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“I can only imagine that Reese had plenty to say in regard to the rumors being spread about her brother.”
“Yep. Though I have no idea if this will set Marissa off even further. Probably wouldn’t be a big deal if Will didn’t have her brother in his class. I think that has definitely made this worse.”
“And yet, dating someone related to a student probably wouldn’t be any better.”
“Nope. And I think Will knows that too.”
“So you survived the workout?”
“Pretty much. Jay kept dragging it out, so I finally just said nope, I’m done, and went into the changing room to read while I waited for them to finish.”
Charli laughed. “I’m impressed you did as much as you did.”
“So am I,” Janessa said as she dumped the popcorn into a bowl. “I’m very impressed with me.”
“What are you going to do now?” Charli asked, gesturing to the popcorn.
“I’m going to enjoy some popcorn and a soda while I soak my sore, sore muscles.”
“Sounds good. I’m probably going to do the same. Minus the popcorn.”
“Is Aria here?”
“Nope. She and Gareth went out.”
Janessa wasn’t surprised by that, given it was Friday night. “Well, I’m probably going to sleep in tomorrow, so don’t look for me much before noon.”
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
After gathering up her popcorn, soda, and gym bag, Janessa said goodnight, then headed upstairs to her room. She dumped her bag on her bed, before going into the bathroom to set her popcorn and soda on the ledge around her large soaker tub.
After starting up the water and adding some scented bath oil, Janessa took the time to clean her face. Normally, she would take a quick shower before climbing into the tub to soak, but since she’d showered at the gym, she got right into the tub.
Sinking beneath the warm water, she was careful to keep her hands on the edge of the tub since she didn’t want to get the bath oil on them before touching her phone or eating popcorn. Rather than do either right away, she rested her head back against the inflatable pillow and closed her eyes.
Her thoughts went back over the day, and she couldn’t help but think about Will and their conversation as he drove her home. Did he really view himself as weak? That could only be thanks to Daphne. No one in the Halverson family or his would ever say that about him.
Negative relationships could definitely impact a person’s view of themselves. She’d seen that impact most especially in Charli, but also in Jay and now Will. It was enough to make even the most confident person question whether a relationship was really worth it. If she hadn’t already had reasons for avoiding a relationship, what she was seeing in their situations would definitely have turned her off.
Sure, she knew relationships could go the distance. Her parents—both sets of them—had. Will’s parents had. But would Gareth and Aria? Jay and Misha? There were no guarantees they would, as evidenced by Will and Daphne breaking up when everyone assumed they’d end up married.
And now, watching Will struggle so much with that breakup made Janessa even less convinced that taking that chance was worth it in the long run. She wondered if he was ready to swear off relationships now, too. It wouldn’t surprise her if he did. They could be single together forever.
With a sigh, Janessa lifted her head and picked up her phone, choosing to read on it instead of her tablet since it was easier to handle when she was in the tub. She opened her eBook app, happy to leave thoughts of relationships behind as she got lost in a fictional world.
When Janessa walked into church on Sunday morning, the first person she saw was Daphne. The second was the tall man who stood at her side, his arm around her. He was nearly as tall as Jay, and he looked like he spent a fair amount of time in the gym.
Glancing around, Janessa hoped Will wasn’t there. She didn’t see him, but she did see Reese, so she hurried over to where she stood.
“Is Will here?” Janessa asked.
Reese scowled, but Janessa was quite certain that it wasn’t actually directed at her. “Yeah. I think he went into the sanctuary.”
“I’ve never been in a relationship, but isn’t it a little soon to be dating again?”
Reese shrugged. “Probably not. I mean, I have a feeling Daphne had checked out of the relationship long before she broke it off. Will had been saying he thought she was going to break up with him for a while before she actually did it.”
“Did Will see her this morning?”
