Page 92 of The Strike Zone

“Where?”

“HR”

“Why are we going to HR?”

“We have to sign that dating form thing.”

Oh. Fuck. Fuuuck. The HR form. How,howdid I forget that?

“Scout?”

“Yeah?

“The form?”

“Do we have to sign it?” I mumbled, chewing on an invisible hangnail. Unfortunately, it was loud enough that a tiny crease formed on Parker’s brow.

“Um, yeah, kinda. Coach is already on my ass, and that was before…you know…this last week…and we got together.”

“Together?”

“Yeah, you and me.”

I took a deep breath and stopped short of pushing my hands through my hair to tug out the ends. Instead, I found my fingers threading into Parker’s, still resting on my knee. We drove another couple of blocks in silence, enough to reach the first set of signs directing us to Lions Stadium.

Before I even realized the car was slowing down, Parker had already pulled into a parking bay, cut the engine, and was now facing me.

“C’mon, Davison, what’s up? Talk to me. Are you having regrets? Do you want to go back to being just friends because…”

I shook my head, stopping any more words from coming out of his mouth. “No. No. I’m not…of course I’m not. I don’t want to be just friends.”

“Then what? I can see something is up.” He tugged my lip free as I chewed on it, “Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing…it’s just…” I dragged a hand down my face. “HR is managing this new job role.”

“So?”

“If we sign the form then they’ll know about us.”

“Um, I think that’s kind of the point of the form.”

I sighed. “Yes, but what if us being together influences whether I’m given this role or not. I mean…I don’t even know if I want it, but if I do want it, I don’t want to be offered it on anything but my own merit.”

Parker frowned so deeply it almost hurtmybrain. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

“Because what if they give me the job because of you. Or don’t give it to me because of you.”

A broad grin stretched across his face, the head tilt he added did nothing for my anxiety because it was clear he thought I was nuts. “You’re giving me way too much power in this scenario.”

“Parker, I’m serious.” I almost snapped. “Getting a promotion while dating…you know…you. It doesn’t look good. People are already talking about us. This will make it worse. I don’t want it to look like I haven’t earned the job on my own merit.”

“Why do you care what people say?”

“Because…” I stopped, trying to find the words. “They’re not talking about it in a good way.”

“I’m not following.”

“It’s girls gossiping. And with this job interview…”

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