Page 19 of Set on You

He gives me a head tilt, which tells me he doesn’t buy it, but decides to let it be.

“You weren’t at the gym today. Or yesterday.” The words fall out of my mouth before I can stop them.

What appeared to be a look of concern melts away, replaced with a satisfied grin. “You missed me at the gym?” He is so damned full of himself, he probably has his own selfies framed on his bedside table.

I scoff. “No, I didn’t miss you.”

“You definitely did. Just a little.” He laughs effortlessly, his gaze shifting to my phone in my hand. “I see you finally found your phone. Not in my possession,” he adds.

I clear my throat and straighten my spine, ignoring the latter half of his comment. I’d rather die than admit I was wrong. “You’re the one who started coming to the gym at the exact same time as me.”

“The gym at my fire station is under renovation for the nextfew months. Excalibur Fitness is right in between the station and my apartment.” He pauses for a moment, leaning in closer. “And because you’re dying to know, I’ve been working day shift the past two days. I’ve been going to the gym at night instead.”

I scrunch my nose. “Please spare me the gruesome details of your daily routine. I could care less.”

“Hey, you’re the one who stalked me into the changing room.”

“I was looking for my phone.”

He gives me an incendiary look. “And you got a little more than you bargained for.”

I force away the hot flashback of being crushed between the locker and his hard body. “And it’s never going to happen again. It was a momentary lapse in judgment, obviously. For both of us.”

“Alright.” His eyes linger, amused, like the smug bastard he is.

“It’s not,” I say again, for good measure.

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

I glower at him, unable to decipher whether he’s being sarcastic or not. I internally choose my words, readying myself to finally confront him about his not-so-single relationship status, when he interrupts my thoughts.

“So, your grandma and my grandpa. How weird is that?”

I’m taken aback by his tone. Instead of his usual sneering sarcasm, it sounds normal. Like a casual conversation between friends or acquaintances. I blink a couple times. “It’s really weird,” I admit.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I know your grandpa passed a couple years ago.” His voice is calm and measured. From the way his eyes search mine, as if somehow understanding my pain, I think he’s being sincere.

“Thanks.” I suck in a shaky breath, trying to stop the tears from spilling over. There is no way I’m doing this in front of my cheating gym nemesis, even if he is being a semi-decent human being for once. I draw in another breath, composing myself before returning to the private room.

•••

APPARENTLY, GRANDMA’S SEATINGarrangements successfully broke the ice between the two families, because everyone is happily mingling now, except me. I’m as close to lying down as you can get in a restaurant chair. My body is halfway off the seat, slouched and lopsided, legs stretched in front of me.

Admittedly, I’m being a poor sport. But only because I’ve suffered enough emotional shrapnel tonight. Truthfully, Martin’s sociable family has exhausted me, as lovely as they may be. All I want to do is go home, curl up under my duvet, and watch mind-numbing reality television.

It doesn’t help that my stomach is churning, and not just because of this whole situation with Grandma Flo, Martin, and Scott, or the fact that I’ve eaten too much fettucine. I’ve been staring at my phone for the last ten minutes, rereading a text that came in unexpectedly.

NEIL:Hey.

With just one text, I’m fastened on an involuntary roller coaster. One that dips and turns, leaving me winded and breathless, and not in a good way.

I haven’t heard from Neil since the last time he texted me tocomplain about Cammie and their “shitty sex life,” which I didn’t respond to. Only in the last month did I finally get to the point where I didn’t wait with bated breath for his text.

“Are you on Tinder again? Chatting with Zayn?” A deep voice sounds from over my shoulder.

Scott has returned to his seat after spending the past twenty minutes near the bar, socializing and filling the room with his seriously infectious laughter. Who knew the Cheater could laugh with such pure, unrestrained delight?

He reads the text over my shoulder. He’s so close, I can feel the faint breeze of his breath tingling the back of my neck.

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