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He shrugged. “First of all, I don’t know anything about her, so I can’t say if she’s able to be taken advantage of. That said, I’m not suggesting you’d be the kind of guy to pursue a woman who was in no position for it. But I will say that I believe you’re struggling with her.”
“She’s here for our help, Jake,” I reminded him.
“So was Liv.”
Recognizing what he was getting at, I looked away from him. “That situation was different.”
“No, it wasn’t. What makes you say that?”
“Liv and Brix knew each other since they were kids,” I pointed out, hoping he was going to drop this.
I already felt conflicted, as it was. I didn’t need him hounding me about it, too.
Throwing his hands up in surrender, Jake said, “Fine. I guess you’re right. But maybe you forget about Tarryn and Lily then. Royce didn’t know Tarryn when she was a kid, and Jagger certainly had no prior relationship with Lily.”
I rolled my eyes, because the truth was that I couldn’t argue that point. Instead, I gave myself a minute and considered how those situations had turned out for the other guys I worked with. I convinced myself the circumstances had been different for them, even if I couldn’t exactly figure out how that could be the case.
Finally, because I didn’t want to admit the truth to myself, I declared, “I think I need to show you that you weren’t taking it easy on me on this mat this morning.”
Jake laughed and moved in my direction. He knew he’d gotten me riled up, and there was no question he was proud of himself.
“That works for me,” he said.
Barely a minute later, Jake and I were battling it out on the mat, both of us pouring our frustrations into the fight.
Needless to say, I must not have been completely focused on what I was doing, because Jake managed to kick my ass that time around.
SIX
Ellery
I wished I’d prepared myself better.
In my defense, I hadn’t realized I’d need to be prepared in this situation, though.
When I woke up this morning, I decided to finally take Hanna’s advice and stop by The Early Bird to try out the coffee. I was doing more and more to try to connect myself to this town, even when I wasn’t sure I’d be here for the long haul.
Something about being here in Steel Ridge just felt right.
Maybe that was because I was no longer under Patrick’s watchful eye. Maybe it was because I finally felt free. I didn’t know.
But I couldn’t deny that I was praying I’d be able to work things out eventually to stay here permanently.
Since I had nowhere to be this morning, I decided it was not only the perfect time to make this visit, but to also sit down and enjoy doing something normal in public simply because I wanted to do it and not because someone else was expecting it or needed me to do it.
Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a simple morning of having a cup of coffee and a doughnut was going to be anything but.
Everything had been going great. I came in, ordered a coffee, and selected a doughnut. Then I grabbed a seat and was doing my very best to enjoy my uncomplicated and easy morning.
Then, it happened.
The door to the shop opened, and he walked in.
Kane.
His eyes were focused straight ahead, so he didn’t notice me.
Initially, I had planned to stop him on his way out, but now I was second-guessing if I should do that. Because Kane went straight up to the counter, spoke with the woman working there like he’d known her all his life, and was incredibly friendly.
