Relativity by Lauren Dodd Page B

Rain pelts angrily on the windows. It makes me remember when I was little and Mom used to tell me every time it rained, the angels were crying. I shake off the thought of my mom looking down on me from heaven and being so disappointed that she is crying.
    “What’s your favorite color?” Knox asks and I’m happy for the distraction.
    “Orange, what about you?”
    “That’s my favorite color,” he says incredulously. “Nobody ever says orange.”
    “You’re lying.”
    “I’m not, I swear,” he says, doing what I’m pretty sure is in incorrect version of the hand gesture for Scout’s honor. “Let’s do another one. Favorite food?” He holds up three fingers and slowly starts putting them down one at a time gesturing that we should say our answers at exactly the same time.
    “Chinese,” I say as his last finger goes down.
    “Sweet and sour chicken,” he says at the exact same time. I clamp my hand over my mouth in disbelief because sweet and sour chicken is the only entrée I ever order when I eat Chinese. Knox laughs, clearly enjoying our similarities.
    “Okay, favorite movie in three, two, one…. Stepbrothers ,” I yell over Knox’s exact same answer. Then I remember how many times Knox, Natalie, and I watched that movie together while we ate carry-out from Double Happy. Realization must shine in my eyes.
    “I told you, I’ve been crazy about you forever. I could tell you more about yourself than you could,” he says sweetly, tucking my hair behind my ears. It is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me and I know that I should run from his bed as fast as my feet will take me but I stay right where I’m at and lean into his lips. Every time Knox has kissed me, it has weakened my knees with desire. This kiss is no less passionate but the feelings are so much deeper that tears instantly start rolling down my cheeks.
    He wipes them gently away and holds me tight against him.
    “I’ve never felt so safe in my entire life,” I confess, knowing I’m crossing into dangerous territory.
    Knox looks straight into my eyes and says, “If I could take away all of your pain, I would. I would do anything for you, Ripley.”
    I bury myself in his chest and listen to the storm crash all around us, never wanting this moment to end.
     
    ******
     
    When I wake up, I’m immediately aware of two things: the storm has stopped, leaving behind a dreary gray sky, and Knox is not in bed with me. I sit up and look around the loft, knowing he couldn’t have gone far. The clock on the kitchen wall reads three p.m. I hate that I wasted precious hours of our last day together.
    I hear the shower running and pad quietly into the bathroom. I push the door open gently, unbeknownst to Knox, and watch him rinse the shampoo out of his hair. His head is tilted back and the suds run down his powerful body. I am immediately overcome with emotion and feel like I will never be able to function normally again. I walk toward the shower, slide the glass shower door back, and step inside.
    “Hey, sleepyhead,” Knox says, moving to share the water with me.
    “I don’t want this day to end,” I blurt out, barely holding back tears. He touches my face and pulls me to him.
    “It doesn’t have to. We can be together. It might cause some problems in the beginning but eventually everyone will be okay with it.”
    “Natalie would hate me. I can’t risk that. She’s been my best friend my whole life.”
    “How am I supposed to work around you every day when I know I can’t have you? I’ll go crazy,” he admits, kissing my neck.
    “You’ll have plenty of other girls. You won’t go lonely for long,” I say, hating every word that comes out of my mouth.
    “I don’t want anyone else. And I sure as hell don’t want to see you with anyone else,” he grumbles. He pulls his hands off my body and turns his back to me.
    “Knox, I just can’t do this,” I plead, already feeling the weight of loneliness settling over me. I