Page 124 of Zane

“He called you beautiful, too?” Zane asked.

Kelsey didn’t want to be defending a stranger, so she just shrugged as she started up the car. It might not be the best thing to have told him that, but at the same time, she didn’t want it to come out at another point and become a big deal because she hadn’t told him.

“I don’t want you to be subjected to unsolicited attention with stuff like that.” Zane paused. “Maybe you should put your rings back on.”

She’d considered that herself, but she had a question first. “Are you going to put yours back on?”

When he hesitated again, Kelsey’s heart sank. Without waiting for his response, she said, “I’d rather wait until we’re both ready to put our rings back on.”

Zane didn’t say anything to that, and silence filled the car. Thankfully, the drive home was short because it was definitely not a comfortable one.

Kelsey was left feeling like they’d just taken a massive step backwards, and she didn’t know what to do about it. She’d been honest, and all it had done was bite her.

They arrived home at the same time as Lee and Rori, so there was no more awkward silence between them. Well, there was still an awkwardness between them, but it wasn’t as obvious with the other two there.

Kelsey was still struggling with what had transpired. She wanted to believe thatherZane would have just laughed it off with her. They had been that secure in their feelings for each other.

Once they’d become serious—which had been rather quickly—she had never once questioned his loyalty to her. But, of course, she had come to find out that he had something in his past that probably would have made her a little less certain about things.

So who knew how they would have handled this situation back then?

“Do you have plans for tomorrow?” Rori asked as she got a couple of cookies out of the jar and handed one to Lee.

“I’m going to be doing some yard work,” Lee said. “With fall arriving, it’s time to start prepping things for winter.”

“I’ll help,” Rori told him with a smile. “I like doing yard work with you.”

“I probably can’t be a lot of help,” Zane said. “But I’m onboard with yard work if you need me.”

Now that Kelsey didn’t have her exam to study for, she didn’t really have much to fill her time with. “I can help too.”

“Perfect,” Rori said. “We can have a late breakfast, then do some work. It’s supposed to be cool and cloudy, but no rain. Perfect for doing sweaty work.”

They chatted for a bit longer, then Kelsey excused herself to go up to her room. She was ready to call it a day.

“See you all in the morning.”

Rori gave her a hug. “Goodnight, Kels. Sleep well.”

“You too.” Kelsey gave the guys a smile that she hoped didn’t look as weak as it felt. “Goodnight.”

She heard the murmur of conversation as she climbed the stairs and briefly wondered what they were talking about. But she wasn’t curious enough to try to listen in.

When she reached her room, she went straight to the bathroom to prepare for bed. If she took a minute to sit down, her thoughts would circle around to her and Zane, and she didn’t want that just yet.

But when she curled up in bed a short time later, there was no stopping the thoughts that swelled to take up all the space in her mind. She wanted to be mad at Eric, but honestly, he’d innocently wandered into a complex situation.

Still, Kelsey couldn’t help but wish that he’d kept his hand and his compliment to himself.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Zane stared down at his leg and bent forward to give it a pat. “Welcome back, ol’ chap!”

Gareth chuckled. “Missed it that much, huh?”

“I really have. You know I’m not one to sit around, and this bum leg has definitely been forcing me to do just that.”

“Well, you’re not going to be running a marathon anytime soon,” Gareth reminded him. “You need to get some physio on that leg before you do that.”

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