Page 18 of Most Likely to Deny Love

The gym door swung open, and a flash of movement in the mirror caught my attention. I nearly lost my grip on the weights.

Mia Harris walked in, her cousin Emily right beside her. Both women wore leggings and loose tops, but my eyes fixed on Mia and the way the black fabric hugged her curves as she moved. She was too gorgeous for words, with her dark hair in a high ponytail.

I forced myself to look away, focusing back on my set. Five. Six. Seven. My arms strained with the effort of the lift, but my eyes betrayed me, sliding back to the mirror. The cousins had settled at two treadmills across the room. Emily punched buttons on both machines with determined jabs while Mia stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

Eight. Nine. Ten. I dropped the weights on the floor, grabbing my towel to wipe my face. It gave me the perfect excuse to glance their way again.

Emily was talking intently, her hands moving in sharp gestures while Mia shook her head, her expression tight. Something was wrong. The conversation looked heated, nothing like their usual easy banter around the office.

Mia’s eyes suddenly flicked up and caught mine in the reflection. Her cheeks immediately flushed pink, and she frowned, looking away quickly.

Fuck. Caught staring like some creep.

I picked up my water bottle and took a long drink, pretending to be absorbed in adjusting my workout gloves. But the intensity of their conversation had me worried. Emily’s voice had risen enough that snippets were cutting through the gym’s ambient noise, even with my music playing.

I tapped my earbuds to pause the soundtrack, maintaining the illusion I couldn’t hear while I carefully positioned myself for another set.

“No, Mia Harris,” Emily’s voice carried across the gym, sharp with frustration. “Because you are perfect just as you are. You shouldn’t shrink yourself for anyone. Least of all that prissy, preening, fucked up sister of yours.”

“You don’t understand,” Mia replied, her voice softer but still audible.

“Yes I do! I’ve known you our whole lives.” Emily stepped off her treadmill, facing Mia directly. “Your mom’s an asshole. Your sister’s an asshole. Your dad that left is an asshole. Your step dad is an asshole. You’re the only good person in your whole family. And it breaks my fucking heart that you’re doing this for a bunch of shit stains that don’t deserve you.”

I froze mid-rep, the weights suddenly feeling much heavier in my hands. What the fuck was going on? Emily looked genuinely upset, her hands planted on her hips as Mia stared at the treadmill controls like they held the secrets of the universe.

Something twisted in my gut at the way Mia responded, her shoulders curving in like she was trying to protect herself. Emily said something more, that I couldn’t hear. I did hear the sigh that Mia let out though, as she reached over and switched the treadmill off. The belt slowed to a halt as she turned to face Emily, grabbing her by the shoulders. Her expression shifted from defeated to determined in an instant. She leaned in close, speaking in a voice too low for me to catch, but whatever she saidmade Emily’s angry expression crack. A reluctant smile spread across her face, followed by laughter.

The tension between them dissolved as quickly as it had built. Emily threw her arms around Mia in a fierce hug that Mia returned. When they separated, Mia wiped quickly at her eyes while Emily climbed back onto her treadmill, dialing it up high enough that she could jog.

As Mia turned her own treadmill back on, she flicked a hesitant glance at me.

Barely managing to avoid being caught staring, again I quickly looked away, resuming my set with more concentration than necessary.

MIA

Iclicked my pen against the table as I stared at the spreadsheet, adding notes in the margins of the printout. Jack sat across from me, his dark head bent over his phone, thumbs moving rapidly across the screen. We’d been working for over an hour now, settling into a comfortable rhythm that felt almost normal. Like he hadn’t caught me and Emily in the middle of a heated argument at the gym earlier today.

Thank god he seemed to be acting normally. I’d been bracing myself all afternoon for some awkward comment or question about what he might have overheard. The last thing I needed was my boss knowing about my family drama or my pathetic body image issues.

Though speaking of bodies... the memory of Jack in a fitted t-shirt, muscles straining as he lifted weights, flashed through my mind. I’d nearly tripped over my own feet when I’d spotted him across the gym. The man was unfairly gorgeous in a business suit, but in workout clothes? Absolutely lethal.

I reached for my water glass and took a long sip, trying to cool the heat that was definitely not work-related.

“I’m ordering dinner for us, from Alfredo’s.” Jack glanced up from his phone. “Their pepperoni pizza is great, unless you’d prefer something else?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” I waved dismissively, turning back to my notes. “I’m not hungry.”

Jack made a sound that could only be described as huffy, somewhere between a scoff and a sigh. “I know you skipped lunch, because I saw you at the gym.”

My head snapped up, cheeks warming. So he was going to mention it after all.

“Everything they do is great,” he continued, his hazel eyes fixed on mine with a stubborn intensity. “So what’s it going to be?”

I opened my mouth to protest that I really wasn’t hungry and could easily wait until I got home, but my treacherous stomach chose that exact moment to let out a growl so loud it might as well have been shouting “FEED ME” across the conference table. Fuck.

My entire face burned with embarrassment as Jack’s mouth quirked up at one corner in that almost-smile I was starting to recognize.

“Pepperoni pizza sounds great,” I mumbled, picking up my pen again and pretending to be absolutely fascinated by the data I’d been reviewing for the past twenty minutes.

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