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“Always the dramatic one, LT,” I mumbled affectionately and blew a kiss her way when she narrowed her eyes. “Stand up.”
“Ugh,” she groaned as she stood, dragging it out to get a reaction from me if her hidden smile was any indication. “Happy?”
“Extremely.” The word had been a tease, and yet, it wasn’t too far off from the truth.
My smiles were almost constant. My laughs were coming freely. And my movements were so much different than they’d been at my Tuesday session with them.
Lighter. Not as stiff.
It almost felt like—well...before.
Going through my days doing what I loved. Training and doing workouts. Helping the occasional person with an injury.
It made me feel alive. Gave me purpose. And it gave me the freedom to have lazy mornings with Chase and easy afternoons before he went to the shop.
Not that we’d had any of those this week since we were still on very unsteady ground. Still, he’d been different since we’d started physical therapy three nights before.
That coldness was slowly receding from those blue eyes, and his glances were lingering. Those smirks and hushed laughs that had always done crazy things to me were becoming much more frequent—as were our conversations, even though they rarely touched on anything that had to do with us.
But it was something.
More than something...it waseverything.
It felt like I was falling for Chase for the first time all over again. And the swarm of wings in my stomach made it feel like I was walking on air.
I started collecting the weights, bands, and balls we’d used, taking them over to sanitize so I could prepare for my next class.
“I didn’t want to say anything before,” Samantha began, voice hesitant, “but I really wasn’t expecting to see you like this today.”
When I looked back at her, she gestured to me with her bottle, her eyebrows drawn together in worry.
The other two girls murmured agreements as Samantha hurried to continue. “I’m loving it; I’m just surprised. And I’d like to think you’re just this happy to see us,” she teased, forcing a laugh from me.
“Of course I am,” I said as I grabbed another medicine ball. “My best days begin with the three of you.”
“Fact,” Anna interjected.
“I’m sure we would’ve heard about this before this morning,” Samantha went on, voice lowering as she glanced at the door that led to the house, “but are Chase’s memories coming back?”
My smile slipped as I looked in that direction before walking over to put the medicine ball down. “No.”
“Then what has you all glow-y?” Litany asked. “Because you could barely make it through a set without crying on Tuesday.”
“It’s seeing all of you,” I said playfully, then lifted a shoulder and conceded. “It’s him. I mean...Chase is different, and he still has no idea who I am or who we were together. But he’s here, and he’s talking to me. And the last couple of days were so much better than the ones before it.”
“Betterhow?” Anna asked flirtatiously.
My eyes rolled. “Justbetter. He hasn’t been dismissing me or looking at me like he hates me. He’s been—” I sucked in a stuttered breath and shook myself when I realized I was just standing there holding weights. Walking across the garage, I set them down and then looked at the girls again. “Anna, you were there when we met. It was instant.”
“Pretty sure the entire block got pregnant from the way he was looking at you,” she said, a laugh bursting from her when I picked up one of the bands and flung it at her. “It’s true!”
“But it stayed that way. Instant and intense. This is...slow and like he can’t help himself, even though he clearly doesn’t want to fall for me.”
“Wait, what? Why?” Litany asked.
“He still thinks he’s in love with Harper,” Samantha said in realization, voice soft. Always my sympathetic friend. Always the worrier of the four of us.
“Yeah,” I said sadly. “Heknowsit didn’t happen, but he’s struggling with accepting it because he’s absolutely sure his feelings are real.”
