Page 35 of Shameless Expectations

Athena released Monti’s arm, bringing her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose and close her eyes. Did she even realize that she’d been holding on to Monti with a death grip?

“What happened today?”

“Nothing.” Athena crossed her arms, her shoulders squared.

“Look, I’m here. At least let me help.”

“Nothing happened today.” Athena tightened her jaw, the muscles bulging at the sides. She looked down at the ground, an obvious sign of shame.

Monti was going to have to take this one step at a time. She couldn’t skip through anything, and she needed to follow the circular pattern that Athena had created to protect herself from whatever it was that had triggered this panic.

“Tell me about your day then.”

“I woke up. I went to work. And then I waited hours for an appointment.” Athena’s glare was sharp, but she was still talking to her. That was a bonus.

“You woke up?” Monti raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you slept?”

Athena’s lips parted, as if that realization just dawned on her. “Yes.”

“That’s good. How long did you sleep for?” Monti slid her hands down her hips, realizing at the last minute that she was searching for her pockets. She stopped herself and relaxed her arms by her sides. It wouldn’t do to send Athena into another panic accidentally.

“A few hours.” Athena waved it off as if it was no big deal.

“That’s huge.” Monti looked directly at her. “How did you manage to relax enough to fall asleep?”

“I…” Athena trailed off, looking over Monti’s shoulder toward the door. “I don’t know.”

“Okay. Do you want to maybe figure that out?” Monti clung onto the hope that Athena would agree. It would make this whole process so much easier if she did. “I can give you a massage to help work on the muscles while we talk.”

Athena sucked in a sharp breath, her gaze dropping decidedly to Monti’s hands before trailing back up and over Monti’s chest, her mouth, and then her eyes. Monti’s heart skipped a beat, because that didn’t look like fear. If she wasn’t mistaken, that was a look of longing.

“Athena?”

“Yes. Yes. That sounds good.” Athena stepped around her and toward the door.

Monti paused, not sure what that interaction had been, but it felt awkward. And it sparked that curiosity deep inside her. What was Athena thinking just then? What had gone through her mind? Stumbling on the step down from where the shelves were, Monti caught herself before she landed flat on her face—but barely.

Athena had stopped in the doorway, her gaze lingering on Monti as she righted herself. Again that look was there, and Monti wanted to know exactly what she was thinking. Perhaps that was what they needed to tease out during the massage.

No.

That wasn’t it.

They needed to talk about why Athena had been so panicked, why she had nearly gone into a full-blown panic attack all because Monti was late. Monti trailed Athena to her bedroom, and Athena shut and locked the door this time.

“Kevin won’t be interrupting us. No one will.”

“All right,” Monti answered, her voice quieter than she expected it to be.

Athena gave her a tight-lipped smile before nodding and walking toward the bed. “I’ll be right back.”

Monti stood awkwardly in the center of the bedroom while Athena disappeared into the en suite. It wasn’t until the bathroom door clicked shut that Monti snapped back to reality. Right. She should be preparing for this massage, not standing there trying to figure out why Athena was acting so odd today.

She’d gone from pissed off, angry, to panicked, and now to what? Because Monti wasn’t sure she could quite put her finger on what Athena was feeling at the moment. Monti snagged a pillow from the head of the bed and put it at the foot, where she’d be more easily able to reach Athena’s body. She set her satchel on the chair she’d slept in and riffled through it until she found the oil they’d used before.

She wished she had her whole setup. It would make this so much easier. Then again, Athena might be more resistant. It had a more clinical feeling, and was far less relaxed. Since Monti wasn’t massaging the entire day this way, it shouldn’t kill her body too much in the process.

Athena stepped out of the bathroom, her jacket and shoes off. Her pants were loose fitting, as was the tank top she wore now. She was much shorter without shoes on, but she also seemed so much more relaxed.

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