Page 63 of Stay with Me

“No,” I say honestly.

“Knight has always taken control of things in his life. He will allow things to go so far before he does. When he decides he wants something there’s this determination that fills him.

“I get the feeling you’re going to learn this for yourself. Things are changing for him. You should be open to who he truly is. Allow him to show you that, my dear.”

I go to respond, but my phone rings. Looking down, I see it’s Sheldon. I sigh and get ready to send it to voicemail, but I want out of this awkward conversation more than anything.

“Um, I need to take this,” I mutter.

“You go on, I’ll be right over here,” she says and strolls off.

“Hello,” I say as I answer the call.

“Hey there, beautiful. I was beginning to think you were blowing me off. How are you?”

“Hi, Sheldon. I’m fine and you?”

“I can’t complain. Work life has been busy. I think it’s time for some play. How about we go out for dinner? I would love to be in your company,” he says smoothly.

“Oh, that would be great, but I can’t this weekend. I have a ton of work to catch up on.”

He sighs into the line. I bite my lip wondering if I should just call things off. I glance toward Tessa and decide against it.

Sheldon is safe. He doesn’t need his mother to convince me of that. I shake the thought off.

“Maybe next weekend,” I say.

“I look forward to it. I’ll give you a call to check in?”

“Yeah, cool.”

“Talk to you later, Reminisce. It was good to hear your voice.”

“Later, Sheldon.”

* * *

Knight

I grab a beer from the fridge in my brother’s condo. Prince asked me to come over to talk. About what? I have no idea. I’m not usually the first one he goes to for advice.

“What’s on your mind?” I say as I walk over to the couch he’s sitting on.

He has paint on his cheek and hands. That’s nothing new, but the look in his eyes is. Something is on his mind.

“I need a favor, but I thought we could hang for a bit too. I feel like we don’t hang enough. You’re my little brother. I should know more about your life,” he says.

“Not much to know. Especially not these days.” I shrug.

“What’s that about?”

I sigh and take a gulp of my beer. “Can’t talk about it.”

“You know, I thought you were joking when you said you wanted to be a cop. I mean, with our wealth and all the doors Mom and Dad have opened to us, I couldn’t see why you would want to put yourself out there like that.”

“It felt like the right thing to do for me,” I reply.

“I get that. Believe me I do. I also get that you feel like you’re making a difference. You’ve always stood up for the little guys.”

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