Page 83 of Charm and Conquer

"I'm not worried. I know you're not a cheater at heart."

He knows more than I do if that's the case. "I could use some company delivering Barley to Jaxon if you're free. He seems like a nice enough guy, but I'm not ready to be alone with him in the middle of the forest yet."

"Sure. I don't have a client coming in until after two. Let me just check in with Russ and we can go."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Asher

"Did you text him to let him know you were coming?" I ask. Clover and I are sitting in her car in Jaxon's driveway, staring at his house. We've already knocked on the door and gotten no answer and Barley is in the back, chewing happily on the head rest of my seat.

"I did," Clover says. "But I didn't get a response. If he's out somewhere with no cell service…"

She doesn't look at me as she speaks. We may have reached an uneasy truce, but she barely said two words to me on the drive up here.

I imagine she's worried about the same thing I am, what happens after one of us wins the gym? I'd love to say it won't matter, that what she and I have is more important, but I'm not enough of a romantic to truly believe that. The gym isn't just about me, it's about giving something back to my family.

And Clover's already pushing me away. It's why she got so upset about me talking to Russ about her knee. She's looking for an out.

As much as I'd like to convince her she doesn't need one, I'm not so sure she's wrong.

"We could check out the barn and fencing he says he has for Barley," I say. "We could probably even leave Barley here and Jaxon would know what to do."

Clover shrugs. "I guess so. But I've got forms my sisters want filled out." She looks exhausted and defeated and in pain. I wantto wrap her up in a hug, but I'm not sure she'd welcome the gesture. "I could leave them and get them later."

We leave Barley in the car and walk around Jaxon's small house. The backyard is about the size of the footprint of the house and filled with three kennels that are like nothing I've seen before.

Each kennel is attached to a small house that's an exact replica of Jaxon's cottage, with a roof that extends over the fenced in area of the kennel. And the space is a good twenty by twenty square feet at least.

In front of the kennels is a small garden that looks like it's been recently tilled. There's nothing growing in it, but there are about ten garden gnomes of all shapes and sizes. "Is that gnome staring at me?" I ask, pointing out a particularly large one with a scowl and narrowed eyes.

"Wow," Clover says, ignoring my concern about the gnomes and gesturing to the the kennels. "Barley will live like a king."

"Rich people, right?" a deep voice says behind us.

Clover shrieks, my heart jumps into my throat, and we spin to see Bigfoot holding Barley in his arms. I pull back the arm I'd lifted, ready to throw a punch. "Shit, Jaxon, you scared us."

"That costume," Clover says, her voice breathless.

"Realistic, right?" Jaxon says. "I'd take off the head, but it's attached to the body of the costume. The whole thing is an ordeal to get out of."

"Sorry," Clover says. "But I can't talk to you dressed like that. Would you mind changing? We can introduce Barley Hopper to his new home."

"Oh, yeah, Of course." Jaxon hands Barley to Clover. "I just saw your text or I would have been ready for visitors when you arrived."

"Sorry for the short notice," Clover says. "The situation with Barley became more urgent after he destroyed my room and some of our house last night."

"Good news for me," Jaxon says. "Barley is probably the cutest little guy I've ever seen." He scratches Barley under the chin with his big furry fingers and coos at him, "Who's the cutest baby goat in the world?"

It is incredibly odd to see Bigfoot making baby talk to a goat. Barley seems to agree because he jerks his head away and lets out a maaa of alarm.

"Right," Jaxon says, stepping back. "I'm going to change. Be right back."

Clover watches Jaxon go, eyes wide. "I hope I don't ever meet a real Bigfoot, because that was…"

"Yeah," I say. There's a primal part of me that still wants to run or fight, even though I know it's just a pop star in a costume.

Clover turns to face the kennels, Barley snuggled up in her arms. "What do you think of your new home, Barley?"

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