Last To Know

15

"Are you here for the knitting party? Karen said one of her sons was coming with his girlfriend."

I smiled, pleased that Karen had called me his girlfriend. I immediately scolded myself for being a lovesick fool, though.

"That would be us," Maddox grinned, and I looked up noticing for the first time that he had Sonic perched on his shoulder. "I'm Maddox, this is Sonic, and—"

"I'm Emma," I interrupted him, holding my hand out to the woman.

She ignored my hand and reached her thin arms out to hug me. She smelled like peppermint.

"I'm Maise," she replied. "I'll introduce you to the rest of the ladies."

She led us through her beautiful home and to a back porch, where five more ladies sat, plus Karen. I smiled at Karen, giving her a small wave.

"You both already know Karen, obviously," Maise spoke, "this is Alice, Margaret, Beth, Jane, and Mary."

Hellos echoed around us, and Maddox and I responded.

"This is Maddox, Karen's son, and his girlfriend Emma." She introduced us to the group.

Maddox and I took a seat on one of the couches and Maise handed each of us a ball of yarn and knitting needles.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Maddox muttered, grabbing Sonic and putting him back on his shoulder—the hedgehog had been trying to climb on his head.

I pointed to the knitting needles. "Just pretend they're drumsticks."

He wrinkled his nose and tapped them against his knees. "Yeah, that isn't working for me."

I laughed. "It was worth a try."

Maise cleared her throat, and we both looked up.

She guided us through instructions on how to fix the yarn around the needle and make our first stitches. It seemed easy enough.

A little while later Maddox cursed, "Fuck."

The room had been filled with the quiet chatter of the ladies voices but everyone shut up at Maddox's exclamation. He looked up, his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

"Oops." He mumbled. "It fell off." He pointed to the crumpled pile of yarn in his lap.

Masie sighed. "Then start again and try to keep the cursing to a minimum."

"Sorry," he bowed his head, looking truly ashamed of himself. It was cute.

He started again, going slower this time.

I smiled proudly at my neat rows of stitches. I might actually manage to make a scarf.

"It's too quiet in here," Maddox mumbled, from beside me. His face brightened. "I know..." He set his scarf—or whatever the lopsided thing was that he was attempting to make—aside. He steadied Sonic with one hand and grabbed his phone and some earbuds from his pocket. He handed me one and put the other in his ear, turning on the music.

"Ah!" I cried, when it blasted.

"Sorry," he mumbled, quickly lowering the volume.

He picked the knitting needles back up and went to work once more.

I knew it sounded crazy, but Maddox made knitting look hot.

A few minutes later he poked my shoulder and I turned to look. He had Sonic in his lap with the small piece of fabric he'd knit lying across the hedgehog's back. "Look, Emma, I made him a cape! He's Super Sonic!"