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Blurring lines never leads anywhere good.
"Really?" Honey asks with a grin. "He knows himself better than I thought."
I groan. "Stop. There's nothing going on there, okay?"
"Going on where?" Daisy walks into the kitchen, her tablet in hand as always. I've done a great job avoiding being alone with Daisy, but every time she sees me, she's got these puppy dog eyes like she's the injured party. I'm not interested in hearing her excuses or in ever forgiving her. I just need to get throughthe end of this year. I'm sure she'll get her money and disappear again.
"Nothing is going on anywhere. I'll see you later, Honey."
"You should talk to Daisy," Honey says, not looking at either of us, focused on organizing her mugs in the box. "The tension between you two is making things uncomfortable for all of us."
I snort. "I can guarantee you, Daisy doesn't want to have this conversation in front of anyone else."
"I can speak for myself." Flint flashes in Daisy's gray-green eyes. "And I have nothing to hide from Honey."
Daisy might not care, but revealing her transgressions to the rest of the family will only cause more tension and I want to be able to live in peace for the rest of our year. "I'm not doing this now. I've got somewhere I need to be."
Somehow, I manage not to sprint out of the house. I leave at a sedate, mature walk. And almost run into Noah on the front porch.
"How's the knee?" he asks.
"Hello, Noah. I'm doing great today, how are you?"
He's unfazed. "Don't deflect. I saw you running sprints in the back pasture yesterday and your knee didn't look good."
"I've got less than two weeks. The knee will hold up until then. I can rest it after."
He shakes his head. "You can't push through the pain on this one. Wrecking that knee could be career ending for you. Everything you do depends on having a healthy, fit body and that means taking care of your body has to be your priority above everything else."
His words chill me to my core. I want to heed his advice, but even with Asher for eye candy, the attention my social media is getting is nowhere near Ava's levels and certainly nowhere near a level that's going to draw advertisers. I have to admit defeat and move onto something I know I can be good at.
At least I desperately hope I'll be good at it.
If I don't get that gym, my career will be over, healthy knee or not.
"I hear you, Noah. I'll be careful, I promise."
He looks past me at the house and I know Daisy's standing on the porch behind me, because there's only one person Noah looks at that way.
"I've got to go." I hurry to my car. I'm going to get to the trail head where I'm meeting Asher early, but that's better than being here.
***
I'm working through my second round of stretches when Asher pulls up in his over-sized truck. Our eyes meet through the glass of his windshield and my heart skips, my body heats, and my mouth goes dry. I have an overwhelming urge to jump him.
I breathe through it. This is just attraction and I will overcome it. Any move I make at this point, he'll take as me having feelings for him.
So it doesn't matter how much I want him or how his smile makes happiness pop and fizz under my ribs. He can't be mine. I'm in no position to want anyone when I've got so much to make right, so much to do to start fresh.
I turn away from him as he gets out of his truck and continue stretching.
"How's the knee today?" he asks like he cares, like he's been worrying about me.
"It's great." And maybe if I say that often enough, I'll believe it. "You've got—"
He puts a hand on my shoulder. "Seriously, Empress, how's the knee? We're about to go deep into the woods and exhaust our cardio capacity, I'm not going to be able to carry you if your knee gives out."
I don't admit weakness. Not to anyone. Weakness is the crack through which other people can break in and tear out my soft underbelly. And I'm definitely not going to admit weakness to my opponent.
