Page 135 of What Comes Around

Nick looked between us, his breathing uneven, like he couldn’t reconcile what he was seeing with the version of me he had kept in his head all these years.

“If you have something to say,” Knox said calmly, “say it.”

Nick didn’t hesitate.

“You got Apple pregnant,” Nick said. “And now you’re here playing house with her sister.”

Knox didn’t react immediately. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t rush to defend himself. His thumb moved once against the back of my neck, slow and grounding.

“That rumor doesn’t make it true,” he said.

Nick scoffed. “She said it publicly.”

“And she lies publicly,” Knox replied. “You of all people should know that.”

Nick’s jaw flexed. “You won’t keep her in the long run,” he said. “She’ll see who you really are eventually. Then she’ll leave you.”

Knox tilted his head slightly, studying him with mild curiosity. Like the idea itself was foreign.

“Now why would you think I’d let her do a thing like that?” he asked.

Nick recoiled slightly. “You can’t force someone to stay with you.”

“Ashley knows I’d never let her go,” he said.

Nick’s expression hardened. “She’s just a possession to you,” he insisted.

Knox didn’t deny it.

“My most prized possession,” he said calmly. “And I have every intention of keeping her.”

The certainty in his voice made my pulse stumble.

“Deal with it,” Knox continued. “Accept it. Leave her alone. Get rid of whatever fantasy you’ve built in your head about a future with her. It isn’t happening.”

Nick’s eyes flickered with something raw.

“She deserves better than you,” he said quietly. “You don’t deserve her.”

Knox’s gaze sharpened. “And you think you do?”

Shame crossed Nick’s face, brief but unmistakable. “Maybe neither of us do,” he admitted. “But—”

“There are no ‘buts,’” Knox cut in. “ You can quit banking on me messing up and losing her. I’d never let someone so important to me walk out of my life.”

Nick’s jaw tightened. Then he looked at me. His eyes searched my face, desperate and disbelieving at the same time. “Are you okay with this?” he asked. “With everything he’s saying?”

I drew in a slow breath. “I am,” I said.

Knox's hand on my neck tightened a little.

Nick blinked, stunned.

“You hurt me,” I said quietly. “More than you ever understood. And I’m not going back to that. I’m not reopening old wounds.”

Nick swallowed hard, his throat working.

“I’m happy,” I said. “And I’m exactly where I want to be.”