Page 5 of Restricted List

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m good.”

He eyes me suspiciously. “Sure you are. Lane’s been telling a story for the past five minutes, and I don’t think you’ve heard a word.”

“Of course, I’ve heard it,” I reply indignantly as I hear Josh laugh from his place beside Lane in the backseat.

“Yeah?” he smirks. “What’s he saying?”

“He’s, uh… telling us about Sage and her favorite toy?”

Knox rears his head back and laughs. “Or he’s telling us how Sage knocked an entire cake off his counter because she was so excited about it.”

I groan. “Fine, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Would that have anything to do with you and a certain manager’s daughter sneaking off during the champagne shower the other day?” he prods.

“Fuck,” I say, head in my hands. “I really hoped no one noticed that.”

“We all noticed, Cole,” Knox says, leaning closer now. “What happened while you two were gone?”

“It’s… kind of complicated.”

“As complicated as me trying to deny being in love with your sister when we still weren’t actually dating?” he chuckles.

That pulls a small smile out of me. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Damn,” he replies, surprised. “What happened?”

“I’m not talking about it,” I sigh. “The last thing I need is anything to get back to Skip.”

“Alright,” he relents. “I won’t prod you. Just… be careful.”

“I will,” I say.

I have no choice but to be careful.

I have to do everything I can to keep all of this to myself.

Once the parade is finally over and we all make it back to the stadium, I take a shower to decompress. Knox telling me that everyone noticed Rory and I were missingtogetherthe other day has me going crazy right now.

If everyone noticed, does that mean Skip noticed, too?

I don’t think he did since he hasn’t said anything, but it could be really bad if he found out.

After I step out of the shower and towel-dry my hair, letting the wavy strands fall to my shoulders, I just throw on some sweatpants and a hoodie. It’s already getting close to freezing here in NYC, and it’s only early November.

Before I open the door to step into the hall, I hear her.

Rory’s just outside the door, probably with my sister and Knox.

I take a deep breath before pushing the door open and walking up to the trio I expected to find.

“Cole!” Harlow yells excitedly as I walk over to join them. “Did you enjoy the parade?”

“Yes, I just loved being front and fucking center,” I scoff.

She rolls her eyes and says, “You weren’t alone, though. You had Knox right next to you.”

“Yeah,” Knox adds. “For some reason, they wanted the guy who pitched a complete game sitting next to the damn MVP.”

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