“Does it creep you out now that you know?” He grimaced. “Riggs used to make fun of me so bad and call me a stalker.”
“Not in the least. Though it kind of pisses me off you never even said hello.” Kennedy’s soul twisted as she realized he’d been sending her messages that whole time. Trying to tell her he still cared. She’d cried over the memories those flowers surfaced within her, kept a few pressed between the pages of her anatomy books, and thought she was ridiculous for remembering a young man who’d left her without a backward glance.
“Then I probably shouldn’t mention that I was there to see you graduate from med school. I loved the purple dress you wore under your gown. You looked incredible.” Knox sighed.
“That’swhy you weren’t surprised when I told you I was a doctor in the bar yesterday?” She reeled as she considered how near he’d been on those special occasions that she’d missed him most.
He nodded.
“That’s romantic as shit. You should kiss him for that,” Marcus said as if that wasn’t weird given their relationship and how they’d done the same the evening before. “I can see you want to. Don’t let me stop you.”
“Oh yeah?” Kennedy raised a brow. She looked to Marcus, who nodded subtly. How did he not only totally get her but also approve? She wasn’t going to second-guess herself. In the moment, it felt right. So she did as he’d suggested and angled her head toward Knox.
Their lips were a hairsbreadth apart as she stared into his eyes. He’d been so far astray and she hadn’t had a clue that he needed her to find him. Yet somehow, fate had brought them back together. And she didn’t intend to waste that chance.
“Before you do that—” Knox drew back, tripping Kennedy’s anxieties about whether or not he was serious or would simply rip her heart in half again if she gave him the opportunity.
“What?” Her eyes narrowed.
“I don’t want to make the same mistakes as last time. I owe you the entire truth.” His gaze flicked guiltily toward Marcus.
“What the hell is happening here?” Kennedy stared at one, then the other.
“I sort of kissed your man. And I’m not even going to apologize for it.” Knox shrugged. “I liked it.”
Kennedy was glad she was sitting or she would have fallen straight onto her ass. “You did what?”
“Kissed Marcus when we were skinny-dipping in the Jacuzzi downstairs.”
“I was only gone for like four hours.” Kennedy couldn’t help it—she laughed. Was it hysteria taking over or did she really find the idea of the two of them together both hot and somehow amusing in its complete outrageousness?
“Are you mad?” Marcus asked.
“Did you enjoy it?” she countered.
“Uh, yup.” He toyed with the diamond stud in his ear, one of the very few tells he had.
“Holy crap. Even you’re not immune to his bullshit charm.” Kennedy’s jaw hung open. In a weird way it made her feel better about how much she still craved Knox, even after how much had happened between them and the time that had separated them.
Then a sinking feeling overcame her. “Hang on. Maybe it’s me who should give you two some privacy.”
She rocked forward, about to stand, when Knox put his hand on her thigh and kept her pinned to the couch beside him. “It just happened, Kennedy. I’m in a weird place. My whole world is changing and I see a way out where I thought there wasn’t any chance of escape. Then throw you in the mix. And now your guy here and… I don’t know. Everything seems like it’s moving really fast right now. But I know it feels more right than anything has in a long time.”
“You really trust him?” Kennedy asked Marcus, glad to have an unbiased opinion. “He’s telling the truth, about all of it?”
Marcus took his time really considering, then nodded. “Yeah, I believe so.”
“So you’re not mad? Or freaked out? Or whatever?” Knox picked at his chewed fingernails.
How had she never realized his teenaged confidence had been a bluff? Maybe if she’d realized he wasn’t the arrogant player she’d assumed, things could have turned out differently.
“I’m not upset. You don’t owe me anything. Either of you.” It hurt to admit it. She’d turned Marcus down enough times that it was too late to stake a claim now. And if he ended up with Knox instead of her, it would be her own damn fault for pushing him away because she was too scared to let herself be vulnerable.
And now she was in the impossible position of having feelings for two men and being unable to choose between them. Which only meant she was going to end up crushing someone, probably all three of them, to be honest.
“Well, I guess what I’m wondering is…what do you want, Kennedy?” Marcus reached across the gap between them and squeezed her hand. It seemed so small enveloped in his heat and strength. “It’s not a matter of obligation. We both want you, so it’s up to you. If you pick him, I’ll back off. Because all I really care about is your happiness.”
Knox swallowed hard and agreed, “If I’m going to fuck your life up again, I’ll walk away.”