“Where are you going with her?” Graysondemanded.
Knix’s glare was so potent even I almost took a step back. I had to hand it to Grayson, though, he didn’t budge. If I were the one under Knix’s death glare, I would have crawled beneath a piece of furniture. “You don’t need to knowthat.”
“The hell I don’t!” Grayson took a step forward, interrupting my sight of Knix. Even though Grayson was a substantial guy for someone our age, he was nowhere near Knix’s size or height. Hell, I thought, no onewas.
“I would back off if I were you,” Knixwarned.
Bellamy and Marv moved closer and I half expected Grayson to explode and punch someone. Having had enough, I reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Grayson’s shirt and yanked himback.
“Enough, guys,” I said. I looked at Grayson. “It’s fine. Knix would never hurt me. I’ll befine.”
Grayson continued to glare at Knix, not even bothering to look at the rest of the guys. The tension between them was slow to dissolve, but when it finally did I released a pent-up breath that I didn’t realize I had beenholding.
“Alright, then,” I said. “We’reagreed?”
Bellamy and Marv continued to glare at Grayson. Texas looked like he was trying to contain his laughter, even though I knew he didn’t care for Grayson either. Grayson and Knix were the only two sensible ones. Both looked away from each other and pretended that they hadn’t been about to commitmurder.
“Let’s go then,” Marvsnapped.
I could tell that Grayson would have rather flung himself from the roof of the resort into the gardens below than go with them, but as Texas opened the suite’s door with a flourish, and a wink in my direction, they all marched towardsit.
“See ya on the other side, Princess,” Texas said, closing the door behind him as I shook myhead.
“They’re gonna be the death of me,” Knix groaned, taking two long strides to the couch and sagging into it. The springs creaked and screamed under his weight. I approached and sank into the cushion beside him. Knix dropped his head back, thumping it against the wall, watchingme.
"Why didn't you want me to go with them?" Iasked.
"Because I wanted to talk to you about the other day," he said. "I've been trying to find a way to talk to you about it, but after what happened with your mom...and then we needed to get on this job. I trust that in sending all three of them with Caruso that he will come back unscathed." He paused for a moment, frowning. "Well, mostlyunscathed."
"Why do you dislike him so much?" I finally asked. It had been botheringme.
Knix grimaced, sitting up to rub the back of his neck. "It's complicated. Grayson and Marv know each other a bit. Their families are in the same social circles. I don't particularly have an issue with him, but I don't think he's a good influence on you. Bellamy and Marv are fairly close and Bell will back Marv no matterwhat."
Well, I guessed that explained Bellamy's extreme reaction to Grayson. He must have recognized him at the school when they met. "Oh." I thought about what he said before, about having me stay behind. "You wanted to talk about the otherday?"
"When I kissed you," heclarified.
I froze, my heart thumping. Would he say that it had been a mistake? Would he apologize? I didn't understand why, but the thought of Knix apologizing for kissing me left a sour taste in my mouth and a burning in my stomach. Bellamy hadn't talked to me aboutourkiss. And Marv? What about Marv? I wasn’t quite sure what to think about either of them. Did Knix know? Did he not like me anymore? I had to urge myself to calm down. I reminded myself that just because they had kissed me, and I had kissed them back didn't mean that they liked me inthatway. Maybe it had just been a spur of the moment thing. It was completely understandable if Knix regretted it; even if I didn't want himto.
"I'm sure I surprised you with it," he said. I watched as his fingers scratched the underside of his chin, moving over his whiskers. Knix looked across the room, eyes focusing somewhere on the wall before he turned to face me. "I surprised myself, but I don't regret it, and I hope that you don't regret iteither."
I shook my head. "I-I-" I had no clue what tosay.
"I want to kiss you again," he said. "But I'm also aware that this could be a very dangerous thing if you were to agree to remain with us after thejob."
"After thejob?"
"I know you still aren't a hundred percent sure, even though I feel like you're leaning our way." His blue eyes pierced me through as he shifted to face me fully. "I want you to understand that even if..." I had never seen him look so unsure. Serious, yes. Amused, yes. But unsure? It was a new look for him, one that endeared him to me even more. "Even if there is nothing between us," he continued, "I want you to know that you're welcome in this group. If you decide to join Iris, you will be one of our own. You're eighteen and I'm twenty-three. We're adults. This–" he paused, gesturing to himself and then to me, "can come second if you need it to. We're a group, a team, and a family. If you let us, we'll be yourstoo."
I didn't know what to say. I knew I needed to tell him about Bellamy, but it really wasn't the right time. We needed to be with the guys. I needed to make sure they didn't kill Grayson. We needed to figure out what was going to happen with Grayson's brother, and then I really needed to figure out what I was going to do about my mom's medical options. There was really only so much I could do at once, and though I knew we needed to have a deeper conversation about the kiss, I knew that it would have towait.
"I think you're right," I said, rising to my feet. "I am leaning towards this group. I'm not sure I understand Iris, but if it's important in helping people like Jonathan and Bethany and even Grayson's brother, then I think it's something that will help metoo."
Knix stood as well, towering over me like he always did, the deep, blue pools of his irises swimming with pride and something else. It couldn't have been love, we still barely knew each other, but he definitely liked me, and I liked him too. Knix may have been quieter than the rest, but he was still the one that they all turned to, that I turned to. Despite his size or maybe, because of it, I felt protected. He was a good teacher, and a good kisser, and even though I would have loved to fall onto the couch and let him kiss me again and again, it needed towait.
I held out my hand. "Let's go help theguys."
He smiled as he took it. "I don't think you're leaning towards us anymore," he said as I pulled him towards the door. "I think you're already withus."