Page 66 of What Comes Around

I could feel his eyes on me the entire time.

When we reached the landing, I glanced back.

I hadn’t imagined it. Knox was watching me hard, his gaze locked on my hair. His hand had curled into a tight fist at his side, his jaw set like he was holding himself in check, losing ground inch by inch.

In meetings, I angled my chair slightly toward him. Not enough for anyone else to notice, just enough that he had to work to keep his attention on the presentation instead of me.

And every time I caught his gaze drifting, he snapped it away like he had been burned.

I pretended not to notice.

Pretended I wasn’t fully aware of the tension simmering between us.

One afternoon during that same week, I was in the half‑open break area on our floor, eating lunch with Priya, Claire, and Nora. We had ordered steaks through Uber Eats, and the conversation drifted, as it always did with them, to men and sex.

Nora stabbed a piece of meat with her fork. “I swear, I should’ve stayed home last night. That Tinder guy? Terrible. Like, impressively terrible.”

Priya snorted. “Define terrible.”

“Like… he apologized afterward,” Nora said, deadpan.

Claire burst out laughing. “Oh no.”

I smiled faintly and kept eating.

Priya shook her head. “At least he showed up. My last date canceled because his dog was sad.”

Nora groaned. “That is the weakest excuse I have ever heard.”

I was cutting into my food when movement caught my eye. Through the leaves of the oversized ficus plant that separated the lounge from the hallway, I saw Knox step out of his office. From the others’ angle, he was completely hidden by the plant and the partial wall. From mine, I could see him in fragments, a shoulder, the edge of his suit, the way he slowed his steps.

Claire glanced at me. “Why are you so quiet, Ashley?”

I shrugged. “I’m just listening.”

“No,” Nora said. “What about you? What’s your experience?”

A large shadow stretched across the wall near the corner of the lounge. He hadn’t stepped forward. He stayed just out of sight.

Listening.

“Sex is overrated. I don’t really see the appeal.”

All three of them reacted at once.

“What?” Claire said.

“Oh my God,” Priya said.

“Excuse me?” Nora said.

I just shrugged again.

Priya frowned. “Then it had to be the guy. That is always the answer.”

Nora leaned closer. “How many men have you even been with?”

“One,” I said.