“Ah, new system,” she grinned. “It’s a little slower unpacking a shipment this way, but at least I can still work.”
“You put the books in a bag and carry them out here while balancing with your crutches?” I asked in disbelief.
“Hey, it works. Don’t knock it,” she said, moving across the room to her new release shelf. “So, what are you doing here so early? Shouldn’t you still be training?”
“Yeah, I uh…” Frowning, I tried to think of how to say this to her. “Mav texted. Austin was caught.”
Her fingers paused just as she was about to push a book onto the shelf. “Oh, well, that’s good.”
“Yeah. He wanted me to talk to you about something.”
“What’s that?”
I could hear the tension in her voice. This was all wrong. She didn’t want to think about any of this. She was finally moving on with her life again. It had been two weeks since Christmas, and that depression she had been in seemed to finally be lifting.
“Uh...”
She glanced over her shoulder, her teeth biting into her bottom lip with worry.
“He…he wanted to know if you’ve heard about when you’re getting your cast off.”
Her whole body sagged in relief as she smiled and went back to work. “Well, it’s only been a month. The doctor said at least six weeks. So, I guess I’ll find out when I go back for my appointment.”
I already knew all that, and she knew that I knew. We were both lying, both of us dancing around what really needed to be discussed. But I wasn’t ready to go there, and neither was she.
“Need some help?”
“I thought you were going back to the gym?”
I glanced down to where she pointed at my wrapped hands. “Oh, right. Yeah, I guess I should get back there.”
“I’ll see you at six?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick up dinner.”
That warm smile that got under my skin was back, shining bright as ever. There was no way I could bring it up now.
“Sounds good. Oh, and Blake stopped by earlier. She was saying something about Parker going in early to train with you?”
“Right, sorry, I forgot about that. It was something we planned before the accident, but never got a chance to do.”
“So, you’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, but I’ll make sure I’m back in time to pick you up for work.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure Josie can pick me up on her way in.”
“No, I’ll be back to get you.”
Why was I offering more of my time to her? I was off the hook. Austin was in prison and I had literally no responsibilities to this woman. Yet, I couldn’t allow myself to just walk away.
“Okay, just let me know if you change your mind.”
I got out of there before I offered to do anything else for her. I was already on edge, wondering if I should go back to my own house or stay with her. If I stuck around too much longer, she’d start to get the idea that I wanted to stick around, that I wanted a relationship.
I’d move out by the weekend. That would give me enough time to find a new place to stay and make sure she was okay on her own. It was the only option at this point.
“Another! Give me another!”Deke shouted as I lifted the bar above my head. My muscles were straining and sweat was clinging to every inch of my body, but I pushed myself to the limit and gave him one more before he helped me place the bar on the rack.
