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“Yeah,” I exhaled slowly, staring at the ceiling. My mind still spinning. My body on overdrive.
We’d just finished a class with our favorite instructor, and going through the poses had helped me feel calmer and more centered. But only marginally so. My mind was still on Knox. On what he’d said yesterday, when we were at the hospital for the Leatherbacks event.
I’d been hoping to tell Emmy about everything with Knox, but she’d been out of town. And now, I didn’t even know where to start.
He was hot. It was forbidden. We were a secret. And it needed to stay that way.
So, I contemplated what to say. I’d slept with Knox once. I could still brush it off as a mistake.
But in my heart, it didn’t feel like a mistake. At least, if I ignored the fact that I’d dated his son. I’dsleptwithhis son.
That was the part that always made me cringe.
But I couldn’tnottell Emmy. She was my best friend. And she would never think less of me, even if I was totally judging myself for sleeping with my ex’s dad.
I opened my mouth to tell her, but before I could speak, she asked, “How’s your mom doing?”
“Better, thanks,” I said, shoving down my confession. At least for the moment. “Joe hasn’t left her side.”
“Aw. That’s sweet.”
I kneeled and started rolling my own mat. “It would be if I didn’t have a front-row air mattress to their budding romance.”
She frowned. “It sucks that you had to move out of Knox’s and back into her living room.”
“Hopefully it’s only temporary,” I said, though I had no idea how I could justify the expense of moving out of Mom’s. But hey, maybe the Hartwell Agency would come through with another house-sitting placement. Even if it seemed like a long shot.
“You’ve been through a lot. Not just the past year, but the past few weeks,” she said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Your placement ended, your mom was in the hospital, your tutoring gig was…” She shook her head. “Well, I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Neither did I,” I said, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that the tutoring website was being investigated for fraud.
Maybe I should’ve realized something sketchy was going on. For weeks, I’d been annoyed with the lack of customer service and the declining enrollment. But I’d assumed it was a temporary glitch. It sucked that I wasn’t going to be paid for the last month. But at least I wouldn’t have to testify or be involved going forward.
“I suppose it’s not all bad.” She smiled. “You got a new job with the Leatherbacks.”
“True,” I said, taking my time to smooth out any wrinkles before setting the mat in the bin with the others. She continued talking as we grabbed our shoes, but my mind was stuck on my new job. It was fulfilling. And I loved working with the team, even if it was a struggle to focus anytime Knox was near.
“Kendall?” Emmy asked.
“Hm?” I glanced up.
“I asked how you like your new job.”
She’d given me the perfect opening to talk about Knox. I decided to ease into it.
“It’s good.” I nodded. “Well, mostly.”
“I thought the event went well.”
“I—” I sighed. “Yeah.”
“Well, don’t be too hard on yourself. You only just started. I’m sure it’ll get easier once you learn the ropes.”
We walked in silence a moment, the pressure building within me with every step closer to the juice bar. We were nearly to the counter when I blurted, “It’s not about learning the ropes. I did…something. Something really bad.”
She turned to me slowly, her eyes widening. We’d been friends long enough that I knew she was connecting the dots. “Something orsomeone?”
“Next,” called the guy behind the counter.
