I inspected myself in the mirror one final time. My dark hair fell in loose waves down my back and my fitted black pants and silky gray blouse looked simple, but chic. I puckered my lips in the mirror and added a dab of pink lip gloss. Stop stalling, McKenna. I grabbed my coat and purse and flipped off my bedroom light.

“You look nice,” Brian said as I entered the living area. The football game was playing in the background. I found it sort of oddly endearing how he’d become a hardcore Chicago sports fan, now cheering for every local team. It was just another way he’d changed his life and habits to support me in this move.

“Thanks.” I smoothed my hands over the fabric of my pants. “I have this fundraiser thingy at the library tonight.”

“You look like you’re going on a date.” His eyes glanced over my curves and came to a stop on my face again. My cheeks heated.

“Nope. Just the library.”

“Maybe I should join you.”

“No!” He couldn’t know I was going to Knox’s after. I calmed my voice and started again. “I mean, no, that’s not necessary. It’ll probably be boring. A few speeches and sign up opportunities for volunteer work in the coming year. Nothing too exciting. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to miss the Bears winning their big game.”

“You know I would for you.”

He was too good to me and I was hit with a pang of guilt about lying where I was headed. “Thanks, but no. You stay, enjoy your game.” I slipped on my coat. If the chill in the fall air was any indication, winter was just around the corner.

“Hey, you wanna do something this weekend?”

“Uh, sure. Sounds great, Bri.” It was probably time we put this awkwardness behind us and forget about his fight with Knox.

The closer I got to Knox’s place, the more anxious I became. I was fidgety and distracted all during the fundraiser and watching the clock hadn’t helped. The entire evening had dragged by at a snail’s pace.

Knox was like a magnet drawing me to him. The pull was primitive and all consuming. And not because I was a fixer, like Brian said, but because our wounded souls found solace in the company of each other. He’d been like a balm to my unseen injuries. And I’d wanted to believe I was his healing balm, too. But I hated that I hadn’t been. Despite his little speech in the bathroom, I worried he was still seeking nameless, faceless girls to soothe his aches, which was why I needed to face reality. Sex was his drug of choice. If I’d really meant something to him, he would give all that up, right? I questioned if he could have a relationship that wasn’t based on sex. I needed to hear what he had to say tonight, even if it destroyed me in the process.

It was nearly 8:30 by the time I arrived and as I stood waiting on the porch for him to answer the door, I took a few deep breaths of cool air and promised myself that nothing would happen between us. Remembering how his tender kisses and skilled fingers had felt, I inwardly groaned. I needed to be strong.

The door swung open and Knox stood there in jeans, bare feet, and a white T-shirt looking sexy and sinful. “Change of plans,” he growled.

I followed him inside and shut the door. It was dark and quiet inside. “Knox?” He continued to the stairs and began climbing them silently. I hurried to keep up with him. “What’s wrong?” His sweet, gentle demeanor from yesterday morning had disappeared, but I wasn’t about to let him shut down on me now. We’d come too far for that, hadn’t we? We were supposed to talk tonight. “Knox, what happened?” I asked again as we entered his bedroom.

He opened a dresser drawer, digging through the pile of clothes until he pulled out a long sleeved black T-shirt. “We’re going out. I need to blow off some steam.”

I wondered what had changed his mood and turned him into this closed off version of himself. If he’d slipped up and been with someone, would he tell me? “Where are we going?”

“To the bar. I need a drink.” He tugged the shirt on over his head and sat down on the bed to put on socks and his boots.

I’d never been to a bar. I was of legal age, but somehow it was just one of those things I hadn’t gotten around to yet. The idea of going out with Knox made the skin of the back of my neck tingle pleasantly. “If I go out with you, will you tell me what happened?”

Dark eyes leapt up to mine as Knox finished lacing his boots. “Jaxon got in a fight a school. He fucked…um, slept with the quarterback’s girlfriend right before the big game.”

“Oh. Did you talk to him, find out why he’d do that?”

“Of course I talked to him. He said the guy was a douche bag and they have gym class together and the guy was always an ass to him. So he wanted revenge. But the team lost their football game because the quarterback was so torn up.”

“And then they fought?”

Knox shook his head. “No. He got jumped. Because once word got out what Jaxon had done, half the school was pissed at him.”

“And the other half?”

“Thought he was a hero.”

Wow. Talk about high school drama. “Is he okay?”

“He’ll live. He’s got some bruises and a fat lip.”

“Is he here?” The nurturer in me wanted to go see if he was okay. Maybe bring him some pain reliever and some ice for the swelling, talk to him about his actions.

Knox nodded. “Yeah, but they’re all in bed early tonight.”

It sounded to me like he’d punished all three boys and sent them to bed early because of Jaxon’s mistake, but I kept my mouth shut, unwilling to question him when he was in such a foul mood.

Knox rose from the bed and stalked toward me. “You ready?”

His plan worried me. Anytime his life got stressful, Knox turned to drinking and sex. I knew they went hand in hand for him. Sudden unease at what the night held in store settled in the pit of my stomach. “I don’t know, Knox. Me? At a bar?”

He shot me a pointed stare. “What do you do to blow off steam?”

Without giving it a second thought, I rattled off my schedule. “Monday night I work at the food bank downtown, Tuesday I visit the youth shelter, Wednesdays I’ve been helping out on a Habitat for Humanity project, Thursdays I go to the Humane Society, and whenever I have time, I serve meals at the soup kitchen. Oh, and Saturday is group.”

He shook his head at me. “My point exactly. Do you even know how to relax?”

I forced the rigid tension in my shoulders to ease. I could do this. And if I didn’t babysit him tonight, who would? “So where are we going?”

We walked the several blocks to a nearby bar, huddled into our coats the entire time. Once night fell, so did the temperature. Drastically. But once we stepped inside the cozy warmth of the tavern, my spirits lifted. Knox led the way to a booth across from the long bar and we sat down facing each other. It felt intimate and foreign being out with him like this, and I liked it. Knox’s eyes remained on mine as I slid out of my coat. He was wearing a dark leather jacket and coupled with the way his long-sleeved tee clung to his broad chest, it made my nipples tighten and rasp against my bra. My entire being took notice of his –on every level– both emotional and physical. It left me staggering for breath.

“So, are we going to talk?” I asked after several tense moments.

“Drinks first.” His eyes cast over to the bar. “What do you want?”

My gaze followed his. Bottles of liquor were lined up along a glass wall behind the bar, overwhelming me. There were too many choices. “I- I’m not sure.”

“You’ve never had a drink before?”

“I’ve had a drink. But I’ve never ordered something for myself at a bar before.”

“Beer? Wine? Something fruity? I’ll order for you, just tell me what sounds good.”

I chewed on my lower lip. My parents died in a drunk driving accident. I’d never been big on drinking. “Something fruity I guess. But not too sweet.”