Page 5
four
Cole
With the season now being over, everyone is adjusting back to everyday life.
Lane is doing everything he can with Sage, soaking in the moments he can’t when we’re playing.
Josh and Ella are knee-deep in final preparations for their wedding next month.
Harlow and Knox are doing things I don’t want to know about.
Lucia is holing herself up in her apartment, pretending the outside world doesn’t exist so she can catch up on reading the books she hasn’t been able to.
And Rory and I are finally no longer awkward around each other. It’s so fucking good to have my boisterous—and sometimes flirty—friend back.
Since today is Wednesday, I get to see Harlow now. We’ve had this tradition of having breakfast together every Wednesday since I was traded to the Stars. We wanted to be able to spend time together when we could. That was before Harlow started coming to every game and joining us on the road. Since her blog Starred and Fast focuses on the team, she’s unofficially part of it as she works on it. We just kept the tradition going even though we see each other nearly daily now.
As I knock on the door, I hear Harlow yell from the other side, “Come on in, Cole!”
Stepping inside, I kick my sneakers off at the door and shrug off my coat. I spot Harlow at the kitchen island with our food sitting in front of her—French toast for her and a spinach omelet for me.
I pour myself a mug of black coffee and take the stool next to her. “Knox hanging back again?”
“Just like he always does,” she smiles as she sips from her mug. “He never joins us on Wednesday morning.”
I cut into my omelet and stuff a piece into my mouth. “Hey, this started as just us, but I’m flexible. My brother-in-law is welcome to join us.”
Harlow eyes me. “Not your brother-in-law, Cole.”
“Yet,” I wink while Harlow rolls her eyes. “You really think I believe you haven’t discussed the possibility of marriage, Lo? I know you.”
“I never said we haven’t discussed it,” she replies, looking down and hiding a smile. “Just that he’s not your brother-in-law.”
I smile brightly at my sister. Even with my own love life in shambles, I’m still thrilled for Harlow. “Your happiness tells me that you have indeed discussed it.”
Her cheeks flush. “We’ve talked about the future, obviously. I wouldn’t have moved in if we hadn’t. Nothing is going to happen anytime soon…”
“But?” I ask.
Harlow can’t hide her smile this time. “But one day.”
“No shit. Can’t believe that’s the same man that hated everything and everyone at the beginning of the season.”
“What can I say?” she shrugs. “He just needed me to come around and brighten him up.”
I choke on my coffee. “Your ego has no limits, Lo. But you did open him up; I’ll give you that.” I wrap an arm around her shoulder. “And now you’re happier than I’ve ever seen.”
“I am,” she smiles. “I really am.”
Her happiness is contagious, but I still feel a pang of jealousy.
I want what she has, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get it.
Once we finish breakfast, our mom calls Harlow, and she walks off to their bedroom to take the call while Knox joins me in the living room.
“So,” I ask, “how does it feel to no longer live in a bachelor pad?”
Knox laughs from his spot on the other side of the sofa. “This was never a bachelor pad, Cole. I kept the place decorated, and I sure as fuck didn’t bring any women back here. Nothing bachelor about it.” Now he cocks an eyebrow at me. “Your place, on the other hand…”
I groan. “I haven’t decorated much, but I wouldn’t consider mine a bachelor pad either.”
“Your place fits both of the bachelor pad requirements, though.”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “But I haven’t brought a woman back in over a year.”
“That long?” Knox asks, surprised. “Man, you’re down really bad.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Immature as hell, but still accurate,” he laughs. “Things still awkward between you two?”
“Thankfully, no. We talked after the parade the other day and cleared the air. We’re all good again.”
“So, what actually happened then? Why were you being weird at all?”
“Technically,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, “nothing actually happened.”
“Really?” he asks. “Why were you both being so awkward if nothing happened?”
“Because…” I take a deep breath. “Because something almost happened, and it kinda freaked us out.”
Begrudgingly, I tell Knox about Rory pulling me into the showers, our light flirting, Rory giving me a fucking hard-on when she accidentally brushed her hand against me, and what we prevented ourselves from doing after.
“That would explain why you both sneaked off,” he laughs.
“Can you not laugh at me?” I groan. “It was kind of mortifying.”
Knox sighs. “You know Skip will bench you if anything actually happens.”
“Which is why nothing will ever happen,” I assure him, knowing just how hollow those words sound.
Paul Fisher is a phenomenal manager. He supports everyone on the team through everything they’re facing. Hell, he watches Sage some nights so Lane can have a night off when Rory isn’t nannying.
But when it comes to his daughter, he’s extremely protective. Overprotective, if you will. I’m sure he means well, but I know it grates on Rory. She wants to have the freedom to make decisions without worrying about what her dad thinks.
And honestly, if it weren’t for Skip, I’d have asked Rory out three years ago.
Instead, I pathetically pine for the one woman I’ll never be able to have. And it’s shitty because I know Rory is everything I want.
She’s confident as hell, she’s funny and witty, she loves giving me shit and loves even more when I do it in return, and she’s so fucking beautiful .
The vibration of my phone brings me out of my forbidden thoughts.
But I smile when I see the name on my screen.
Rory .
I hear Knox snicker beside me, but I just ignore him, instead focusing on the only person I want to talk to right now.
Rory
Coooole
Cole
Roryyyyy
Rory
What are you up to today?
Cole
At Harlow’s right now
Now Knox is giving me shit while she’s on the phone with our mom
Rory
You poor baby
Cole
I am
I think I need you to save me
Rory
Hmm
I think I can manage that
Meet me at Urban Grind in an hour
Cole
See you then, Rory
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5 (Reading here)
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
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- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
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- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58