Piercing Hatred | ✔️

17

~Flora's POV~

I looked around as I entered Knox's apartment, clutching my bag in my grip. His living room was the first thing I saw, and I took my time in taking in the new surroundings while he shut the door and lingered behind me.

The walls were a dark black while his floors were a dark type of wood, with a large beige rug within the middle of his living room. A large TV hung on the wall and the white couch was wrap-around style, with a square black table sat in the middle of it.

"This way." Knox said to me after a moment, gesturing for me to follow him when he brushed past me. I quietly trailed after him as he led me down a hallway, a sheepish smile growing on his face when he came to a stop in front of a door and cast a glance at me over his shoulder. "Unfortunately, I only have the one room..." He told me, his voice trailing off at the end.

My eyes widened in surprise as he turned to face me and I peered up at him, wondering if he was just screwing around with me. "I'm sorry?" I asked, confused. His lips twitched and he shrugged. "What? I'm the only one that lives here, doll face. Obviously I only have one room." He said, earning an uncertain frown from me. I blinked, continuing to stare at him as warmth flooded my cheeks. "Then...we're going to have to share a bed, is that what you're trying to tell me?" I squeaked, embarrassed at the thought.

There was no way that I could do that, not with this attraction I had towards him!

Knox cocked up a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Unless you plan on sleeping on the floor, yes." He answered, causing me to purse my lips as I stared at him and tilted my chin up at him. "A gentleman would offer the girl his bed in this kind of situation, you know." I retorted smartly, my words only making him smile in amusement.

He leaned down so his face was closer to mine, lowering his voice to a murmur when he spoke. "You're right, but that would imply that I'm a gentleman, something I never claimed to be." He told me, the warmth of his breath fanning my cheeks.

A blush crept up my neck and I scowled, curling my fingers tighter around my bag. "Fine." I huffed, flustered. "I'll share the damn bed." I relented, knowing that this was an argument I wasn't going to win. This was his apartment, his space, and I was lucky to be able to have somewhere to stay while my apartment was being fixed, even if it meant I had to share a bed with Knox.

I followed him into his room when he turned and opened the door, hoping I was being subtle when I inhaled his scent as it became stronger when I entered. Of course it smelled like him in here, being that this was his room, but he didn't need to know that I liked how he smelled.

With dark walls and dark furniture in his room, it had a very modern feel to the space, much like the rest of his apartment. A large, fluffy black rug was beneath the wide, king sized bed that he had pressed up against the wall, his blankets made surprisingly well. Even I never really bothered to make my bed, to be honest. I couldn't help but to be surprised at how neat and clean he kept his space.

Hung on the wall above his bed was a white canvas with a messy, black painting of a person. I studied it for a second before I continued to examine the rest of his room, the two white nightstands on either side of his bed and the three potted plants that lined the white, half ledge wall behind the headboard of his bed. A tall black shelf was against the wall between two doorways and a white dresser was to the left of his bed, also against a wall.

"You can put your stuff wherever you want. The bathroom is that door there, by the way." He told me, pointing to the door on the right side of the shelf. I merely gave a reluctant nod of my head and set my bag on the floor next to his dresser, kicking my shoes off there as well, where I lined them up against the wall. I didn't want him or I to possibly trip over them.

"Thanks." I murmured awkwardly, realizing to myself how often I had been saying that to him as of lately. My teeth chewed at the inside of my cheek as I shuffled on my feet, a bit unsure of what to do when alone with him in such an intimate space.

"Is it okay if I take a shower?" I asked him after a minute, finally realizing that I had never gotten to take my shower or change my clothes. The flooded floors of my apartment had kind of distracted me from that, after all.

"Sure." He hummed, gesturing towards the bathroom as if to say "go for it." I watched him wander into his closet, which was the door on the left of the shelf, and then dug around inside my bag for a change of pajamas and my toiletries before entering the bathroom in a hurry.

I locked the door when I entered, not wanting to chance being walked in on in the middle of a shower, and sighed as I set my clean clothes on top of the shiny black countertop. The white tiles were cold beneath my feet, making goosebumps rise on my skin as I examined his bathroom. It wasn't huge, but it was rather nice. I noticed the walls were still black, like the rest of his apartment, but with three white stripes that got smaller as they went down. It was an odd choice for a wall to be painted, but it somehow worked.

My eyes examined the knob to his shower and I sighed in relief when I saw that it worked the same as mine, making it easier for me to figure out. I turned the shower on and undressed while I waited for the water to heat, stepping in once the shower glass had steamed up.

A sigh escaped me as I stood beneath the hot water, letting it relax me for a while before I actually began to wash my hair and then my body. Even though it wasn't necessary, I decided to stand there beneath the stream of water for a little while longer once I was done, not yet wanting to get out. But alas, eventually I forced myself to turn off the water and step out, where I then realized that I didn't have a fucking towel. How the hell had that slipped my mind?

Stunned at my own stupidity, I just stood there on the black, fluffy rug and dripped water all over it before I began rummaging around in search of some towels. Thankfully, I found some beneath the sink and sighed in relief as I began to dry myself off.

I got dressed in a pair of fuzzy white shorts and a grey t-shirt, slightly pulling at the bottom of my shorts to tug them lower before I exited the bathroom. Knox glanced up from whatever he was doing on his phone and I curled my fingers around the bottom of my shirt when he shamelessly let his eyes wander the length of my body. How the hell was I possibly going to sleep beside him when just standing here made my heart race?

"Feel better?" He asked, watching me closely as he set his phone beside him on the nightstand. I gave a stiff nod and hesitantly moved to stand beside the bed, wanting to get beneath the blankets and yet unable to muster the courage to climb in his bed. "Yes." I answered simply, my toes absentmindedly wiggling within the softness of the rug beneath my feet.

Knox sensed my hesitancy and rolled his eyes as he crossed his buff arms over his chest. "Come on, get in bed already. I can see your brain churning its wheels from here." He said, but I just frowned and narrowed my eyes at him in distrust. The two of us stared at one other before he cocked his head at me and gestured with a finger for me to come closer. "You don't have to worry, doll face. I don't bite unless I'm asked to." He teased, chuckling when my eyes widened at the very clear innuendo he was making.

My eyes narrowed into slits as I grabbed the blanket and tugged them towards me more, climbing in on my side of the bed, which was now more warm than his. "Just keep to your side and I'll keep my knees away from your balls." I grunted, shooting him a scowl.

He gasped in mock horror and shifted in bed, the warmth of his body overwhelming even though he was as far as could be. I ignored him and rolled onto my stomach, burying my cheek into the pillows as I tried to drift to sleep. And to my surprise, even though I knew he wasn't going to sleep yet, the lights turned out a few seconds later.

My heart, being the traitor that it was, fluttered.