It's Pucking Complicated

Sleeping Arrangements

KNOX

What is up with this girl?

No, seriously?

Isadora Halvick rushes toward me in an attempt to grab the key from my hand. I hold it out of reach and a look of pure frustration takes over her features. "Give it!"

"Do you want to give up, is that it? Because that's the only way you're leaving this room. Or are you forgetting that you told your brother that you're gonna be spending the night with me? What will it look like if you leave now? You'll be sabotaging what little progress we made. You wanna call it quits?"

I expect her to answer my question but instead, she turns away from me and takes a deep breath, and all I can do is watch her. I shake my head in incredulity because I have absolutely no idea what I did to put her in this state, but she seems way too pissed off for it not to be anything.

I wasn't mocking her.

I just found it kind of funny that she mentioned touching as one of her deal-breakers when we were all over each other not ten minutes ago. I didn't think that she'd be that bothered, especially since she wrapped both arms around my neck and clung to me the whole time we taunted her brother.

"Look," I begin, "maybe we just need to start from the top, alright?"

"I'm Isadora Maria Halvick," she says sarcastically.

"Knox Julius Mohrelian."

She cuts me a look. "Julius?"

"It's my dad's name."

She turns back around without another word. Maybe we're making progress? I don't know. It kind of feels like I'm walking on eggshells here. I don't even know what to do anymore. My plan was to make her as comfortable as possible about all this so we could come to a clear understanding, because if we're fighting like this on the first day, then there's no guarantee this plan will work and I hate wasting my time, maybe more than I hate Justin f*****g Halvick.

But I guess that plan went to s**t and I'm not even a hundred percent sure why.

I roll the key around in my hand as I wait for some kind of reaction from her. I thought I was good at the silence game, but she's a pro. It becomes pretty clear to me that she's not going to say a word unless I do, so if it's up to her, we'll stand here all f*****g night.

"Don't call him that."

Shit, what is it now? "What?"

"Don't call Justin my brother," she claims before looking at me over her shoulder. "He's never been one to me."

I press my lips together because I don't know what the hell I can say to this. I watch her take a few deep breaths before turning back around. Then, with no warning at all, she grabs a seat again. Her hands are on her lap and she's staring at the floor. I sit down, too, and I openly stare at her while trying to wrap my head around how quickly things have changed.

Her eyes snap up to mine and I look away quickly while scratching the back of my neck. It's better this way.

Or, next thing I know, she'll accuse me of glowering at her.

"Alright," I say as I sit back down. Her eyes never leave my face. It's like she's watching me to see if I'll 'mock' her again. Jesus, what a complicated woman. "Maybe we can talk about how we're going to make sure word really gets out there."

"I thought you said that, come morning, everyone would know."

"It was just a manner of speaking."

"Ah."

"Tomorrow, everyone who's anyone will attend the barbecue in Eric Lowell's house. Know who that is?"

She nods.

"We could go together."

"Like in the same car together?"

I shrug. "I guess so. Why, do you have a better idea?"

"No."

I rake a hand through my hair. "We take it from there, then. See what feels right. I heard your—Justin would be there. Let's see if he actually shows. And if he doesn't, we don't really need him."

Isadora nods and averts her gaze. I stare at the side of her face and wonder what the hell's going on inside her head right about now. It's usually easy for me to read people and figure out what they're thinking, but with her, every prediction I've made has been wrong.

From afar, she seemed like everything you'd expect a girl with billions to inherit to be—confident, maybe a little too much. Bratty. Arrogant. I've seen the way she talks to people and how she carries herself. I walked into this assuming that I'd be dealing with a Justin 2.0.

But she's...none of those things. Okay, maybe a little bratty, but she's nothing like her brother.

Oh, sorry. Half-brother.

"I wanna ask you something."

She looks scared for half a second before composing herself. "Go ahead."

"What'd I do wrong?" I question. I don't know if it's going to lead to another argument but I need to understand how to avoid anything like this in the future. "I'm not trying to be funny. I just genuinely want to know."

Isadora breathes in deeply and then looks down at her hands. She's always fidgeting with her fingers. "I thought you were mocking me. Like I said."

"I wasn't."

"You said that already."

"Yeah, but I mean it."

Her light brown eyes meet mine once more. "Look, can we just drop this?"

"No, I don't think we can."

Annoyance flashes across her eyes.

"I don't know anything about you, okay? We just met. It's perfectly normal for us to step on each other's toes as we navigate this...fake relationship or whatever you wanna call it. But when we encounter friction somewhere, we need to talk about it so we know how to avoid it. So, will you tell me what got you so riled up?"

She folds her arms across her chest, pushing her breasts up just slightly. My eyes drop without f*****g permission, but I catch myself and drag them up to her face before she notices. Focus.

"I had a long day and I'm not thinking straight," she claims, sounding so robotic that I can't believe her. There's something more to it, but she doesn't wanna tell me about it and there's nothing I can do about that.

"I'll take it."

I then stand up and move to my closet. I'm aware of her eyes following me, but I think we spoke enough. I pull the extra blankets out of the shelves and drop them right on the floor.

"What're you doing?"

"I need a makeshift mattress."

"What for?"

I cut her a look. "You're spending the night, remember?"

Panic flashes in her eyes but I look away before I succeed in making things tense again. Because, according to her, I have a staring problem.

Do I?

I lay a few folded up blankets one on top of the other, then look over at her. She hasn't moved from her position on the chair and she isn't looking at me either.

"Look, I'm calling it a night. I had an exhausting day and we have that thing tomorrow," I claim before lowering myself onto the mattress. The floor presses into me right away and I already know I'm in for a s**t night, but what else can I do when, in my book, revenge tastes sweeter than a good night's sleep? I add, "Make yourself comfortable. Oh, and turn the light off before getting into bed?"

"What? You mean your bed?"

"Is there another bed I don't know about?"

"I'm not sleeping on your bed."

"Why not?"

Her eyes widen and she makes a face. "It's your bed and your sheets, and I don't even know how long you go between washes and..."

I stare at her in disbelief. "I did my laundry yesterday."

"Yeah, but the whole room smells like you and...ugh, do you bring girls here?"

I can't hide my annoyance. I sit up. "No, I don't. And you know what? You're being really inconsiderate. I'm sleeping on the floor with my whole body aching from the game just to make you feel more comfortable. You're the one who said you were gonna spend the night. I offered to drive you back."

"Yeah, but I couldn't go back because my roommate's with your teammate!" she exclaims. "I don't have the key, remember?"

"Are you gonna sleep on the bed or not?"

When she doesn't answer, I stand up, gather all the blankets, and shove them back in my closet. Then, I head toward my bed, but not before turning the light off.

She scoffs. "Are you kidding me?"

I ignore her and get into my bed. s**t, that feels a lot better already. She huffs in the dark and I bet her rosy lips are all pursed in annoyance, but I couldn't care less. I tried with her, but I'm only human. This woman annoys the hell out of me and I have only just met her. It doesn't even feel like it was today. She'll be a pain in my ass. I just know it.

With this thought in mind, I drift off to sleep.