20. Jackson
Jackson
It’s weird seeing her in my space. In my home.
I’ve known Harper for so much of my life, yet she’s never been in my home.
For the past four years, she’s been away at college.
Before that, I was in college and playing in the minor leagues.
We always stayed in close contact, but we weren’t living near each other.
It’s almost odd to be around her.
Almost awkward.
“You can pick any of the spare bedrooms to stay in,” I say after I’ve given her a tour of the entire house.
“Ok…” She trails off, glancing down one hallway and then the other.
There are two spare bedrooms on each side of the house, but one of the ones next to my room was turned into an office.
I’m not sure if she wants to be closer to me or not.
I have no clue how long she’ll be staying here and maybe she wants her space…
or maybe she’s scared and wants to be closer to me.
“Hey,” I whisper, closing the space between us.
Harper stares up at me with big blue eyes.
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and watch her carefully.
“If you’re more comfortable staying closer to me, then take that room.
Or if you want space, take one of the rooms on the opposite side of the house. I don’t mind either way.”
“I'm scared,” she admits, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Then we know where you’re staying.” I take her hand in mine and lead her towards the room next to mine.
Flicking on the lights, I quickly double check the windows are locked and pull the shades down. I’ve checked every door and window while I gave her the tour, but I can’t seem to stop. I want to know she’s safe with me.
“If you need anything at all, come find me. I don’t mind if you wake me up, so please don’t hesitate to come to me. Got it?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Let me grab you some clothes to change into.”
I leave her room and enter mine, going straight to my dresser. As I'm searching for the smallest clothes I have, I tug my phone out of my pocket and dial Owen’s number.
“You better be back in town,” he mutters as soon as he answers the phone.
“I am…”
“But you’re not coming to work tomorrow,” he sighs like he’s completely done with me.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. I know you. What’s going on, Jackson?”
I tell Owen everything from me punching Evan to how we rushed to leave Pittsburgh before Evan could find out.
“Man, there won't be a single guy on the starting lineup soon.” He chuckles and I imagine him shaking his head.
“I'm still single.” I roll my eyes.
“You won't be for long. You’re head over heels for that girl.”
“I'm not sure she feels the same way though.” I don’t bother trying to deny my feelings for Harper. It would be pointless. Owen would actually give me more crap if I did deny it.
“What’s not to like? You’re attractive, kind, a good player, and a good guy.”
“Owen?” I smirk, knowing I'm going to annoy him. “Are you hitting on me? Do I have to contact human resources?”
“Oh, shut up.” He ignores me. “Do you need off tomorrow or can she come to the clubhouse? I don’t mind her being your shadow. She knows Charlie, Macy, and Cici, correct?”
“Yeah, they all know each other. I don’t think they were ever close, but they’re not strangers. She was in Jax and Cody’s grade growing up.” I run a hand through my hair.
“Ask her to come to work with you. She can watch you practice or hang out with Charlie or Macy… Liliana might be there tomorrow too. I should probably call her since you punched someone.”
“Already did. We have a podcast set up for this week, but I'm wondering if we should hold off now that things have developed with Evan. It might be worse to draw any attention to me, especially when he hasn’t gone to the press yet.”
“True… If Harper wants to stay home, then you need to be there, but I’d rather you come to work. Obviously. You know I care about your personal life and I know it’s more important than baseball.”
“Which is why you’re the world’s greatest boss.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s what you all say when I fold like a house of cards,” he grumbles. “I'm becoming too soft. I used to be a bosshole and I didn’t care about anyone. What happened to me?”
“You hired a bunch of men you already had relationships with. You knew all of their families and cared about them before they ever became your employees. You’re not soft, Owen. You’re fair and you actually care. That’s not a bad thing.”
“Yeah. We better end this season in a good position or I’m going back to being a bosshole.”
I laugh and shake my head. I love working for him. I wouldn’t leave the Pit Bulls even if another team offered me twice as much money.
“Goodnight, Owen.”
“Goodnight. Text me in the morning and let me know what the plan is.”
“Will do.”
I end the call and quickly grab the t-shirt and pajama pants I found while I was talking. I head back into the room Harper claimed and find her sitting on the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest.
“Hey… Are you ok?” I watch her carefully as I take a seat next to her, placing the clothes between us.
“Yeah. I'm fine.”
“I don’t believe you, but that’s ok.”
Harper’s gaze snaps to me and I smirk. Her brows are furrowed, making her look adorable. I don’t think I realized how much I missed spending time with her until I actually got to see her this weekend.
“There’s no point in hiding things from me.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and tug her into my side.
“I'm not… I just… I don’t want to be scared.”
“Not wanting to feel an emotion won't make it go away, Boots.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve been trying to do it my entire life. I’ve never once succeeded.”
She covers her mouth as she yawns and I know it’s time for me to go to bed. She’s still exhausted and I know as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’ll be out as well. My body is operating purely on adrenaline right now.
“Get some sleep.” I press a soft kiss to her temple before standing. “Come get me if you need anything, Harper. Even if you’re just scared and don’t want to be alone.”