Page 36 of King of Kings

“Whoa, girl. You okay?” Becca says when I come barreling out of the elevator.

“I’m fine. Just having an off morning, that’s all.”

There’s no way I’m going to dump all my problems on her. She has enough going on in her life.

“If you say so,” she says, not believing me for a minute.

“Hey, Sophia.” Dylan comes around the corner with a huge smile on his face.

It feels like it’s been weeks since we went on that date––instead of less than twenty-four hours.

“Hey, Dylan.” I try to plaster on a fake smile.

Luckily, we stay steadily busy for the rest of the day, and nobody has the opportunity to ask me anymore about what’s going on.

“Do you want to come over? Have a glass of wine?” Becca asks as we’re walking out to our cars at the end of our shifts.

“Normally, I’d be dying too, but I’m exhausted. I didn’t get any sleep last night,” I say.

“Okay. Hey, call me if you need me,” she says, grabbing my forearm before parting ways with me to get into her car.

“I will. Love you, Beck,” I tell her.

“Love you too,” she says, hesitating to get into her car.

I feel bad that I’ve worried her. I’ll open up to her eventually, but not right now.

After a twelve-hour shift, the ride back to the Kingston house feels like it takes hours. I feel like I can’t even keep my eyes open. I pull into the driveway, parking my car, and laying my head on the steering wheel.

A knock on the window makes me jump.

“Holy shit!” I yell, glancing out the window to see Knox.

“Great,” I mumble under my breath before rolling down the window.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

It’s almost as if he’s concerned about me, but I know how Knox is.

“I’m great. Fine,” I tell him before attempting to roll my window back up.

“Sophie, you were sleeping in your car,” he says.

I sigh, grabbing my keys from the ignition and my bag from the passenger seat.

“Don’t call me that, and I wasn’t sleeping,” I tell him before getting out of the car and walking past him towards the door.

“I can’t call you by your name anymore?” he says, jogging to keep up with me.

“You know what I mean, Knox.” I roll my eyes, pulling the front door open.

“What’s with the cold demeanor?” he asks, making me stop in my tracks.

“You’re fucking joking, right?”

His head rears back like I slapped him.

“Are you serious right now? You’re fucking delusional.” I scoff.

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