Page 101 of You're the Reason

She marched back to her dressing room. She wouldn’t let robotic Alec kill her mood. According to Ms. Margret’s text that morning, theLordis good,and His love endures forever. For the first time she had a clear view of who she was, and her future looked bright.

There had never been a stress or a regret he couldn’t outlift. Then again, he’d never known heartbreak could feel like this. Seth did another ten reps on the bar, but that didn’t help either. He set it in the stand then ducked under it as he sat up.

“Switch?” Nate came around from where he’d been spotting and waited for Seth to move.

Seth grabbed the towel, dried off the bench, then assumed the spotting position.

Nate lifted the bar and did one press, then a second. “What has got you so wound up on a Saturday night? Is this about your conversation with Jon?”

“No.” But that wasn’t helping either.

Nate came up short on the third rep and Seth helped him get the bar back on the stand with a clang.

Nate sat forward and reached for the towel. “I have to say I side with Jon. Taking that desk job in California when you could set up the gym here is dumb. Your record is expunged. Or it will be soon. This is what you have wanted, why run now?”

“I’m not running.” Now that he knew how Jon really felt about him, he just couldn’t go there. “A new start will be good for me.”

“The gym is a new start. When do you leave, anyway?” Nate sighed.

“Next week.”

Next week would be a new start where he didn’t still feel slightly betrayed by his friends. A new start where he didn’t have memories of Grace everywhere he looked. Nate stood up and Seth pointed to the weight rack. “Let’s add ten to each side.”

Nate just raised his brows then stepped over to help change the weights. “How long are you going to punish yourself—punish us?”

“I’m not punishing anyone. I just want more weight.” Seth disconnected the lock and waited for Nate so they could add the weight at the same time.

“Of course.” Nate nodded and they each added ten pounds to the bar. “Look, we’re sorry we failed you, but news flash. People will fail you. You can’t toss relationships aside just because people aren’t perfect.”

His own words to Grace hit him square in the face as a memory flooded back. “Real love isn’t based on your performance, it’s based on who you are. We all have wins and losses. People who love you are with you for both.”

Nate secured the lock at the end, then took a step closer to Seth. “Don’t kick us out of your corner because we weren’t perfect. Jon, Grant, myself... Grace.”

“I don’t want to talk about Grace.” Maybe he was being unfair to the guys, but Grace should have known. Her question still burned inside of him. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life with someone who always wondered if he was one step from falling off the wagon. Seth returned to his position on the bench. “I’m glad she’s happy back in Chicago. Haven’t even thought about her.”

Liar.

“Great.” Nate positioned his hands to spot the next round of reps. “Then you don’t care that Gabe and I saw her perform before I dropped Gabe off at the center.”

Seth lifted the bar. The added weight definitely took more focus. “Great.”

He did one rep and held.

“And you probably also don’t care that she was dancing in the chorus.”

“What?” Seth was mid press when that bit of knowledge dropped along with the bar on his chest. “Uff.”

Nate grabbed the bar and lifted it back to the stand. “Maybe we should take a break.”

Seth sat up again and reached for his towel. “What do you mean she had a role in the chorus? Isn’t she Giselle?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Shockingly, they didn’t put that in the program.”

Seth stood, walked over to his desk, and pulled the pamphlet Gabe had given him from the drawer where he’d shoved it. He hadn’t even really looked at it. All of it had been too painful. He studied it over and then again. Sure enough, Grace’s small name was listed in the chorus.

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