Page 210 of Between the Blue
A new start. A new city.
I thought that’s what Austin was supposed to be.
And I suppose it was, even if it was shorter lived than I expected.
On to the next.
It’s what’s best.
I leave the day after tomorrow.
But, until then, I can’t sit around my apartment pacing in circles.
So I’m going to the gym.
And I don’t hold my breath as I’m walking through the front door. Because I’m not expecting him.
The Storm have a matinee game across the country tomorrow. So I assume he’ll be skipping the gym this morning to catch a flight.
I hate to admit that I checked the schedule, but I had to know.
And, sure enough, there’s no sign of him.
Not in the weight room.
Not on the stairs.
And not as I turn down the hallway.
Even though I knew he wouldn’t be here, I find myself relaxing as soon as I step into the women’s locker room.
I set down my bag on the nearest bench and just begin to unzip it when I hear the locker room door burst open behind me.
I spin around, ready to ask who I expect to be a flustered woman if she’s okay, but any words I was planning to say immediately escape me when I instead find a panting Ben standing in the doorway.
His brows pull together, and he shakes his head as he looks at me. After a few seconds of only the sound of him catching his breath between us, he steps all the way inside the locker room, letting the door close behind him.
“You’re here,” he says.
I let out a scoff, holding my hands up. “Okay, I know for a fact that this is the women’s locker room–”
“You haven’t been here,” Ben cuts me off, stepping closer to me.
My head pulls back.
“For three days, you haven’t been here,” he continues, his voice wavering.
I blink at him. “Don’t you have a flight to catch this morning?”
“I thought you’d left,” Ben says, ignoring my question. “I thought you were already gone.”
My spine straightens. I try to read his face, those amber eyes I told myself I’d never look into again.
“I thought you didn’t care,” I say.
His lips press into a flat line, and it makes me run a hand over my ponytail in frustration.
“I’ve been tying up some loose ends,” I tell him, then spin around, grabbing my gym bag and shoving it in the nearest open locker. “I’m leaving the day after tomorrow.” I slam the locker closed, moving to step around Ben. “So, don’t worry. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”
