Page 122 of Off Pitch

“It’s no problem, Knox.” She smiles, and it seems less forced than it’s been lately. “I don’t mind helping you out.”

“I know, but…” I sigh. “I know how hard it is for you to be around me right now, so I just want you to know it means a lot that you’re still willing to help.”

“You’re welcome,” she replies softly. “Here, let’s get you up. You can do whatever you need to do for your morning routine, and then you can come out to the kitchen. I grabbed some coffee and bagels for breakfast.”

I wince as she helps me up and hands me my crutches. “Thanks. I’ll be out to the kitchen shortly.”

“Oh, uh… no problem,” she says awkwardly. “I’ll just, uh… see you out there.”

“Why are you being weird right now?” I ask before looking down and realizing I’m literally just in a pair of boxer briefs. Ah, that’ll do it. “Sorry,” I mutter quickly. “I, uh… didn’t think about that. Don’t worry, I’ll throw some clothing on before I come out.”

“Right, of course,” Harlow quickly replies. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

She starts walking to the door, so I use my crutches to propel me to my bathroom to brush my teeth and clean my face. When I get to the bathroom doorway, I can feel eyes on me. I peer back over my shoulder as Harlow quickly turns her head and walks out of the room.

Was she just checking me out?

I guess she could’ve been assessing the giant fucking bruise on the back of my left thigh, but I don’t like that option as much.

I’m choosing to believe she was checking me out. That she was staring at my ass covered in black fabric, just like she used to do.

And even if only in my mind, it feels good to have her looking at me again.

“So,” Cole says as he walks into the living room to join me where I’m sitting with my leg elevated on the couch. “How awkward has this morning been so far?”

I sigh. “It could be worse,” I admit. “She’s still not talking to me a lot. Breakfast was pretty quiet.”

“She’ll come around again,” Cole says, sitting on the chair.

“I’m not going to rush her or make her uncomfortable. If not talking to me helps her, then so be it. It’d be selfish of me to want her to just ignore everything that happened.”

“Damn,” Cole laughs. “I told you Harlow would brighten you up. Now you’re here making sure you do everything possible to keep her comfortable when she’s here to do that foryou.”

“I know. But I’m half-expecting her to not come back from her apartment at all. That she’ll get there and be like, ‘Fuck this, and fuck him.’ I wouldn’t really blame her.”

Cole shakes his head. “You’re great at some self-loathing. Goddamn, man. Lighten up.”

“I’ll try,” I say before taking a deep breath.

“To change the subject, how do you feel about being put on the IL?”

“Don’t love it, that’s for fucking sure. But I don’t need surgery, so thankfully, I can just go on the 15-day IL. I’m going to be antsy tonight, though. It’ll be weird watching the game from home and not the dugout.”

“Knowing Harlow,” Cole says, “she’ll try to keep your mind off missing the game. I don’t know what she’ll do for that, but I can confidently say it won’t be sex with you being in the doghouse and all.”

“Dick,” I say, tossing my hat at him. “I’m in a fuck ton of pain. Sex is the furthest thing from my mind right now.” He throws my hat back. “Also, don’t be so fucking weird. That’s still your sister.”

“Yeah, I regretted it as soon as I said it,” he replies with an uneasy laugh. “I’m still used to being able to tease you, Lane, and Josh about this shit. I keep forgetting that it’s my sister you’re… involved with now.”

I wince. “I don’t think you can really say we’re involved now.”

“You’re both still playing it up for the tabloids, right?” I nod. “Then you’re involved in some way.”

“I guess,” I sigh. “I just wish she would talk to me normally again. I just…” I trail off.

Cole smiles. “You miss her.”

“I think that’s pretty fucking obvious,” I groan.

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