Page 70 of Off Pitch

Every look from Knox has me burning up. And he’s hardly taken his eyes off me. Cole and Lane have been shooting each other glances but otherwise not addressing the obvious tension in the air.

But Lucia isn’t one to refrain.

“What the hell is going on with you two?” she says loudly. “You’ve been quiet all through dinner.”

“Because they’re both being really fucking weird tonight,” Cole replies.

“We’re not being weird, dick,” Knox states, annoyed.

“Well,” Lane says, “you sure as hell aren’t acting normal.”

Rory sips her glass of wine from where she sits next to Cole. “You should’ve seen them when he came to pick her up from Luc’s. You could’ve cut the tension with a knife.”

“You’re being dramatic,” I reply weakly. “There was no tension.”

Lucia stifles a laugh. “Babe, you were both eye-fucking each other the moment he walked into the room.”

“Spare me, please,” Cole groans.

“Your sister is dating Fort,” Rory says, nudging him with her arm. “This all comes with the territory, Pierce.”

“Hey, she doesn’t want to hear about my sex life. I don’t want to hear about hers.”

“Do you even have a sex life, Cole?” Rory asks, eyeing him curiously.

“Why are we focusing on me right now?” Cole cries.

As our friends now turn their attention to Cole and Rory’s bickering, Knox and I both breathe a sigh of relief at not being the focus of the conversation.

He takes a deep breath before leaning closer to me. “How is your salmon, Lo?” he asks.

“Not the best I’ve had,” I reply, “but it’s pretty good.”

“Ah, good,” he says back. “That’s good. The weather’s nice tonight, too, isn’t it?”

I can’t hold back a giggle. “Are you trying to make small talk, Knox?”

“If you have to ask, I’m doing a terrible job.” He gives me a soft smile.

“Not terrible, I don’t think… but why are you trying to make small talk with me?”

Knox sighs. “Things have seemed a little… awkward since we got off the elevator. I’m trying to get us past that.”

“How sweet of you,” I say with a smirk. “Such a thoughtful boyfriend I have.” My hand rests gently on his thigh.

“You just love teasing, don’t you?” Knox says as his lips lightly brush the outside of my ear. My shiver is involuntary and immediately creates a charge between us again.

No matter how hard we try, we always end up right back here. Same situation, same feelings, same internal monologue telling us this is a terrible idea. But I’m so tired of listening to that voice in my head.

That spark between us is never going to go away. So instead of running from it, maybe we should just give in. Maybe that’s all we need to eliminate this awkward tension once and for all.

I turn my head to look Knox right in the eyes. “That’s not teasing,” I say before lowering my voice. “But I know how to tease if that’s what you want.”

He takes those words as an invitation to run his fingers gently up the exposed skin of my thigh without taking his eyes off me. “Bit of a dangerous game, that is, don’t you think, Harlow?”

“What’s life without a little danger?” I say, leaning in closer. Knox’s throat bobs as he tries to maintain his composure.

“Harlow!” Lucia says as she claps a hand on my shoulder, and he all but jumps away from me. “Come with me to get another drink.”

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