***
~~KNOX~~
***
I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.
I hate crowds. Hate the way strangers talk like they know you. Hate the endless smiling. The pointless conversations. The artificial pleasantries.
But more than all that, I hate the thought of sitting at my club while some overly polished, pastel-shirted pretty boy slides into Sloane’s life.
So here I am.
At a damn backyard barbecue hosted by Jade—my club's manager and also the stepfather to the only woman I can’t seem to stay away from.
He invited the entire city, it seems. Maybe the next state too. There’s music playing from portable speakers. Tables lined with drinks and food. Laughter from corners of the yard. Faces I see every day, and some I’m not familiar with, all pretending to be nice and decent folks. I barely re
