Page 31 of Anyone But You
“I have a proposal.”
“Let’s hear it, Knox.”
“I propose we eat, drink excessively, and fool around. I feel vulnerable and need to be comforted after sending off my best island friend.”
I swallowed roughly in anticipation of rejection when Victoria stared at me for what felt like an eternity. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay…I’m feeling a little vulnerable, too.”
9
Usher
Victoria
Josh’s unexpected passing took a bigger toll on me than I initially thought. I was oddly protective of him, maybe because I thought he was a little touched in the head. Knowing his ass went to Heaven because it wouldn’t be right to send him to Hell kept me from sobbing.
The champagne has been doing its job, too.
“I have a confession to make.”
Knox and I had been going back and forth like Usher for the past hour with our confessions—things we never told a soul. The confessions were nothing too heinous. They ranged from stealing candy from the convenience store as a child to receiving helpful stock market tips from a business colleague just days before a particular stock crashed.
They did Martha dirty. That’s all I have to say about that.
“Go ahead, Knox,” I slurred, taking another swig from the nearly empty bottle.
“S-sometimes…I buy you jewelry.”
My head swiveled on my neck in his direction.
What did this man just tell me?
“Um…you’re gonna have to run that by me one more time.”
“I’m at the store buying myself a new watch, and then I’ll happen to see the matching Hers watch, and I buy it thinking about how it would look on your wrist.”
This man is insane in the membrane! But I’m kind of living for it. It might be the alcohol talking, but I’ve never had anyone obsessed with me like this, and I don’t think I mind.
“W-what did you do with the watch?”
“It’s in my safe, along with all the other pieces.”
“All the other pieces? How much jewelry did you buy me?”
“You’d think I was crazy if I told you.”
“I got the hint you were crazy when you told the airline I died, so you might as well fess up.”
He sighed and threw back another shot—no grimace.
He’s hammered.
“The first purchase was a pair of diamond hoop earrings. I overheard you speaking to one of your friends on the phone. You mentioned, ‘the bigger the hoops, the bigger the hoe.’ I saw a pair of hoops while shopping and couldn’t resist. From there, I spiraled.”
“How much money have you spent?”
