, and I try to reel it in.

But man, it’s fucking hard.

“Did anyone assume you were going to hurt Everly? Or did we all give you the space you needed to figure your shit out?”

“You’re not me, Ares. You’re never going to be me. Stop trying.”

“I’ll give you that one today—for Dad. But say it again and see what happens.”

“Hey,” Gracie snaps and runs over to me. “He doesn’t need to be you.” She slides under my arm and wraps her arms around my waist.

“Don’t be a dick, Cross,” Bellamy adds as she comes to my rescue. “He’s just as much of a good man as you are.”

Everly’s the last to walk over—a little slower than the other two. And she’s staring at me like it’s the first time she’s ever seen me before she carefully maneuvers herself between Cross and Grace. “Leave him alone, Cross. He loves my sister.”

“Hurt her and I’ll kill you,” he threatens me. And I respect it.

“I can take care of myself, Cross,” Gracie whispers.

I tighten my grip on her. “But you’ll never have to because I’ll kill anyone who ever hurts you.”

“If you boys have spent enough time threatening each other, I’d like to go to bed now,” Mom calls from the back door.

Cross and I don’t say anything, but Bellamy runs over and kisses Mom.

“Thank you for coming up, Gracie. You can sleep in Bellamy’s bed if you’d like to spend the night tonight.”

“Mom,” I groan. “Really?”

“I didn’t say she had to sleepwithBellamy, dear. We upgraded Bellamy’s bed a few years ago, and it’s bigger than yours. Figure it out with your sister.” Then she turns around, leaving us all staring as she goes.

“I am not sleeping in your bed, Ares,” Bellamy whines.

“The couch works too,” Cross offers, and we all laugh, breaking the tension and heavy emotion we’ve been walking blindly through all day.

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