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Neon & Nets (Venom Next Gen #1) Chapter Twenty-One 71%
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Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Knight

I could have sworn that Sofia was out here because I would recognize her waterfall of thick hair anywhere, but when Viktor and I finally manage to get away from the fans, Knova’s the only one waiting. She stands with her back to us, staring out onto The Strip. I jog over to her, scanning the area for Sofia’s familiar figure. There’s no sign of her.

“Hey, Knova. I thought I saw Sofia. Where did she—?”

My sister twirls toward me, swinging her fist into my shoulder so hard that she almost knocks me flat. It’s not a love tap by any means. I guess I should consider myself lucky that she didn’t aim for my face.

“Ow, Knova!” I rub my shoulder. “What the hell? That hurt!”

From a few yards away, Viktor cheers. “Whoo! The infamous Hale fists of fury! Get your tickets now!” Then he thumbs toward the casino. “I could totally go get Dante if you need another victim.”

Knova turns on him and spits out, “Shut up, or you’re next. And your tears will nourish me.” She’s still dressed up from the charity event, with her makeup and hair done just so, but there’s real anger in her eyes that I’m not used to seeing there. It’s so shocking that I fall back a pace.

Viktor scoffs. “Meet me in my bedroom sometime, and we’ll see who ends up crying.”

I continue to rub my shoulder. “That’s gonna leave a mark, Knova. You’re not supposed to hurt your baby brother. ”

“It was supposed to hurt,” she snaps. “I swear to God. Pretty sure I told you this before. You’re the dumbest dumbass to ever dumbass!”

I frown at her. “What did I do?”

“What didn’t you do?” she counters. Then she just gives me a death glare while she taps her pointer finger to her temple.

Viktor claps a few times. “Answering a question with a question. I love that game. Knight, your turn!”

I look back and forth between my teammate and my sister. Last I checked, we were having a good time at the party. I don’t understand what changed.

Knova sighs so deeply they can hear her in Reno, as if she thinks I’m being intentionally difficult. “Why didn’t you invite Sofia tonight?”

This one, I’ve got. “Because last night she told me that going to the jewelry show was a lot on an introvert. It totally sucked the life right out of her. She slept straight through breakfast, and I knew she had a live jewelry-making session tonight. I’m supposed to go over to see her now.”

Knova’s eye twitches. She crosses one arm over her chest and pinches the bridge of her nose with the other hand. “She’s your girl, but did you ask her? Did you give her a chance to turn you down, or did you just decide for her like the bumbling idiot you are?”

“The second one. I was trying to be a good boyfriend.” I guess I just agreed to being a bumbling idiot, which is less than ideal, but I’ll take it.

“About that. Does she know you’re official? Did you actually put a label on it? Because from what I gather, she thinks you two are just friends.”

“Wait, no—” I shake my head. That can’t be right. Just yesterday she was dropping hints about engagement rings. I was balls deep inside her four fucking times!”

Knova’s lip curls back. “Just friends,” she repeats, “and you’re not even doing that right. A good friend would give her options and let her make choices. He’d fucking communicate, rather than playing games with his friend’s heart. You… dear brother… suck.”

Viktor cups his hands around his mouth. “Whoo! Yeah! Tell him, Knova!”

My sister lets out a growl from deep in her chest. She spins toward Viktor. “How are you so annoying! And more importantly, why are you still here?”

Viktor pulls his tie loose. “We rode together, remember? I’m not paying for a ride home just because Knight, as you put it so eloquently, sucks.”

Taking his tie off was probably the right move, because if he hadn’t, I’m pretty sure Knova would happily throttle him with it. She’s vibrating with rage, and even though I usually enjoy pushing her buttons, I have the terrible feeling that she’s right. I have been a shitty friend.

“Can you at least tell me what Sofia said?” I whine.

Knova jabs a finger at Viktor. “You, get in the car. And you, Knight,” the finger turns on me, “you better figure out how to make it right before you lose the best thing to ever happen to you. You’ve been waiting for her your whole fucking life, and you’re going to ruin it before you even get started. Labels are important to us women. When we are the only one in your life, we need to fucking know that. Because without that information, our minds tend to consider a fuck ton of other less desirable possibilities.”

Viktor totters past us toward the parking lot. “Yeah. That’s pathetic. Girls like things defined. And the ones with questionable morals are constantly swarming us like a hive of bees, dude. Imagine how that looks.”

Knova huffs like a charging bull. “Zip it, dickhead.”

“What?” Viktor turns to her. “I was trying to explain that women like to know where they stand. Like… you know where you stand with me, right?”

My sister is all teeth. “I fucking hate you. Is that what you mean?”

And, because tonight is fast becoming an episode of the Twilight Zone , Viktor doesn’t escalate from there. In fact, he looks… sad. Dejected. Like someone put a pin in him and deflated all his mojo. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Nothing makes sense anymore.

We make our way to the SUV in silence. It’s a good thing they all have a self-driving option these days, because I’m way too out of it to be navigating Vegas traffic. Letting my vehicle do its thing, I mostly stare out at the lights in silence, wondering how I misjudged things so badly. I love Sofia. Then, now, and forever. I want to protect her from anything that could hurt her, and somehow, in the process, I just made things worse. Didn’t I listen? Didn’t I take cues? She already had plans. She was tired.

Goddamn it, I tried to do the right thing. I let my head tip sideways against the glass and close my eyes, replaying weeks of conversations. Actions are supposed to speak louder than words, right?

So, how the hell do I fix this?

I drop Knova and Viktor off at home. It’s dark, but the porch lights are on outside of our family homes, in anticipation of our return. It’s not lost on me how we all hit the parent jackpot. In theory, I was going to park my SUV along the curb and walk over to Sofia’s place so that we could hang out. Maybe watch a shitty movie together. Now, I don’t know if she’ll even want to see me.

I’m not brave enough to head over to the pool house, but I can’t wait until morning to talk to her. Since I’m not sure where else to go, I end up sitting on the porch staring across the street toward Uncle Marco’s house.

The door behind me creaks open. I brace for impact, expecting Knova to lay into me again… but it’s Dad.

“Hey, kid.” He flops down into his rocking chair. “You know you don’t live here anymore, right?”

I rub my eyes. “I’m aware. I didn’t know sitting on the porch was a problem. I mean… I’m off the grass.”

Dad chuckles. “That’s why I didn’t shoot you with the hose. So, what’s going on? I know this look.”

“What are you talking about? You can’t even see my face in the dark.” My tone sounds almost choked.

“Sure can,” he counters. “Enough to recognize your heartbreak, anyway. I looked like this when I was trying to seal the deal with your mom.”

I grimace. “Seal the deal?” It sounds dirty when he puts it like that.

“Heck, yeah. I wanted to marry that woman like my whole life depended on it. Because it did.”

Their story is the stuff of family legend, from their meet cute over a Costco rotisserie chicken, to the pickle incident at the Ren Faire, to Uncle Marco and Aunt Madison’s wedding, to the songwriting competition where Dad beat her by singing a song he’d written about her. But now… I’m starting to think I focused on all the wrong parts. Sure, my parents had a rough patch—that involved my dad punching Dante Giovanetti in the face and losing his NHL career over it—but they got through it. Obviously. My existence is proof of that. I took their success for granted, but now, I’m wondering if that was the right choice. “ How’d you fix things? I mean… after you were forced into early retirement. I would’ve thought that was pretty hard to come back from.”

Dad’s expression gets all dreamy and sappy. Do I look like that when I think about Sofia? “I wrote her a song, remember?” Dad pauses. “Also, I don’t recommend that for you. That apple fell so far from the tree it yeeted itself off a cliff.”

I chuckle at his description of my lack of musical talent. “What do you recommend?”

Dad considers me for a long moment. There’s a glow from the house, and the harsher, almost blue glow of the streetlamps. His features are obscured by shadow, but his eyes are bright and observant. I get the feeling that he can see right through me. “Speaking from the heart in the way that’s best for Knight Hale. She likes you. Probably even loves you. Probably always has. I don’t get why you two are having problems.”

I groan. “According to Knova, it’s because she isn’t aware of my true feelings. Apparently, I’m the dumbest dumbass to ever dumbass.”

Dad chuckles. “Knova has a way with words. And if you haven’t told Sofia how you feel about her, even after all this time, then maybe your sister has a point. If you want her to be yours forever, you have to be open with your emotions. Then you have to ask her to be yours. And it has to be clear.”

I sit there, staring at the shadows flickering across the lawn, Dad’s words echoing in my head. You have to ask her to be yours. And it has to be clear. I’ve been so focused on not messing things up, I never stopped to think that maybe I’ve already done just that by staying silent. I thought keeping my feelings under wraps was protecting me, protecting her, but all it’s done is build a wall between us. Dad punched a guy in the face and lost everything for love. He fought for it, laid it all on the line, and that’s what saved him. What’s my excuse?

I’m Knight Hale—I don’t write songs, and I don’t have to throw a punch to make my point. But I can’t keep pretending that “just friends” is all I want from Sofia. I’m going to tell her. No more second-guessing, no more hiding. I need her to know the truth. Because if I don’t, I’m going to lose her for good.

And that would wreck me.

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