Knockemout, #3
Things We Left Behind
by Lucy Score
Contents
34
Overview
Lucian sees Sloane on a date and sabotages himself with a heated, intimate hallway confrontation. Sloane refuses to be his fallback and sends him away. Outside, Knox and Nash deliver a controlled beatdown and blunt advice, forcing Lucian to face his fear of commitment. Lucian leaves bruised but slightly clearer about wanting more.
Summary
Summoned to Knockemout, Lucian drinks with Nash, Knox, Stef, and Jeremiah at Honky Tonk, brooding over Sloane. When Sloane arrives with date Kurt Michaels, Lucian fixates on them, torn between jealousy and denial.
He follows Sloane from the table and corners her after the restroom. Their argument erupts into blistering honesty and physical temptation. Lucian begs her to leave with him; Sloane, wanting reliability and a future, refuses to be a casual fling. After intense flirting and near-contact, she asserts boundaries and tells Lucian to go.
Nash and Knox intervene and drag Lucian outside. They refuse to let him treat Sloane like a disposable hookup and explain why they won’t fight him the way they fight each other—violence means something different to someone raised by an abusive father.
Choosing catharsis, the men trade measured punches. Between jabs, Nash and Knox call Lucian out for cowardice, insisting he respects Sloane and acknowledge his real feelings. Lucian denies love but keeps engaging, venting frustration. The scuffle becomes a rough, brotherly intervention.
Bruised on the gravel, they debrief: worthiness isn’t the bar to love; effort is. Knox and Nash argue a partner should inspire you to live up to them. Lucian admits Sloane feels “too good” for him, but their words loosen his chest.
Stef and Jeremiah side with the Morgans and prompt Lucian to consider risk over fear. Lucian leaves the night battered, still stubborn, but nudged toward confronting his feelings and what he truly wants with Sloane.
Who Appears
- Lucian RollinsProtagonist; crashes Sloane’s date, instigates a charged confrontation, then endures a brotherly beatdown that forces him to confront his fear of commitment.
- Sloane WaltonOn a date with Kurt; rejects Lucian’s mixed signals, demands reliability and respect, and firmly sends him away.
- Knox MorganHelps stage a controlled fight; bluntly calls out Lucian’s cowardice and urges him to live up to Sloane.
- Nash MorganBreaks up the hallway scene, fights Lucian, and offers tough-love advice about respect and worthiness.
- StefFriend who witnesses the fight, sides with the Morgans, and later urges Lucian to take a chance on love.
- JeremiahAttends with Stef, documents the scuffle, and echoes the call to risk commitment.
- Kurt MichaelsSloane’s date; a kind, family-minded teacher whose presence triggers Lucian’s jealousy.
- SilverBartender at Honky Tonk who observes and quips during the tense bar scene.
- Harvey LithgowPatron who casually greets the group as the parking-lot scuffle unfolds.