Page 120 of Off Pitch

He smiles and laughs. “You giving me shit must be a good sign.”

“Yeah,” I admit. As painful as it is to be near him right now, it hurts worse to be away. “I’ve missed you, too.”

His smile is soft and sweet, tender and caring. A smile so captivating that I forget we have an audience until Lucia clears her throat behind me.

“Well,” I say, quickly shooting up from where I’m sitting. “I’m glad you’re doing okay. Seems like it could have been worse.”

“We don’t know the severity yet, though,” Lucia says. “We’re still waiting on the imaging results.”

“Right,” I reply. “I guess we don’t actually know how he’s doing yet.”

“You’re here,” Knox chimes. “I’m already doing better.” A blush creeps across my cheeks as Lucia covers her mouth to hide her smile.

The door opens behind us, and one of the ER physicians walks in. “Hi, I’m Dr. Agarwal.” He walks over beside Knox. “I have your imaging results, but I’d like to talk to you alone first.”

“We’ll be in the hall,” Lucia says.

We walk into the hall and close the door behind us as Dr. Agarwal pulls the curtain shut. I lean back against the glass as Lucia stands in front of me with a smile on her face.

“What’s with the smile, Luc?” I ask.

“Lo, that man can say whatever he wants, but he’s down so fucking bad for you.”

“No, he isn’t,” I say quietly, barely above a whisper. “Knox all but told me he isn’t.”

Lucia’s look is more reassuring now. “I know what he said. But a man that doesn’t actually feel anything won’t sit there and tell you he misses you, even if he is hopped up on Morphine.”

“He said he missed me before, though. That didn’t seem to matter.”

“When was that?” she asks.

“When he was away for the All-Star Game. He told me on the phone Monday night, and I also kinda just let everyone believe I didn’t see him until Wednesday morning. That’s not completely true.” Lucia raises her eyebrow in curiosity. “It’s technically true but a bit misleading. Knox actually came directly to my apartment when he got off the plane. It was three A.M., and he was pounding on my door. He told me he couldn’t wait any longer to see me.”

“Interesting,” Lucia replies with a smirk. “Those aren’t the actions of a man who says everything is fake, Lo.”

“Please don’t, Luc,” I plead. “Please don’t give me hope where there isn’t any.”

“I won’t keep going on about it,” she says. “But I think there’s more to the situation than what Knox has led everyone to believe. Like maybe something happened, and it’s making him freak out about everything.”

And it clicks.

Emily.

It’s Emily.

He and I have talked about her at length over the past few months, and I know he hasn’t gotten close to any woman since her. He hasn’t let anyone in.

Until me.

He let me in. I’m the first person he’s let in since he went through everything with Emily, almost ending his career before it even began.

I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.

Of course, he’s panicking.

I’ll still be cautious, and I won’t hold out too much hope, but there may be a chance for something.

A chance forus.

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