Page 28 of Frozen Flames

Maybe I’m reading too much into all of this and she simply enjoys her job.

I don’t know.

All I know is that her boss bringing her home adds to my suspicions, no matter how irrational they may be.

“Not today.”

“Maybe you can try? I can show you the modified versions and shorten the reps.”

“What part of ‘not today’ do you not understand?” I say, exasperated.

She swallows, and I notice her pinned-up hair with a black headband and matching scrubs. Then I stare at her lips as they part and her neck as she swallows once more.

“Harvey…what did Idoto you?”

I chuckle. “You want to be another woman in my life that’s disappointed? Grab a ticket and wait in line,” I scoff, trying yet failing to pull my eyes away from her. Her skin is fair, and her nude lipstick and light makeup brighten her features well. She purses her lips, and her hands go to her waist as if readying for battle.

“Listen…we’re making progress,youwere making progress. I don’t know what happened over the weekend, but it shouldn’t stop you from moving your body today. Who knows, it might make you feel better.”

“Nope, doubt it.” I take my earphones and plug them into my phone, tuning her out.

Fuck her training and fuck her and my progress.

It’s my progress,mine.

So I get to decide if I want to continue or not, to move and train or not.

I’m so sick of women telling me what to do. If it’s not Gemma, it’s my mom; if it’s not her, it’s Claire.

I let the metal music drag me into the dark abyss, allowing the adrenaline to fuel my body with a dose of energy, when suddenly Claire snatches my earphones off.

“What the hell did you do that for?”

She unplugs them from my phone and hides them inside her pocket. “Harvey,” she says, leaning forward, her fingertips landing on either side of my wheelchair, “I know that some days are harder, and that’s okay. But the difference between peoplewho give up on life and people who don’t is that the ones who don’t have discipline to get through the bad days.”

I laugh in her face, my breathing accelerating because,fuck, the audacity of this woman.

“Yeah? Did you learn that in school? Or read it on Instagram lately? ‘Discipline isn’t for the weak,’ hashtag ‘push through the hard days’…” I mock her.

“Harv—” She’s standing up now, her arms folded, her eyebrows knitted together, and this is the moment my dick chooses to get hard.

This moment right here, basking in Claire’s fury, seeing her bite her goddamn lip.

I release a shaky breath. “I know that you think the shit you learned in college applies to me, but I’m not cut from a textbook, Claire. I’mme. And if I say I can’t handle PT today, you need to leave me thehell alone. Besides, what happened tolistening to my body?”

“Fair enough.” She straightens her posture, remembering her own words.

And just like that, she drops my earphones in my lap and leaves, slamming the door on her way out.

Apparently, I’m skillful enough to turn even someone as sweet as Claire Edwards into a raging asshole.

I’m not proud of it, yet I’m conflicted.

Deep, deep, deep within, I feel the shame, the disgust, the self-hate.

But more than that, I feel relieved.

Because my anger is soothing at this point.

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