Page 34 of Charm and Conquer

"Nope." I scoot up toward my head board to put space between us. My leg slides off the six pillows I had it propped up on and they fall off the side of the bed.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"You have your empathetic, I'm a doctor you can trust, bedside manner on, Noah. I don't need a doctor." And I already know I'm going to hate whatever advice he's about to offer. I know exactly what Ishoulddo about my knee and I'm not going to do it.

"Maybe I'm just checking in on a friend I know has been exercising and working too hard."

"Too hard is a subjective term and applies to different athletes differently."

"I just want to help, Clover. I thought we were friends."

"I'm friends with Noah, the laid-back guy whose life goal is to hike every park in the United States. I am not friends with Noah, the doctor who wants to suggest I train in a cautious and healthy way. I've only got three weeks until this race and no time to train the way I should."

He sighs heavily. "Can I at least see the leg that's giving you trouble?"

I point at him. "Ha! I knew it! Asher tattled on me and, instead of seeing him as the enemy trying to sabotage my progress, you believed him. He's a lying liar, Noah, and he fights dirty."

Noah, all calm good nature, shrugs. "He seems like a nice guy to me. A nice guy who's genuinely concerned for your well-being. Is winning this gym really worth wrecking your body? You're going to be getting a huge inheritance from your father's estate in less than six months. You'll be able to build a gym from scratch wherever you want."

I look over at the ledger on my desk. It's filled with the names of the forty-five Catalpa Creek citizens my father conned out of fifteen grand apiece with my help. After I pay everyone back, with interest, I'll only have about thirty grand left. Even if that were enough to buy or rent space in town limits, I wouldn't do it. I refuse to spend a penny of the money of my father's ill-gotten gains on myself.

I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it, but it's going to be something good.

And getting a bank loan to build and outfit a brand-new gym, not to mention buying or renting property in a mountain town whose popularity is raising property prices by the day, wouldput me in a hole so deep I'd probably never see my way out. Spending the rest of my life in debt is not on my bucket list.

Of course, I can't explain that to Noah because I'm not ready for anyone to know what I helped my father do.

So, I stick as close to the truth as reasonably possible. "Fighting Fit Fitness has an amazing location downtown. There's no land or buildings for rent that will work as well. And there are already gyms in the surrounding counties. In fact, most of the local women drive to those other counties to work out, because Fighting Fit isn't welcoming to women. I want to change that and Asher just wants to keep the gym the man cave it currently is."

He studies my face for a long moment. "Yeah, I get your point. I drive forty-five minutes to Springdale when I want a gym work out. I prefer not to have some guy glare at me like I don't belong every time I step into the free weight area." He lifts one arm into a classic bodybuilder pose to show off his biceps. "Do I look like I don't belong?"

I laugh. Noah is strong, but he's wiry and definitely has more of a runner's build than a bodybuilder's physique. "See. I have to win this race and change things for all the gym rats of Catalpa Creek."

"Not if it means wrecking your body. Just let me see your leg. Is it your ankle or your knee?"

"If I ignore you, will you go away?" I don't really mean it. Noah's got a point about not wrecking my body, and powering through the pain hasn't been working.

"Nope." He reaches into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls out a cookie. "I've got snacks."

"Pretty sure that's unsanitary, Doc." I scoot down on the bed and pull up my pajama pants. "It's my knee. See how it's puffy?"

Noah studies my knee, asks a bunch of questions, and has me stand on it and walk across the room. Then he lets me sit back in bed and helps me prop up my knee again.

"Looks to me like patellofemoral knee syndrome."

I stare at him. "Isn't that just doctor speak for 'your knee hurts?'"

He sits on the edge of the bed right next to me. "Pretty much. It's also called runner's knee. There are a bunch of possible causes for it, but since this is the first time you're experiencing it and you've been extremely active all your life, I have to say I think this pain is caused by over training that was exacerbated when you twisted your knee on the trail."

"How convenient that the diagnosis matches your original suspicion." I tap my chin in mock thoughtfulness. I'm really just deflecting because I suspect he's right and I don't want to admit it. "What's the cure?"

"If I thought there was any hope you'd listen, I'd suggest you stay off it for a few weeks."

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that."

He nods. "So, my advice is to rest it when you can, propped up like you have it. Ice it a few times a day and take an anti-inflammatory for pain and puffiness. Just cut back on activity where you can or build in more cross-training. Cycling is great for building muscles that support and protect your knees and it builds cardio."

"I need to run trails to train. What else can I do to protect the knee until after the race?"

Source: www.allfreenovel.com