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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Harlow
We get up together, and Sawyer walks me to work on his way to the gym like we’ve done a million times before. But now, it feels so new. Everything feels comforting but also exciting. Everything is the same, but also different. I can’t explain it. I’m glad Ezra gave us the night, even if I do miss him already.
“I’ll see you later,” Sawyer says before kissing me lightly, his fingers around the nape of my neck and stroking the skin there as he’s taken to doing. He doesn’t say anything about love again—he hasn’t since his coffee shop declaration—but I’m pretty sure that’s to give me space. I know he does, I see it in his actions, and soon I’ll be ready to say it to him too.
I watch him cross the road with a wave and then walk in to see Fleur gaping at me.
“Fucking finally,” she squeals, throwing herself at me. “I need all of the details!”
It takes all morning to get through the story so far, with constant interruptions from the morning crowd of customers, and when I eventually finish, she sighs wistfully. “You are living a romance novel, girl.”
“I don’t think romance novels have the girl with two boyfriends,” I say.
“Oh, the good ones have a lot more than that,” she says with a smirk, but the happiness doesn’t reach her eyes.
“You okay? You seem... down.”
“I’m fine,” she says with a fake smile, brushing me off with a wave of her hand. “I’m so happy for you!”
“I know that, but you seem off.” Her shoulders deflate a little at my observation.
“Lee has a job offer,” she says.
“Okay...”
“A great one.” My brow creases. I’m clearly not understanding something.
“Is that not a good thing?” I clarify.
“Not when it’s a thousand miles away.” Her eyes water as she smiles sadly at me.
“Oh, shit. What are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” she says with a shrug. “We haven’t been together that long. It’d be stupid to uproot my life so soon.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yep, I’m sure. Oh look, a distraction! Boyfriend number three is here.”
I immediately look to the door with a grin, assuming I’ll see Nico entering, and then whip my head back to Fleur with a glare as I realize it’s Brian walking in. She snickers, and I can’t help a small smile.
“You suck. I’m going to the gym fundraiser. Have a good afternoon,” I say, giving her a reassuring pat on the arm on the way past. “See you in a bit, Brian.”
***
I get to the gym, and the main room is packed. It’s a twenty-four-hour triathlon. There are people cycling, running, and rowing to substitute for swimming, so it can all be here at the front instead of using the pool. The atmosphere is great and everyone seems pumped, although I can’t see Sawyer.
“He’s in the back.” A guy I recognize waves me over as he checks his watch. “He should be finishing up a PT.”
I smile at him and head to the back rooms. Most are empty—everyone at the front where the excitement is—but a few have a class or one-on-one in them. As I walk in through the open door of the next room, I freeze. Sawyer is on his front, held up by his forearms, hovering over a woman who has her hand very deliberately on his cock.
Like I’ve been electrocuted, I step back and kick the door accidentally, making it rattle.Shit.My heart feels like it’s being shredded. He hasn’t done anything wrong—we never had the exclusive chat, not that he gave us any time to—and I’m certainly not exclusive. What if he assumes this is how it’s going to be now? An open relationship? But I don’t think I can do that. I want to skin that woman in there alive. How hypocritical of me. He’s accepted it for me, so surely I need to accept it for him. I do the cowardly thing and run, leaving to spend my break at home instead.
***
I relieve Fleur, and she leaves with a smile, but I frown after her anyway. This Lee thing is hitting her harder than she’s admitting. I can see it around her eyes, and in the slump of her shoulders. She’s not the same Fleur she used to be.
