Page 25 of Where We Belong

Can’t wait to see you back Lexie! Rooting for you from AZ!

No guy wants a girl with shoulders like that.

She has thicker thighs than The Rock LMAO

My muscles tense as I read the last two. As if my body’s only use was to look good to others.

I don’t think I’m the prettiest girl out there, far from it. I do have large thighs and broad shoulders. But those large thighs and broad shoulders allow me to do the impossible. To fight gravity and fly for as long as a human being can. I may not have the best looks, but I love my body for all it gives me.

I continue scrolling past, not bothering to read the rest of the comments, good or bad, until something stops me in my tracks. I back up, confirming what I just saw.

@Finnthegreat is now following you

I stare at my phone longer than necessary. I’m not sure how I feel about him being here. On Instagram, he’ll see me not as Lexie, the girl who’s renting the cabin on his land, but as Lexie Tuffin, two-time silver medalist at the Gymnastics World Championships and, according to my old coach, “geriatric gymnast.” He’ll see the pictures I feel forced to take. He’ll see my body in poses that show my ass and legs and that attract comments comparing me to gigantic male actors.

Oh, whatever. I push the phone back into my pocket, forcing myself to ignore it. So what if he thinks I’m ugly? It shouldn’t mean anything. It doesn’t.

“Lexie,” I hear a millisecond before a hand clasps my shoulder from behind, making me jump and jerk forward, a shiver going down my spine.

I spin with a yelp, and immediately, my shoulders loosen.Shit. That’s two times with him.

“Hey,” I say with a smile I’m sure looks fake, because really, when have I smiled this big to him? “Ready for me to wipe the floor with your ass again?” I joke, hoping it’ll be enough to make him forget my overreaction. He’s been coming to the gym a few times this week after-hours to exercise, and every time, we have the same routine. He tells me he can beat me at one thing or another, and every time, I prove him wrong. I think at this point, he’s looking for embarrassment.

Finn shakes his head, and it’s at this moment I notice just how wrong he looks. His skin is pale, jaw tight and gaze hard. He’s lost all the humor that usually inhabits him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Have you seen my sister anywhere around?” he asks while looking over my shoulder and quickly scanning the gym.

“Your sister?” I wasn’t even aware he had siblings. “I don’t know, what does she look like?”

“A lot like me, in her twenties. Long brown hair? Maybe she was here with her boyfriend?” He’s speaking fast, and I don’t miss the way his jaw shifts at the last word.

“I…” I rack my brain trying to remember something, but I was focused on my girls throughout the day. “I don’t think so, but I might have missed her.”

His upper teeth are chipping at his bottom lip as he sighs loudly. In a quick motion, he removes his beanie and rubs a hand over his short hair.

“What’s going on?” I ask, voice stern.

It’s throwing me off-balance to see him like this. He’s never looked this concerned over anything before. It’s unnerving. I find my heart rate increasing in response, which is stupid since I don’t even know what’s going on. “Can I help with anything?”

“So she can offer the help but not accept it, huh?” He smirks, but even then, there’s no humor in it. He looks emptied out.

“Finn, not the time,” I say. “What can I do?”

“Nothing. It’s…” He looks over my shoulder again. “Complicated. But thanks, though.”

“Do you think she’s in danger?” I ask.

“Probably not. It’s not the first time this has happened. We just…” He drags a hand over his jaw, then puts his beanie back on. “Anyway, I have to go.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” I don’t like anything about this. I don’t know my way around town yet, but if he gave me any indication on where she might be, we could split up.

He starts walking away, and over his shoulder, says, “I’m sure. But thanks, Lexie. I appreciate it.”

In four strides, he’s out of the building.

This isn’t working.

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