Page 35 of Opening Strain

The male voice penetrates my mind and I let her slip down to the floor. Jenna adjusts her scrubs. “Austin.” Her hands fly to the back of her head and she yanks on her ponytail, which loosened when I picked her up. “I’ve told you several times to call me Jenna.”

I focus on the new guy. He’s almost as tall as me, with short, light brown hair and brown eyes. A few years younger than me. He smiles at Jenna and a dimple appears. Dude.

“Jenna,” he repeats as instructed, although his gaze bounces between the two of us. “Did I interrupt?”

“Of course not,” she responds. “Bennett here just completed a difficult exercise and I’m going to ice his leg now. Do you have something you want to discuss with me?”

He glances at me and flexes.Seriously?“I do.”

Not responding to his dick move, Jenna tilts her head. “Go into my office and I’ll be there once I get Bennett set up.”

“Sure thing.” He brushes way too close to her than he needs to.

Jenna walks over to the freezer and pulls out an ice pack. “Here you go.” She places it on my bare thigh, causing me to hiss. Without waiting for me to say anything, she sets the timer and vacates the exercise area into the office. At least she left the door open.

I lie on the exam table, keeping the ice in place while shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation. If she had wanted it to be private, she would’ve closed the door, right? He discusses one of his patients with her, but I can see through his lines. He wants in her panties.

Heat surges through me.

What was that?

Austin—who my mind has nicknamed “Asshole”—chats her up about the protocol to help another patient. To me, though, he seems to have all the answers and is seeking affirmation. More like access.Asshole.

At the very least, I’m not hearing any giggles from her. Has to mean something. Perhaps these two are involved? No way. He’s too apple-pie for her. She likes her men a bit rougher around the edges, if Darren is a good example.

Darren.

Shit.

I tune the two out and focus on reviewing the exercises fromtoday. The squats sucked, but I managed to do them. I’m going to kick this groin pull’s ass. Is that even a thing? Whatever, I’m going out on tour with UC as planned, and that’s all there is to it.

The timer goes off and I remove the ice pack. I glance toward the doorway, but they’re still talking. Getting off the table, I walk to the freezer to replace the pack, then put my sweats over my workout clothes. Instead of lingering in the exercise room, I enter her office. They’re standing close to each other. Four eyes land on me.

I plaster a smile on my face. “Timer went off so I replaced the ice pack.”

“Great, thanks.” Jenna glances between me and the Asshole, landing back on me. “Good session this morning.”

My head bobs. The two of them remain on the same side of her desk, and my chest tightens. I’ve never experienced such an annoying feeling. I rub my upper pecs.

Asshole—Austin—says, “It’s lunchtime, Jenna. Want to grab a bite?”

No way am I letting some snot-nosed guy insert himself into Jenna’s life. Not on my watch. “Sorry, dude. We’ve agreed to go out to celebrate my hard work.” I extend my arm toward Jenna.

To his discredit, the Asshole squares his shoulders. “We don’t mistake patients for friends, right, Jenna?”

Seriously? “Jenna and I go way back.” I refrain from calling him pipsqueak. Barely.

Jenna’s head bounces between the Asshole and me, and she adjusts her ponytail. “Austin, that’s our usual rule. Bennett here is an exception given he was friends with Darren.”

Austin’s expression remains mutinous, although it’s clear he knows who Darren was to her. For my part, I ignore the pang that comes with being tied to her dead boyfriend, UC’s keyboardist. My good acquaintance. An unknown longing to beherfriend rises up.

Deciding to end this odd standoff, I step forward and toss my arm around her shoulders. “Where should we go?” Dismissed, Asshole.

Jenna addresses her next comment not to me, but to him. “You’redoing a great job here, Austin. I like your protocols. We can pick this up later.”

He looks like he wants to protest, but Jenna shuts him down. I refrain from pumping my fist. When he leaves, she turns to me. “Seriously?”

I step back, hands in the air. “What?”

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