Page 13 of Restricted List

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 somethingalmosthappened, 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 fuckingbeautiful.

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

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