Mostly because Charli and Shelby refuse to allow silence.
They ask about my parents, Delmar and Jana Asbury, and my older brother, Devon.
“Dev still working for your dad?” Shelby asks.
I nod. “At Asbury Timber.”
“Your parents were wonderful during our construction,” Charli says. “We loved working with them.”
That makes me smile. “My dad was thrilled when Harleigh called for estimates on the guest ranch project.”
“We told her to contact him,” Charli says.
“He’ll be happy to hear that.”
The conversation continues through bites of food and bursts of laughter.
Then, somehow, the subject lands on me.
Which is unfortunate.
Because I hate being the center of attention.
Cabe, however, has never cared about that.
“My Jojo here is graduating a year early.”
I close my eyes. “Cabe.”
“Doctorate in physical therapy.”
“Cabe.”
“A whole year early.”
“Cabe.”
Everyone looks impressed.
Which only makes it worse.
Then Axle finally speaks—the first time he’s contributed to the conversation in several minutes. “Dr. Chaz is excited.”
I glance up.
His eyes are on me.
“He was talking about the possibility of you joining the PBR Sports Medicine Team.”
My stomach does a weird little flip. “He was?”
“Yep.”
Axle takes a bite of his burger. Then adds casually, “Better do a good job this summer.”
I narrow my eyes. “I intend to.”
“Good.”
