Finding Us

In a heartbeat Knox is in my personal space, my back against his chest. “Is that so?” I inhale sharply. Knox puts a hand on my right hip and slowly inches forward to my lower stomach. I start panting. He slides his hand lower on my stomach and my body starts to tremble. Suddenly Knox’s hand is gone and so is the hand towel that I was still holding on to. “I bet those peppers are gonna taste even better than I imagined.” His warm breath tickles my neck.

Embarrassment flushes me and stains my cheeks red. Needing something to distract myself I reach for a pepper and pop it in my mouth.

I see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. “Hungry?”

I shrug and smirk to myself, “Not as much as you are.”

Knox adds the peppers to the eggs and then mixes it up before pouring if into the frying pan. I perch myself on the counter and watch as Knox cooks. He reaches around me for a spatula and I get that electric shock and my breath catches. I know by the smirk on his face that he feels it too.

I take another bite of the leftover bell pepper and Knox groans. My eyes rise to his and I see him staring at me, his eyes are dark and hooded.

“What?” I ask him.

Knox just shakes his head.

I put another pepper in my mouth and suck on it, teasing Knox. He wanted to start something; I’m going to finish it. In a flash Knox stands directly in front of me. The pepper hangs from my mouth and both hands hold on to the counter shaken that he was going to try and move me.

Knox leans forward and the weight of him pushes my legs apart so that he can get closer to me. I freeze, afraid to move, anticipation coursing through me.

Knox stares intently at my lips. He inches forward again; he’s so close I can feel his breath on my face, minty and clean.

“If you don’t stop eating those peppers I’m going to do something that you’re probably not going to like very much. So if you don’t want that to happen I suggest you knock it off, Jasmine.” Knox whispers. His mouth slightly opens as he takes the other end of the pepper into his mouth. His full pink lips are so close. So close. Fighting the fact that my eyes want to flutter close I hear someone behind us clear their throat.

“Sorry to break up the moment but the rest of us are starving so if you aren’t going to cook can you get the f**k out of the kitchen so we can?” Jeremy says with a grin on his face.

Knox bites the pepper off and turns back to the eggs and Jeremy laughs as he reaches in the cabinet for a glass.

“Has anyone ever told you that red looks good on you?” Jeremy inquires.

Knox throws his head back and laughs.

I glare hard at Jeremy and Knox. “Assholes!” I hop off the counter and go to take Jeremy’s seat in the living room until Knox calls us for breakfast.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Cade says while piling eggs on his plate.

“Club Mango?” Rhea suggests.

Everyone but Summer and I bob their heads up and down in agreement. We’re the only two that have never been here so we don’t have a say.

“What time are we leaving?” Jeremy questions.

Tanner places his glass down, “Nine, I guess.”

Rex adds, “I’ll call the cabs and make sure they’re here by nine.”

Rhea looks over to Knox; he winks at her and then takes another fork full of eggs. Rhea shakes her head and continues to eat. What the hell was that about?

The next few minutes are quiet as everyone finishes up eating. I start to get up from the table as Jeremy speaks up, “Jas,” I look over at him. “Make sure you wear something red.”

If looks could kill Jeremy would be dead right now. Knox tries to hide his laughter by coughing. “Jackass!”

While Jeremy is easy on the eyes, he gets me a little flustered. Jeremy is a flirt.

I’ve only known this group, aside from Rex, Summer and Knox, for a day but I feel like I’ve known them for years. They’ve accepted me with open arms and I’ve let them in with no questions. I never put up my walls with any of them. We have an easy banter that feels good. This is a first for me. Everyone that I’ve encountered through the years have all been fake, hence the reason for my walls.

Fucking Jeremy damn near opened his mouth. He knows better than to ever mention her in front of me. He learned his lesson after we all got shit faced one night and I decked him because he started running his mouth. My boys and Rhea know not to mention her around me. I lose my shit because I’m still so f**ked up about everything that happened. I try to let it go, I really do, but when your life is ripped away from you, you become bitter.

7

After running upstairs I root through my bag to find one of the bikinis that I packed. I find the bottoms of the black and the red top to another. Irritated because I can’t find it and I know I packed it, I think ‘screw it’ and wear the black and red. I really wish I could find the top to the black one because I don’t need the jokes all day about the color red.

“Oh well.” I mutter to myself before heading into the bathroom. When I turn my heart leaps in my throat. Knox is standing in the doorway with an amused grin on his face. “Damn Knox! You scared the shit out of me.”

His chuckles vibrate through my body. He’s so hot standing there with those lips I just want to devour with my own. He is, of course, still shirtless and I can’t help but let my eyes roam over his bare chest.

“You done?” Knox asks amused.

Shaking my head I go into the bathroom to change. I quickly strip out of my shorts and tank top and put my bikini on. I forgot to pack my sarong and I only have a few outfits left so I just throw my shorts back on until I get down to the beach.

Stepping out of the bathroom I put my bra, panties and tank top back in my bag and grab my Kindle and towel. Knox is lying on his stomach across the bed so I try to be quiet in case he is trying to take a nap. I slip my flip flops on and close the door as quietly as I can behind me. I’m just about to the stairs when Cade yells, “JJ!”

I jump slightly and walk a little quicker to the stairs. “What?”

Cade whistles, “Damn girl!”

I roll my eyes, “Cade, I’m not screwing you.”

“That’s a shame; you don’t know what you’re missing out on, sweet stuff.”

Now it’s my turn to laugh, “Yeah I’m pretty sure I do. Remember I know you don’t like to stick it in the right hole.”

Cade laughs, “Knox’s girl has jokes.”

And there went the smile right off my face, “I’m not Knox’s girl, Cade. I’m no ones.”