Page 90 of The Keeper

“Is shutting down something you do often?” he asked, making more notes.

“No. Generally, when something doesn’t go my way, I just move on to the next without looking back.”

“But you couldn’t do that this time.”

He said it more as a statement of fact than a question. Maybe I wasn’t as hard to read as I’d led myself to believe.

“It’s not that I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. It didn’t feel right.”

Dr Frances leaned forward in his chair, regarding me with caution. “I’d like you to remain aware of how this continues to play out.”

“How do you mean?”

He cleared his throat. “You have a bit of unresolved trauma. What happened to you as a teenager and the fallout from your previous relationship are still somewhat unsettled inside you. You have a pretty good handle on it but this new relationship will challenge all of that unless you get in front of it.”

I sat with his words while he walked over to his desk. Relationship? Hate to break it you, doc, we both used each other for our own fucked up reasons. That’s not a relationship.

“Are you willing to explore something more than just a casual fling with this new woman?” he asked, sitting down.

I stared at him, unable to speak. He made another note on his pad.

“So now what?” I sighed.

“That’s for you to decide.”

“Hey,” Bennet knocked on the changing room wall. “Heading out soon?”

“In a bit. I have a couple things I need to tie up first.”

“Everything go alright with Dr. Frances?”

“Yeah.” I shoved my gloves, kit, and boots into my gym bag.

Bennet crossed his arms. “Ready to get back in goal this weekend?”

“More than you know.” I studied him, wondering why he’d dropped the questioning about my session so quickly.

“At least you showered and shaved. I don’t know what that creature was at your flat yesterday.”

“Piss off. I haven’t forgotten the pillows either, Logan. The cuffing remains an option.”

“Promises.” He walked over and sat, looking serious. Then again, serious was his default expression lately. Compared to Cade and I, he’d always been the more buttoned-up one of our trio but this felt different. Last time I saw him this pensive and introspective was the summer we all lived at the estate. What a cracking time that had been. Until it all went to shit.

“You’re looking at me the same way Gallagher looks at you when he’s trying to figure you out.” Bennet smirked. “I’d hoped by now we all knew each other well enough.”

“One can never be too certain.”

“Ah. We’re back to cryptic. Must mean this cycle of gloom you’ve been in since Victoria left is coming to a close.”

I scowled. “There is no cycle of gloom.”

“Of course.” He patted my shoulder in the patronizing, older brother way he’s done for years. “Will you be gracing us with your presence later this evening?”

“Depends.”

Bennet’s eyebrow quirked. “On?”

My hand flexed and clenched. Wouldn’t be the first time I’d popped this pompous arse in the mouth. I loved him like a brother but we also fought like them. Always jostling for the alpha role. Always one-upping each other because we could.

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