Page 19 of On the Edge

Part of why I’d snapped that photo and then sent it to both of them was that it was an amazing photo of two men at the peak of physical fitness. The kind of photo that male models are always staging and posting on Instagram like “Just a lazy Sunday at the pool with the guys.” The fact that this was one hundred percent real is what makes it so amazing.

Petra takes the phone from my hands and she and Lauren both lean in for a closer look. “Yeah,” Petra agrees, “I can see it.”

“I’ve never met Nate, so I’m not sure,” Lauren says.

“Wait, you’ve never met him?” Sierra asks, then looks at me with confusion in her eyes.

“How would I have met him?” Lauren asks. “I’ve only known Jackson since she started working with Josh, what, two years ago? Nate wasn’t in the picture then.”

“You didn’t meet him before he moved into your condo?” I ask her. I take a sip of my drink, hoping the glass hides my face and she can’t see how torn I am trying not to be mad that one of my best friends rented her condo out to my ex-boyfriend.

“Hewhat?” she roars.

I almost choke on my drink in response. “You didn’t know that Nate was living in your condo?”

“I didn’t even know that Nate was in town. He can’t be living in our old place. Josh said he sublet it to the guy who was replacing him on the team.”

The three of us just nod, and I watch Lauren’s face closely as the realization dawns.

“That asshole,” she says, and her long red hair sweeps down into her face as she reaches into her bag and pulls out her phone.

“Are you talking about Josh, or Nate?” Petra asks.

“Both!” Lauren responds. “But more my husband, and I’m about to rip him a new asshole. How did he not tell me this?”

“Maybe he didn’t realize?” Sierra offers. “Does he know that Jackson and Nate were together?”

Lauren levels her with a look. “Doesanybodynot know about that?”

“It doesn’t seem like Josh to purposely sublet a place three doors down from Jackson to her ex-boyfriend,” Sierra says, always the peacemaker. But she’s right, it doesn’t seem like something Josh would do, which is why I’ve found it impossible to reach out and bring it up with him or Lauren this week.

Lauren looks at me. “Did you ask Josh why he did this?”

I shake my head. “I’ve had kind of a crazy week. I figured we’d talk about it tonight.”

She pulls her long hair to one side and winds it around her hand before dropping it. Her lips purse into a line beneath her adorably upturned nose. “I’m going to call him right now and find out what the hell was going through his head.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I tell her, but I suspect my voice gives away how hard it is to lie about my feelings on this matter.

“Like hell it’s not,” she says, her voice fierce as she stands. “I’ll be back.”

I watch her retreat toward the rear hallway where the bathrooms are, and I am momentarily distracted by the back of someone standing near the stage with the live band. His hair is a familiar sandy color, a little longer on top but closely cut as it tapers to his neck. His wide shoulders tower over the head of the woman standing next to him, and he throws his head back and laughs, a gesture that’s so familiar even though I haven’t seen it in years.

No.He can’t possibly be at the same bar tonight.

And then he leans down to say something to his date, and I sigh with relief because it’s not Nate.

Petra leans toward me. “What’s it like working with Nate?”

“Super uncomfortable.” In my mind I picture his proclivity for taking off his shirt so I’m forced to notice every hard-earned muscle in his upper body. I try to forget how frequently I’ve had to touch him, especially the ways I’ve had to use my own body to stretch his out to prevent injury after a workout. Suddenly, this sweater dress feels like a bad idea. I’m so hot I bring my hands, cold from my drink, to my cheeks. “I tried to get out of it,” I admit. “I tried to switch places with someone else, but ... I guess there are some questions about whether my loyalty lies with the team, or with Marco, and having me train Nate is a litmus test of some sort.”

“That’s such bullshit,” Sierra mutters.

“Having to work with him adds insult to injury after what he did to you,” Petra says as we see Lauren heading back to the table.

I nod, pissed off even though I understand that the point of our work is to build the best team possible, and Nate is one of the best. I’m even more pissed at myself for the way my traitorous body just reacted to the thoughts of Nate’s body. He’s been here for less than a week and is already waking up long buried memories.

“What’d Josh say?” Sierra asks Lauren, and though I’m interested in her response, I’m scanning the crowd because I have that prickly feeling along my shoulders and neck that I only get when I’m being watched, and in the back of my mind, all I can think about is that Nate might have shown up here.

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