Page 100 of Body Check

He’d seen his paternal grandfather after open-heart surgery, a shell of the man he’d once been. Weak. Frail. Unable to do the things he loved. No, Gavin didn’t want that for himself. There was only so much he could control when he had heart disease on both sides of the family, but he could at least work on everything else.

Amelia’s expression softened. “I get that.”

“And I want to make changes in my life. Top to bottom. And if stepping down from one of the roles I have will help me accomplish that, professionally and personally, then it’s the right choice.”

“Got it.” She jotted down something on a notepad. “I will arrange a meeting for you with the ownership group.”

“Thank you.”

She glanced up, her expression earnest. “For what it’s worth, I think this is a smart choice. I don’t want you to burn out or keel over dead.”

“You just don’t want to have to train someone new,” he teased. “We all know you’re the real power behind the throne here.”

She laughed and rose to her feet. “Something like that.”

“Sooo,” Violet said with an arch of her eyebrows as she settled next to Dakota on the sofa, glass of wine in hand. “Jeff said you asked him for some ‘sibling time’?”

“Yes.” Dakota clutched his mug of peppermint tea. “I did.”

“I have no objection to you asking my husband to take the kids out and keep them entertained for a few hours,” she said in a wry tone. “But I assume this has to do with you and Gavin?”

“Yes.” Dakota licked his lips.

She studied his face. “You haven’t ended things with him.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“And you slept at his place the other night.”

“Yes.”

“So, that’s it then? You’re going to risk it all for a hookup?”

“Well, not exactly,” Dakota answered.

He went on to tell his sister about Gavin’s heart issues—Gavin had given him free rein to talk about it with Violet and Jeff, just asked they be reminded of the need to keep it private—and by the time he was done, the worry on Violet’s face had nothing to do with the decisions Dakota had made.

The worry was for Gavin.

“Oh, I am so glad he’s okay,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest. “I’m glad it wound up being nothingtooserious but that sounds so scary.”

“It was. For both of us.”

She nodded slowly. “This is more than casual then, yeah? More than we even talked about at the holiday skate?”

Dakota nodded. “Yeah. I—I’ve been fighting it, but the thought of ending things or of something happening to Gavin … I can’t, Vi. I …”

“Hey.” She reached out and took his hand. “I get it, okay? We don’t get a lot of say about who we fall for or when. And I want to apologize because I think I was kind of out of line at the skate. I—I got scared—formyself—and I lashed out at you.”

“You do have a lot to lose,” Dakota admitted. “We both do.”

“Sure, I do,” she agreed. “But Jeff called me out on it.”

“Yeah?” Dakota asked.

“Yeah.” She looked down at her glass. “He—you know I’m involved in the local queer community as a volunteer.”

Dakota nodded.

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