Page 10 of Demo
Then I see a familiar Dodge RAM parked in the lot and my stomach drops.
The door to the apartment is shut but not locked, and as I open it slowly, it announces my arrival with a low creak. I take note of the absence of barking as I enter and plop my purse down on the kitchen island, spotting Knox sitting cross-legged in front of the bookshelf that also holds old CDs, with Kennedy lounging right up against him. He is wearing an undershirt, with his work shirt sticking out of his back pocket, and I can tell by the filth on his pants he must have come straight from work.
Despite his broad shoulders and back, he looks a little pathetic, slumped over in a ball. His hair is a little shaggier than normal and could use a trim.
He looks up at me as if he hadn’t heard my entrance, but I can tell by the awkward air he’s trying to act nonchalantly. “Oh, hey.”
“Hi,” I say, cautiously.
“You didn’t respond to my text, so I thought I’d just try to pop in.” He strokes the dog’s ear.
Realizing I never even checked my phone when I left work, I offer, “It’s still your place, too.” Then I decide to soften my attitude a little. “I wasn’t ignoring you. I got sidetracked at work and haven’t even looked at my phone.”
Knox looks down at the discs in his hands, and there’s silence.
I gesture to the CDs. “You know, you can stream music from your phone these days.” I’m trying to make a joke, but I’m pretty sure it comes out condescending.
“Oh, yeah.” He gives a fake laugh. “I wanted some of my old music to listen to, but I just realized I don’t have any electronics that even play a CD anymore.”
“Yeah, those are very 1990s.”
He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well we both know I’m an uneducated asshat, right?”
Now I roll my eyes. Knox’s go-to defense is to make a dig at himself for not pursuing a college degree. But he knows damn well I never cared about that. In fact, I have often thought he was the smart one for not wasting money on college when he had the opportunity to go into the family trade.
Besides, Lord knows my degree didn’t land me in a profession raking in dough.
At a stalemate, we look away from each other and let silence settle in the air, again.
I toe out of my shoes, leaving them right where they are, and head over to the fridge to grab a beer, pausing with the door open as I consider asking him if he wants one, but decide against it. Shutting the door and popping the top on a Genny Light, I come around the island and lean into the wall.
More silence.
Then I notice something sitting on the counter. It’s a palm-sized black canister looking thing. “What’s that?” I ask, nodding toward it.
Knox looks over. “Oh,” he says, unraveling himself and standing up. Kennedy springs to his feet as well, and comes bounding over to me, as if finally realizing I’m home. “That’s pepper spray,” Knox says. I gape at him, but before I can argue he swipes it off the counter and walks over and drops it in my purse. “Just keep it handy since, you know, you’re in this apartment building all alone for the time being.”
“I’m probably going to shoot myself in the eye with it,” I scoff, taking a sip of beer.
“Just leave it in your bag. Forget about it unless you need it,” he counters.
I let it go as I lean down to scratch the top of Kennedy’s head, and he whimpers at my legs.
“Looks like he’s grown on you,” Knox says.
“Yeah, well, we’ve drawn our battle lines and now we’re both tiptoeing around them.” I take another swig of beer. I nod.
He nods.
More silence.
“It’s kind of late, don’t you think? I mean, I would have thought you would stop by earlier.”
“Well, I had planned to. But we ended up staying late at the job site, and then I had to stop at the lumber yard and Jen—I had to settle a billing issue.”
It’s obvious I didn’t miss his near blunder, so I turn and place my beer on the counter and pull my hair out of its knotted mess, only to redo it, taking my time while I’m not facing him so he can’t read the expression on my face. I’m not sure what it will come across as … anger, confusion, hurt?
“It’s fine, really. I would have told you to come by whenever. I mean, most of your stuff is still here, so …”
