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"Clover?" The bed is shaking and it's oddly hard and scratchy. "Hey, sweetheart, wake up."
Slowly, I force my eyelids to lift. I've never really thought about my eyelid muscles, but I'm pretty sure if I had any, they've atrophied. "Too tired."
"So you decided to sleep under a tree?"
Finally, I manage to open my eyes all the way and find Asher staring at me, his brow wrinkled in concern. It bothers me that he's worried. He's never worried. "A tree?" I look up and see the fresh, pale green leaves of spring arrayed on the branches overhead. Why am I under a tree?
I yawn and remember. "I got tired from my jog and my knee was a little sore so I decided to sit down for a minute."
"And you fell asleep?" Asher reaches out and rubs a thumb over my cheek. I hope he isn't wiping away drool. "I think maybe you should have listened to Noah and stayed in bed."
To my utter horror, tears fill my eyes. "I tried so hard, but it wasn't enough. I don't think I'm going to be able to race next week."
Asher sits down and pulls me into his lap. He kisses the side of my neck. "It's okay. Sometimes your body doesn't cooperate and you have to make the hard choice for your health."
"I really want the gym. I hate trying to be social media famous. I'm no good at it."
"You need to go to Russ and tell him you can't run next week. I have a feeling he'll be more impressed by you accepting your limitations and taking care of yourself than you pushing yourself and getting sicker or making your knee worse."
I blow out a breath. "Right. Because people are so impressed by slackers who can't meet their obligations."
He kisses the side of my temple and I shiver, sinking into his warm embrace. "You are the least slacker-ish person I know, Clover. No one is going to judge you for getting sick."
My brain is sluggish and my head aches, but I'm not out of it enough to trust his words. If I'm really the best trainer, I wouldn't have over trained to the point of hurting my knee in the first place. I'm too tired to say those words though.
"Come on," Asher says. "Let's get you back to bed."
He sets me on the ground long enough to get to his feet, then he lifts me in his arms like I'm weightless and carries me the half-mile back to the house. "You're lucky Noah told me which route you usually take. Otherwise, I'd have been out here looking for you all day."
"I would have been fine," I say, a yawn making my words less convincing than I intend. "And I'm not so sick that I can't walk."
"I'll stop carrying you when you admit you've pushed yourself too hard and promise to rest until Noah gives you the all clear."
"I hate resting," I mutter.
"Which is why I'm carrying you."
My nap and the feel of Asher's strong arms around me clears my head a bit and makes me wish I could stretch up and kiss him. "I thought you said we couldn't be friends anymore. Aren't we sticking to our opposing teams until after the race?"
His chuckle vibrates against my cheek. "You're sick. That's an automatic truce."
"I wish we could have a truce all the time. I wish we didn't want the same gym."
Asher doesn't say anything. He just carries me up the porch steps and into the house.
Goldy and Max are playing a board game at the kitchen table. "Oh, good," Goldy says. "You found her."
"Is Miss Clover hurt?" Max asks.
"I just have a cold, buddy. Mr. Asher can put me down now."
Asher finally sets me on my feet. My head doesn't like the change in position and I sway.
Goldy frowns. "You need to go back to bed. Max and I will bring you whatever you need."
"I thought you and Max were going to the Children's museum today." Max has a day off from school and Henry has to work, so Goldy offered to spend the day with her boyfriend's son. She's been talking about it all week.
"We'll go another time," Goldy says as though it's nothing. "I've canceled all your appointments today. Go to bed and don't worry about anything."
