9. The Stranger
1578 Words
KNOX
This was weird. Sitting in a table with the woman my wolf and my brother slept with... weirder than waking up naked in bed next to her....
I sat across from a woman I didn’t know— and my brother, who was being… what was the word?
Warm? Happy? The f**k was wrong with Rhett?
Yes, he looked f*****g happy. And unlike his usual self. This wasn't Rhett, but he looked at her with that soft smile... that made me frown.
My eyes fell to her. She was only biting onto a croissant, but Goddess, she looked gorgeous doing just that. She was gorgeous just existing.
Her brown hair spilled over her shoulders, soft and tousled, catching the morning light, creating a strange holo around her. Her eyes glowed a strange brownish-green, warm and sharp at the same time. And her smile—
Her smile hit me right in the solar plexus. I actually forgot to breathe for a second. It took me a while to realize that I must breathe to live.
She tore off a piece of croissant, lips brushing it, and I swear the room went too warm. My pulse jumped like I’d stood too close to a fire.
I didn’t know her. I shouldn’t feel anything. But I did.
Of course I did.
Her smile stirred something in me. Something low and deep and stupidly soft, something Neon kept trying to claw toward.
Rhett was talking—some joke about Christmas and bakeries—but I barely heard him.
I was too busy being aware of… everything. Her knee brushing mine under the table. Her laughter softening the air. Her gaze flickering to me, lingering just a second too long, like she was wondering what to do with this stranger whose wolf she had slept wth.
And every time she looked at me, there was this strange feeling in my heart. I didn't really like that feeling.
I shouldn’t be looking at her or thinking about what Neon did to her... what she did to Neon...
But sitting there, across from her, watching Rhett fold himself around her presence like she was the moon and his wolf was howling…
I realized something unsettling.
Neon wasn’t the only one affected. I was, too. And I didn’t know what to do with these feelings. It made me even more angry at Neon, and the bastard was still pretending to be out and away.
“I know you’re there,” I thought, and there was a small rustle in my brain. “Bastard.”
Silence. Of course. What did I expect? He would easily get away from all the problems he had created and then I'd be the one to clean all this mess up.
“I said one-night stand, Neon. This doesn't look like a one-night stand to me,” I hissed. “And you did what?! You told here that you will spend three days in Paris with her? What's wrong with you? And especially, what the f**k did you do to Rhett and Ewan?”
Still nothing. No snark. No smug laughter. But I could feel him. A restless shift under my own skin.
It felt like he wanted to be here instead of me... that he wanted to come out and...
“No,” I said sharply, jaw locking. “You’re not coming out. Not right now. Not because you want to—”
I stopped. Because the next part lodged in my chest like a thorn.
I stood abruptly, and Ash looked up, eyes wide.
"You okay?"
I nodded. What the hell would I say to that right now?
Hell, I was not okay. Hell... Hell... this wolf had created a massive mess, and I had to find a way to not let the mess he made affected me. We had important things to do... as soon as we went back to New York.
Nightshade and the royal lycans weren't easier targets, but...
My father deserved... we deserved this.
“What the hell happened to you?” I snapped into the empty room. “What happened? We had rules. One night. No attachments. No… no…” My throat tightened. “…whatever this is.”
"I don't know," he finally whispered. "If you don't like this, just let me take over. I-I want to spend time wth her."
“Stop that,” I muttered. “Stop wanting things. Do you remember what will happen the moment we go back to NY?”
"I know, I still want her..."
I blew out a breath and sat back down.
Rhett glanced up at me and arched a brow. There was a small smile on his lips... like he had suddenly learned how to properly smile, and wasn't ready to stop smiling.
"Goddess, he looks creepy," I said with a shudder.
My twin. My absolute i***t of a twin.
What the hell happened to him?
Normal Rhett did not... sleep with a woman he barely knew, agree to Neon's reckless proposals,
or smile like he’d been kissed back to life.
He especially didn’t book a holiday in the most romantic city on the planet.
More than that, Rhett hated Christmas. Or anything that remotely felt like a cheerful tradition. He truly, deeply, passionately hated it. I knew all about it. I had trauma because of it.
He once told me the holiday made him want to “push an inflatable Santa off a balcony and watch him bounce.”
But now? I looked at him, and I felt myself shudder again. It was like someone had possessed the Rhett I knew. What kind of black magic did Ash use on him?
It had to be some kind of magic. No chance Rhett looked like this? Look at a woman he slept one night like this?.
What. The. Hell.
I rubbed my temples.
“Are you going to glare at me all day?” Rhett asked lazily without looking up from the fruit bowl.
“I’m not glaring," I said in a huff. I had not heart to eat any of it, but I was also hungry. The other two... Ash and Rhett had no problem stuffing their faces with food... like they were hungry for years.
“You are absolutely glaring.”
“I’m thinking.”
“That’s what glaring is for you.”
"I think the glare was for me," Ash said, smiling, her lips pulled up.
Did Neon kiss those lips?
"I sure did." Neon sounded too f*****g enthusiastic.
No.
Nope.
Not going there.
Not thinking about her lips.
Stop.
"It was the best kiss in my life..." And then there were images randomly popping up in my head, like an album arranged out of order.
Shit. s**t.
"I don't... stop, Neon."
“It is Christmas. Smile a little,” Rhett said, licking fruit juice off his thumb. “We should take her to that bakery you like.”
I stared at him.
“You don’t like Christmas.”
He shrugged. “I changed my mind."
“Rhett,” I said quietly. “What are you doing? What exactly were you thinking--”
He didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he tossed me a croissant.
“We’re living,” he said simply. “For once. We could... before everything changed.”
I looked down at the pastry in my hand. My throat felt tight again.
I took a slow bite just to buy time.
"What is going to change?" Ash asked, her voice low, curious.
I froze.
Ash tried not to smile.
I cleared my throat. "It is nothing."
"No, I understand. But it is going to change anyway. What happens in Paris stays in Pairs?" she asked, quirking a brow. "What say you, Knox?"
Goddess... The way she said my name... my heart thundered. My skin heated... And then there were more images of yesterday night...
Neon's hand on Ash's back... His tongue against her cl.it... His co.ck buried deep inside...
"f**k. Stop. Fuck."
My co.ck twitched. Arouse...
Rhett whispered, “You’re blushing.”
“I will kill you,” I muttered.
Ash hid a smile behind her coffee.
“So…” she said carefully, “did Neon come back?”
I stiffened.
“He’s there,” I said.
Ash looked thoughtful. “If you don’t want to be here, Knox… you can let him out. Just for today.”
“No.” I said, too fast.
Rhett paused mid-bite, eyeing me.
“Why?” he asked slowly.
I swallowed.
“Because,” I said finally, “he’d get himself into more trouble.”
Ash’s eyes softened, like she didn’t quite believe me but didn’t want to push.
Rhett leaned back on the couch, studying me with that older-brother-by-five-minutes stare he did when he saw too much.
“What aren’t you telling us?” he asked.
I looked away.
Everything. I wasn’t telling them everything.
“I’m going to shower,” I muttered, standing abruptly. I had to. I needed cold-cold shower, or this erection would kill me.
"Why?"
"Because I am bored... Stop asking questions."
I walked away...
I shut the bathroom door—but instead of leaning against it, I slid down onto the cool tile floor and let out a long, shaky breath.
My hands were trembling.
“…Neon,” I whispered into the quiet. “What the hell are we doing?”
"The problem is... for once, I don't know."
And that... that scared the both of us!
___
- Writer
