Infinity & Always (19 page)

“No
way sis, we have loads left,” Max grins at me.

They
discuss tattoos while I lay on the sofa reading my book. Knox lifts
my legs gently and rubs them. Max brings in the cookies and I frown
at him.

“You
develop a new sweet tooth, Max?”

“No,
just feel like a little today. I’ll burn it off in the gym
tomorrow.”

I
watch the two of them stuff their faces with cookies, more donuts,
and lots of juice and water. I don’t know how either of them
don’t hit a wall from the sugar rush then crash. They watch
some action movie and I get a funny feeling Max is keeping an eye on
Knox. By ten, o’clock I have a shower and crawl into bed, Knox
joins me soon after.

“How
are you feeling, babe?”

“Okay
darlin’, don’t worry about me,” he wraps me in his
arms and kisses me.

He
is asleep within minutes again leaving me staring at the ceiling. By
two in the morning, I am still awake. Getting out of bed I walk to
the kitchen grabbing some warm milk. I can hear Max shuffling around
so I make him one too and bring it into him.

“Can’t
sleep either?” I ask, walking into his dark room.

“No,
just thinking about stuff. What about you?”

“Same,
I made you a drink. I bet you’re on a sugar high,” I
smirk, crawling on top of his bed.

“No,
they were for Knox. I figured out years ago that after one of his bad
headaches, junk food kind of helps so I just kept doing it. It’s
probably all in my head but still.”

“You’re
a good brother, Max,” leaning over I kiss his cheek.

“Thanks,
sis.”

“I
take it things in New York didn’t work out for you,” I
ask, looking at him.

“Not
really, I’m just more confused,” he sighs.

We
talk for a while about Paige and Knox. He talks about finding a new
tattoo and tries to get me to have another one done too. Yawning, I
close my eyes and rest my head against his arm.

“What
the fuck is this?”

The
voice booming in my ear makes me shoot up clutching my chest against
the fright. Looking around I find Knox standing at the door with his
arms crossed and his expression is livid. At first I don’t get
it, but looking around I realize I’m still in Max’s room.
Turning, I find Max out cold with his arm around my waist. Shit.

“We
were talking babe and I must have fallen asleep.”

Knox
shakes his head and slams the door on his way out causing the window
to rattle and Max to jump up.

“Earthquake?”
he stares at me a little panicked.

“Knox,”
I sigh, climbing off the bed.

I
have a shower and get dressed, ready to go to my dad’s when Max
emerges from his room. He gives me a nod then frowns turning his head
towards the sitting room. The noise of the video game is quite loud
even with the door closed.

“What’s
up with him?” Max asks.

“He
saw us asleep this morning.”

“Oh,
so,” he looks perplexed.

“Yeah,
anyway I’m off now I have to work on something with Dad, see
you later.”

I
twist my wet hair up into a bun as I race down to my car. The streets
are quiet this time of year and I make it up the hill in ten minutes.
When I walk into the house though, Dad is not here.

“Hey,
Dad. where are you?” I ask when he answers his phone.

“Oh
sorry sweetheart I forgot I had a meeting today, I left the files on
my desk.”

After
a brief conversation to which I got no information, I get to work in
Dad’s office. The files are sensitive, so I have to make up a
security program for the company to keep their designs away from the
public eye. I get to work, reading and coding and trying to figure
out what I’m doing with only half paragraphs and lines here and
there.

After
a few hours, I take a walk around the lake and into my house. I find
a lot of the walls are marked off with spray paint and some of the
pipes have been marked too. I can’t believe this is my house,
my own home, where one day I’ll raise a family. Well, that’s
if I don’t kill Knox first for his stupid behavior. Smiling, I
finger the charms on my bracelet remembering each story. That man
drives me insane, but I love him like crazy. After another walk
around the house, I go back to Dad’s and decided to quit
working.

Driving
back to the apartment I stop to get take out. When I park my car, I
notice the bikes are gone. Pulling out my phone, I text my wall of
muscle.

Me: Hey babe I got take out, are you coming back soon?

Shoving
my phone into my pocket I grab the food and head upstairs and put it
in the oven to stay warm. After thirty minutes I give up, dishing out
my dinner, I sit down to eat. After dinner, I watch a movie. I have
no classes for another week and so I have nothing much to do. I watch
the clock as well as the movie, by eight o’clock I haven’t
heard back from Knox. Taking out my phone I call him. He is probably
still ignoring me, but both bikes are gone so maybe he and Max
talked.

Getting
no answer I call Max, still nothing. Throwing my phone down, I surf
the tv for an hour, then decide to head over to the bar. It’s
dead when I arrive. There are about ten people and Chase.

“Hey,”
he greets me, looking relieved.

“Busy
night, huh?”

He
grins at me as he pours a drink, placing it down in front of me,
“Thanks, Chase.”

“So
how was your holiday?” he asks, leaning his forearms on the
bar.

“It
was good, New York was freezing I don’t know how Paige can take
that nonsense.”

“Yeah
sounds like it was fun,” he smiles.

Chase
and I hang out until closing. I help him clean up and he counts the
cash. I still haven’t heard from Knox or Max and I’m a
little pissed off. Chase locks the bar and I walk across the street
towards the apartment. I declined his offer to walk me home. Still no
bikes when I cross the parking lot, so I call Richard to check. He
answers, with a groggy, ‘hello,’ considering it’s
almost one in the morning.

“Hi
Richard, are Knox and Max staying with you?”

“No,
I haven’t seen them today, why?”

“Neither
have I since this morning and they aren’t answering me.”

He
tells me not to worry that they probably took off and lost track of
time. I hang up with him, then get ready for bed trying Knox again.
It’s not like him to ignore me this long, he usually texts me,
but even Max is not responding. Turning off the light, I try to
sleep.

Opening
my eyes I reach out for Knox, but he is not there. Shooting up, I
check the apartment and out of the window, but still no bikes or no
fiancé. Pulling on jeans and a sweater, I grab my phone and
start dialing. No answer from either of them and now I am seriously
worried. I call the hospital and my dad, but no luck with either, my
hands are shaking, and I can feel a panic attack coming on.

Pulling
off the sweater, I sit on the floor with my bare back against the
wall trying to control my breathing, after a while I can finally take
a deep breath. I count ten breaths then, stand up. Walking into the
bathroom I splash my face with cold water. After a few more minutes,
I call Paige.

“Hey,
I was just about to call you,” she answers.

“Oh,
why?”

“Because
I arrive home tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to go for
dinner?” she says.

“Oh,
oh sorry, I forgot you were coming home, listen, Paige, I haven’t
seen or heard from Knox and Max since yesterday morning. I’m
getting worried.”

“What?
How’s that possible?”

I
fill her in on all the details and she sighs. Telling me the way Max
and I act together can sometimes come across wrong and that was one
of the issues she had with us. I’m a little pissed off at her
because she knows I would never hurt Knox like that and now he is
gone and I’m panicking. Paige tells me that she will change her
flight and see me soon.

Hanging
up, I call Richard and tell him that I’m worried now, for the
first time ever I hear him get upset. He says he will call hospitals
in the area and let me know if he hears anything. This is turning out
to be a shit new year, again! Pacing the apartment, I grip my phone
so tight my hand is aching.

“Hello,”
I answer, after one ring.

“Hi
Bailey, they’re not in any hospital so I don’t know what
is going on. Did they go camping or something?” Richard asks, a
little panicked.

“No,
not that I know of. There was no note when I got back yesterday.”

After
a few minutes, I hang up with Richard wanting to keep my phone free.
I don’t get this, why aren’t they calling me. I spend my
day pacing and checking in with Richard. At four thirty, Paige
arrives.

“Hi,
any news?”

“No,
nothing. I don’t get this Paige.”

She
gives me a hug before setting out to make coffee. We sit in the
kitchen in silence for a while, drinking coffee, and eating donuts. I
help Paige settle back into her apartment and then we both camp out
on my sofa. The tv is on, but we are not watching it. I’m
trying not to cry, but the urge to do so is getting the better of me.

“Don’t
cry, I’m sure they’re fine,” she says, but her
voice sounds worried.

Swiping
at the escapee tear, I am getting angrier by the minute. I dial Knox
again and still don’t get an answer. I make Paige call Max, but
she gets voicemail too. We sit in the room for a few hours finally we
decide to go to bed. It’s just after midnight and I tell Paige
we are going driving around the whole town and mountains tomorrow.

Crawling
into bed I hug Knox’s pillow, smelling his cologne and sending
up a prayer for him to come home safe. I can’t sleep, tossing
and turning I kick the covers off me and open the window slightly. I
lie back down and wait for sleep, but I don’t get it. Instead,
I get an almost heart attack when I hear the roar of motorcycles
coming into the parking lot. Jumping out of bed I scramble to the
window and watch them walk towards the building.

When
I open my door, Paige is already standing outside of it. We rush to
the front door and I swing it open just as Knox raises his key. When
I see his face I am shocked, he has scratches along his cheekbone and
his eye is black. Looking at his hand I see his knuckles are swollen
and scraped.

“What
the fuck happened?” I ask as he pushes past me.

Max
follows inside with his head down, but he too has a cut lip and
busted knuckles. Paige grabs Max, startling him and pulls him into
her room. Closing the door, I find Knox in the bedroom taking off his
boots.

“What
happened, Knox? I was so worried. Your dad and I were calling
hospitals for fuck sake!”

Lifting
his head he just looks at me, “Aren’t you going to say
something? Where were you?”

“Don’t
worry about it, I’m alive and so is Max.”

“I
can see that, but what the hell happened? Did you two fight?”

I
am appalled that they would even hit each other, I can’t
understand it.

“I
said I’m alive, now I’m going for a shower.”

He
brushes past me and I snap, pushing him up against the wall, I slap
his already beaten face. My hand stings and I instantly regret it.
Angry tears spring from eyes as we stare at each other.

“Don’t
you think I deserved a call or a text to say you were okay?”

I
scream at him, he frowns at me opening his mouth to speak, but I
leave the room. I’m so annoyed at him and my hand fucking
hurts. I run it under the cold water in the kitchen when Paige walks
in.

“You
okay?”

“Yeah,”
I nod, then, shake my head no. She gives me a hug and tells me it’s
okay. “No, it’s not,” walking back to my room I
grab my bag and start packing my clothes. My anger is simmering very
close to the top and I am about to blow. I can’t take it
anymore, marching into the bathroom I slam the door behind me. Knox
looks at me then rolls his eyes.

“We’re
done, Knox,” I pull off my ring slapping it into his hand. “How
dare you do this to me? You had me worried and for what! Because you
decided you don’t trust me with your brother? Well you’re
an asshole and I am not like you,” I shout at him, completely
losing myself.

“This,
obviously didn’t mean shit to you did it?” I ask, shaking
my bracelet at him.

He
runs his hands through his wet hair and sighs, “Darlin’,
I’m sore and tired.”

“I
don’t care, I’m fucking tired and worried, I haven’t
slept in two days.”

Shaking
my head I pull open the door smacking it off the wall, Knox grabs my
arm pulling me back against his chest. He holds me tight and I can’t
move, I can hardly breathe.

“Let
me go Knox I’m done this time, I really am,” I whisper,
against his chest.

“Darlin’
just stop,” he whispers, “Stop shouting.”

After
a few minutes, he loosens his grip on me asking me to just wait for
him. He grabs his clothes and we go into our room, when he sees my
bag he grabs it off the bed and throws it into the closet.

“You’re
not leaving, Bailey. This is not over, we already had this argument.
I meant every word when I gave you that,” he points to my
wrist, “Can we not fight? I’m tired.”

“Knox,
what the hell happened?”

I’m
almost too tired to listen and climb up onto the bed, resting my head
against the wall.

“Max
and I went for a drive up to the mountains. We talked, we fought, and
now we’re all good. I’m sorry I didn’t call you
back, I lost my phone. We spent a few hours looking for it. It’s
over now, so please let it go darlin’.”

“That’s
not good enough.”

“I
know it’s not, but that’s all you’re getting; the
rest is between my brother and me.”