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forty

Harlow

Harlow

Please tell me neither of you are busy right now

Lucia

Yeah, I’m not doing anything

Rory

Me either

Is everything okay, Lo?

Harlow

No

I’m hurting, and I’m sad, and I just really need my best friends right now

Lucia

Should we grab Ella, too?

Harlow

No, she’s happy with planning her wedding

Let her be happy

And she has no idea about anything that’s going on right now since I never told her

Rory

So this must involve Knox

Lucia

I’ll bring a bottle of wine then

Rory

And I’ll bring the Ben I know when you’re upset.”

“Goddamn you,” I breathe, trying to prevent myself from becoming emotional again. “It’s Knox,” I admit. “We talked after practice today, and, uh…”

“Lo, did he hurt you?”

“Physically? No. Emotionally? Yeah… I told him this didn’t feel fake to me anymore, and he lied to my face, telling me that none of this was real.”

“What the fuck?” Cole yells. “I’ll kick his ass.”

“You will do no such thing, Cole,” I say in exasperation. “I don’t want you to do that.”

“You’re hurting, Lo.”

“I am,” I say, sighing. “But I’ll be okay. It stings right now, but I’m resilient. I’m still going to fake the relationship for our agreement, though.”

Cole takes a deep breath, and I can all but hear him pinching his brow, trying to control himself. “I’m pissed at him right now.”

“Please stop,” I reply, hand to my head. “Nothing that happened between Knox and me should impact your friendship. I don’t want it to.”

I hear him sigh. “I know. But you’re my sister.”

“I’m also a grown woman,” I chide. “I made this decision myself, knowing that our arrangement wasn’t real. I want what happened tonight to stay between Knox and me, no one else. I don’t want this to fracture our friend group. We’re both going to be okay once we process this.”

“Fair enough,” Cole breathes. “To change the topic, do you have anything planned for the blog right now?”

“I’m still looking for my next interview. I haven’t found one yet, though.”

“Don’t make me regret this,” Cole replies while I imagine he’s shaking his head. “I’ll do it. Interview me before the game tomorrow.”

“I’d ask if you’re sure, but at the risk of you changing your mind, I’m running with it and saying I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’s the sister I always remembered,” he chuckles before we say our goodbyes and hang up.

Tonight still sucks, but at least I’ll be able to distract myself now as I prepare for Cole’s interview.

Maybe I can spend a couple hours not thinking about Knox.