Page 54 of Dice & Dekes

Knight’s lip curls back from his canines. He stuffs his phone into his pocket. “No wonder she’s mad.”

“It’s nothing bad!” I insist. “It’s just, you know, my secret.”

Knight crosses his arms. “Secret wife, secret life. You understand that if you hurt my sister, I’m legally obligated to kick your ass, right?”

I size him up. “You could try.”

“No, really. If you cheat on my sister, I’m allowed to treat you like a human punching bag, and you’re obligated to take it without fighting back.”

I scoff. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“If it meant Knova got hurt, no, I actually wouldn’t.” Knight runs one hand through his hair. “She’s always been the one who stood up for me. She’s the family badass. But after what she’s been through, I get why she’s careful about her heart.”

“What she’s been through?” I repeat, intrigued.

Knight wrinkles his nose and singsongs, “It’s her secret.”

He’s got me there. I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but if Knova has secrets, I want to earn her trust, not squeeze them out of her brother. I rub my forehead and weigh my options.

It’s not really a contest. I’d do anything for Knova. Every cell in my body is screaming to fix this. I’d light my whole ego on fire if it would make her believe I’m in this. That I’m in her. That I’m not walking away.

“It’s the Special Olympics,” I blurt.

Knight raises an eyebrow and cocks his head like a Pomeranian that just heard the mail truck pull up. “Come again?”

“Remember the end of eighth grade, the night of our graduation dance?”

“How could I forget?” Knight’s shoulders slump, and he reaches up to rub the back of his neck. “Have I ever apologized for that, by the way?”

“Only about a million times. Anyway, you remember that the principal called my parents, and they went through my room, and… you know the rest. Mom and Dad thought I had a problem, so they grounded me for most of the summer and signed me up for this Special Olympics summer camp. They wanted me too busy to get into trouble. Get me some ‘life perspective.’ Back then, I mostly helped with the little kids as a counselor, but I kept going back. It was intense, but I loved it. Once I started college, I worked over the summers but still volunteer as a coach.”

Knight’s head, already at an angle, keeps listing farther and farther to one side as I talk. “Let me get this straight. Your deep dark secret, the one you’re blowing up your life over, is that you volunteer for the Special Olympics?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“For fuck’s sake.” He clasps his hands in front of his face and closes his eyes, like he’s praying for the serenity to accept the things he cannot change. Namely, me. “You do realize you’re the biggest green flag pretending to be a red flag, right?”

“I have a rep to protect!” I don’t know if Knova’s mentioned the awful night when she flew with LifeSource yet, but if she hasn’t divulged that particular trauma yet, I’m not going to go blabbing it around.

“Viktor, you can get a rise out of my sister like nobody else, but that’s not the way to go about this if you want to stay married. Your need to protect your ‘rep’ is going to wreck your relationship.”

“But you realize how stupid it sounds now? She thinks I was out fucking around. Now I’m just going to tell her, ‘Babe, no, I’m not a ho, I’m a hero.’”

Knight groans and rubs his forehead. “Don’t say that. It makes you sound like a douche.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” I realize how loud I’ve gotten, so I lower my voice a notch to ask, “What should I do?”

“You literally have everything you’ve ever wanted. Don’t fuck it up. And for the love of God, fight for it.” He lets out a long-suffering sigh. “But since you’re struggling to do that, I’ll help. After all, you were instrumental in helping me get together with Sofia. I owe you one.”

I nod once. Then again. It’s not just about not losing her. It’s about proving I deserve her. For once in my life, I want to be someone worth staying for.

I consider his offer. “You’re not going to run me over with a bike, are you?”

“Not until things get desperate. Though I’m not ruling it out. Now, come on, let’s get back out there. We don’t want that waitress to think we’ve broken the cardinal rule of the dry storage closet.”

Chapter Thirteen

Knova

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