Page 9 of Like You Know

Before I knew what I was doing, I’d jumped to my feet and marched over. I stopped in front of him and off to the side and ... got completely distracted by his abs. I mean, there wereeightof them, and each one popped out with the effort required to hold his legs up like that. It must’ve hurt, but he just powered through it with barely an occasional grunt. His front was just as defined as his back, and this close, I could see the veins bulging on his arms. All of it glistened with a sheen of sweat.

He chuckled, the cocky sound grating on my nerves and pulling my attention to his face. I followed his amused expression with my eyes as it moved up and down slowly.

“You’re disrupting my workout,” I stated, lifting my chin haughtily. “Please leave.”

Jet paused at the top of the bar, his arms holding him in place, his legs not even shaking a little.

“Hey. Amaya, right? From school?” he said with a slight tilt of his head.

“Hey, Jethro.” As if he didn’t remember who I was. I didn’t look that different out of my school uniform with my hair up in a braid. Did I? I resisted the urge to adjust my leggings a little higher over my belly. “Stop playing dumb and leave me alone.”

“Youcame over tome.” He lowered his body and dropped from the bar.

“Yes, because I can’t fucking focus.”

“I was here first, which I know you noticed, and I haven’t come near you or said a single thing to you.”

“Yeah, well, you keep looking at me. It’s disturbing.”

“No more than you’re looking at me.” He flashed me a grin. Jerk. He had a point, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “And I don’t know what you’re complaining about. It’s taken your mind off whatever had you in such a foul mood when you got here.”

Whatever snarky response had been on the tip of my tongue fizzled out. I was stunned he’d noticed I was upset in the first place. I was even more stunned to realize he was totally right—I hadn’t thought about the shit show at home for a good half hour. I may have redirected my ire at him, but I had stopped obsessing.

“Your face will freeze like that if the wind changes,” Jet teased before taking a drink from his bottle.

I snapped my mouth shut and glared at him. He wasn’t even remotely bothered by it.

“Come on.” He tugged on my hand and immediately released it as he walked past. “Let’s see if we can get you to stay on the same machine for longer than five minutes. I need to do cardio anyway.”

Like hell he needed to do cardio. I’d never seen someone so fit, and I spent a lot of time in gyms. I still found myself following him over to the treadmills though, my thumb rubbing the spot on my fingers he’d touched. So weird.

Wordlessly, we got started on treadmills next to each other. They faced the windows, and I watched the people of Devilbend walking past on the street, on their way home from work or taking their dogs for a walk. The view and the steady repetition of putting one foot in front of the other were no different from when I’d first arrived. But something about having another person next to me, matching my pace, had the effect I’d been hoping for when I came here. My mind settled, my legs started to feel a pleasant burn, and my lungs and heart worked harder—I felt more in my body and not so much all up in my ugly emotions.

Jet didn’t try to make conversation. He just jogged alongside me, his eyes trained forward. I snuck a look at his treadmill and confirmed my suspicion that he’d set his to the exact same speed as mine. It should’ve been distracting having him right there, shirtless, all that smooth muscle moving rhythmically. But it wasn’t. If anything it was ... comforting. There was something disarming about this guy, and that in itself should’ve worried me. But in that moment, I was just glad he was there, that he wasn’t being an asshole like I’d been to him, that I didn’t have to be alone.

“Wanna tell me about it?” he asked. “Or should we just crank up the speed and sweat it out?”

Reflexively, I reached for the controls. There were exactly three people on this planet I let myself be vulnerable with. It did not feel safe to talk about private shit with anyone else. Except ...

I let my hand fall to my side, keeping the same manageable pace, and wondered why I actually did kind of want to vent to Jet.

It’s not him. It’s just that I want to vent, period. He just happens to be here, I told myself.

It was a load of crap. Turner stood right by the reception desk, and I knew and trusted him way more than this virtual stranger. But it had been a weird evening, and I found myself leaning into the instinct to talk to Jet.

“My dad is dead, my mom is the definition of flighty, and this new guy she’s dating just won’t go away,” I blurted, severely simplifying all the shit pissing me off.

“Is this boyfriend hurting you? Or her?” Jet’s voice was serious and low, and he looked right at me for the first time since we got on the treadmills. The sudden intensity took me a little aback.

“What? No. He’s just around all the fucking time, and my mom expects me to play house with them all of a sudden when she hasn’t been anything resembling a mother for years.”

“Right.” He stayed silent for a few moments, but I could feel him holding back whatever he wanted to say.

“Anyway, she lost her shit at me tonight because I refuse to play the good little daughter. Then the boyfriend tried to step in and talk to me like a father figure.” I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly lost my balance on the treadmill. “I just had to get out of there for a while.”

“Sounds frustrating.”

“It is.”

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