Read Twist for Free Online Page A

herself from the onslaught of rain with a small clutch over her head. The water on the dark streets shimmered like glass, collecting a shower of colors from the streetlights and neon signs. When she made it safely to the hotel, Knox took a position by a light pole and lit up a smoke.
    ***
     
    Sunny tossed her wet scarf on the dresser. Cognito was miserable with all the rain. She switched on the dim lamp and stood by the window, watching a homeless woman squatting beside a dumpster with a bag over her head.
    Marco was eating away at her conscience. In the beginning, he was an attentive lover. He treated her with gifts and expensive dates. She never liked dominant men; it was difficult to break it off with them when it was time. There was never a man in her life that matched his confidence. He was well traveled, educated, and cultured. He was also a liar.
    Sunny leaned against the wall as the rain sprayed against the window. The room smelled musty, like a mixture of mold, sweat, and grandpa’s shoes. The yellow and brown striped comforter was stained, and it was criminal what they were charging her.
    She thought about Knox. He took a stick to those men and she never thanked him. Whether it was the thought of him, or the damp chill in the air, a flurry of goose bumps scattered across her arms.
    Her eyes snapped up when a person stepped behind a light post across the street. There was no hiding that frame of solid muscle. That was Knox out in the rain.
    Was he watching her?
    Without thinking, she ran out of the hotel to confront him. Her leggings soaked up water as she crossed the deep puddles in the road. Sunny stepped up the curb and touched his arm.
    “Knox?”
    Cold drops of rain pelted her face as Knox spun on his heel and walked in the opposite direction. Fast.
    “Wait!” she yelled, knocking into a newspaper stand.
    He took off at animal speed, his heavy boots crunching on the coarse concrete.
    “Knox wait, don’t make me run after you because I will—all the way to Jersey if I have to!” she shouted, “and I don’t even know where that is from here, so STOP!”
    He slowed down and looked over his shoulder.
    “What are you doing out here?” she asked, approaching him cautiously. His lashes were wet and she couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt them on her like heat. A shiver skated across her skin and her teeth chattered.
    “You shouldn’t be out here,” he said. “You’ll get sick.”
    “Where’s your car?”
    “Adam took it.”
    She figured as much when she noticed that he stayed at the bar for a drink, but never once did he offer to sit with her. The rain was deafening—but all she could hear was his breath.
    “Come inside, let me make you a cup of hot coffee and dry you off. This damsel in distress owes you one.”
    His shoulders hunched up as he tucked his hands in his pockets, watching her closely but never speaking a word.
    “Or, I’ll just stay out here with you… in the pouring rain,” she said, folding her arms.
    Knox wiped a hand over his wet face and moved towards the hotel, escorting her across the street with the palm of his hand between her shoulder blades.
    Once inside, Sunny made a beeline to the bathroom and grabbed a fresh stack of white towels. Knox was closing the dingy curtains when she entered the room.
    “Those locks on the door are cheap.”
    Well, wasn’t that an odd thing to say?
    “It’s all I could afford on short notice; most of the hotels were booked,” she said. “Here.” She flung a towel across the room and he caught it with his left hand. By the looks of him, he needed more than a towel. “Give me your shirt and hat, I’ll wring them out and hang them up to dry. I also have a hair dryer.”
    The shirt he wore didn’t leave much to the imagination. While it was the color of iron, the fabric was sheer when wet and she could see every line of muscle.
    When she snatched the hat away from his head, the look on his face made her giggle. “Well, at least let