Piercing Hatred | ✔️

22

~Flora's POV~

I hummed in thought as I scoured through Knox's fridge later that day, looking for something to make for dinner for the two of us. Cooking wasn't something that I did very often, but I suppose I wasn't the worst at it. That being said, I sure as hell wasn't the best at it, either.

After I found some stuff laying around, I began to make chicken risotto, which I hoped I could actually make this time considering I had only ever made this once before. That was almost a year ago, though.

A hum left me as I fretted over the stove, furrowing my brows in concentration as I stirred the mixture of rice, chicken stock, a small amount of chopped onion, and a bit of oil in the saucepan that I was struggling with. Thankfully, I managed to get the rice to cook until it became tender and creamy, which was the hardest part for me.

While I began to mix in the mushroom and garlic mixture that I had already cooked, I heard heavy footsteps approach as I then proceeded to dump in shredded chicken and some spinach. "What are you making?" Knox asked curiously, sniffing the air. "Smells fucking delicious." He muttered, smacking my ass so suddenly that I almost dropped the container of parmesan that I held open, ready to pour into the risotto. I dumped some in and shot him a glare, smacking his hands away. "Don't touch my ass." I huffed, snapping the lid shut to the grated parmesan.

Knox chuckled and stepped up behind me, his chest brushing against my back as he peeked to see what I was making. "Sorry." He apologized, not sounding very apologetic at all. I rolled my eyes and sprinkled in a bit of tarragon and shavings of zest, continuing to mix it all together. "That looks so fucking good." Knox groaned.

I couldn't help but to smile in amusement as I turned off the stove-top, turning around to face him. Right as I opened my mouth to tease him, his stomach grumbled loudly, making me realize that he was still focused on the food behind me. He was staring at it like it was the holy grail, and I stifled a laugh as I turned to grab a plate from one of the cabinets. Why did he have to be so damn cute without even trying?

"Here." I said after I had piled some onto the plate, snatching a fork out of one of the drawers. He happily took the plate and sauntered his merry way to the dining table, but even with the fact that he was obviously hungry, I noticed that he still waited patiently for me to join him with my own food. I sat across from him, trying not to show how happy that little detail had made me.

The two of us began to eat dinner together, and I was relieved when I took a bite to find that it actually tasted good. With my cooking skills, it was kind of a hit or miss as to whether it'd be good or not.

My eyes flicked up to Knox as he made a noise of approval while shoving another bite of food into his mouth, his brown eyes glancing up at me when I continued to stare. I bit on the inside of my cheek, failing to hide my smile. "I'm assuming you approve?" I chuckled, to which he nodded his head and swallowed the food in his mouth before answering. "It's good." He said, glancing down at his plate. "Kind of reminds me of something that my mom used to make." He told me thoughtfully.

His words caused a small smile to form on my lips. "Well, I doubt it's half as good as it would've been if she made it, but thanks." I giggled, recalling the type of cook that she had been. I used to love when I got to eat anything she made because she was always making something delicious.

He merely rolled his eyes and snorted, giving me a playful smirk. "Nobody comes close to being half as good as my mom was at cooking." He hummed, taking on a teasing tone. "But I suppose you can have second place after making this, doll face." He chuckled, beginning to eat the chicken risotto again. I smiled to myself and we continued to eat the rest of the food I'd made, the leftovers being stored in the fridge after his insistence that he wanted to save it.

I groaned as I flopped onto Knox's bed stomach first, my face planting into the pillows. My back ached from the boxes that I had lifted today, which had been heavier than what I was used to picking up.

"You okay there, doll face?" Knox chuckled as he exited the bathroom after his nightly shower before bed, to which I simply grumbled nonsense and pressed my face back into the pillow in response. The bed dipped as he climbed in beside me on his side of the bed, and I turned my head to look at him, to which my eyes bugged wide in surprise when I saw he was shirtless and his sweatpants hung low on his hips. So low that I could very clearly see the defined V-line that plunged into his bottoms, and the band of his boxers peeking out.

"Why are you without a shirt again, Knox?" I exclaimed, turning my head away as a heat crept up my cheeks. He stretched a long leg out and leaned back, corded muscles rippling attractively. "I'm hot." He shrugged, and I blinked up at him, stunned at his sudden bragging. "That isn't a good enough reason." I scowled.

Raising a brow, Knox peered down at me inquisitively and I watched as an amused smile formed on his lips. "While I'm quite confident about how attractive I am, that's not exactly what I meant, Flora. I meant hot as in it's hot in my apartment." He chuckled, causing my lips to part in a small 'o' shape as I finally understood. "Ah." I whispered, slightly embarrassed. "Of course." I grumbled to myself and rolled onto my back, wincing as I did so.

Knox, having been watching me closely already, noticed the slight wince. "Is your back hurting?" He asked, to which I replied with a simple nod.

He gave me a look and did a gesture with his hand that I didn't understand the meaning of, so I just stared at him blankly. "On your stomach." He told me, sitting up. I stared at him some more, lost, and he rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to help. Just trust me, doll." He insisted.

Though I gave him an uncertain look, I hesitantly flipped onto my stomach again, deciding to trust whatever he had in mind. Well, that was until he swung a leg over my thighs and straddled my butt, causing me to whip my head around to look at him. "Hey!" I exclaimed. "You're heavy, Knox!" I complained, feeling like he was squishing my bottom half.

All he did was chuckle and relax onto me more, putting more of his weight on me. I swatted behind me at air, unable to reach him, and huffed as I gave up and finally tried to relax.

I bit on the inside of my cheek as Knox began at my shoulders, his large hands covering the span of my entire back. For a while I found myself struggling not to fall asleep, feeling oddly comfortable with the way he was kneading at my back. It kind of affected me the same way as when someone played with my hair, in that it was strangely relaxing to the point of falling asleep.

But then he hit a sore spot, and I yelped as my eyes shot open. "Hey! That hurts!" I huffed, and he shushed me. "Well, no shit." He muttered. "You and your weak arms were lifting more than you could carry today, you know. I'm not surprised that you hurt your back after that." He said, clearly scolding me. I frowned and pursed my lips, not having anything to fire back. "I'm not weak." I mumbled pathetically, knowing that I was.

Not bothering to entertain my sulking, he instead kept kneading at my back, becoming more gentle now that he knew it was painful. I slowly relaxed again, but this time I felt like I had become a puddle on his bed.

He leaned over me from behind once he was finished, and I hummed sleepily as he nuzzled his head into my shoulder. "Thank you." I told him softly, struggling to stay awake. I could feel him smile and shivered when he brushed his lips against the back of my neck in an ever so subtle kiss, murmuring a soft "Good night," as he carefully lifted himself off of me.

The lights flicked out and I barely managed to stay awake just long enough to feel the bed dip and the warmth of the blankets being pulled up over me.