Page 31 of Lessons in Forgiving
I’d avoided looking at him in Maeve’s presence simply to prevent her from seeing how dangerously close I was to falling into old habits again. Now that our front door had closed, I was catching up on what I’d missed on the porch.
My eyes flickered across his loose workout shorts, their color the only thing that differed from those he wore during soccer practice and games. The black of them matched the grey of his short-sleeved shirt, which left little to the imagination in the muscle department. Exposing toned arms and clinging to his body like a second skin. Something in my stomach tightened at the sight.
I made sure to divert my gaze when he got into the driver’s seat.
Henry took a deep breath before turning the key. The engine roared below us a second later. “So Maeve still obviously loves me,” he deadpanned, and I couldn’t help my amused snort.
“You’ve always been great at reading people,” I agreed as we got rolling.
The gym was nothing but a ten-minute drive from my place. Back in the day, when Henry would still stay with me some nights, he got up a little earlier the next morning and jogged there. He’d called it hispre-workout workout.
Still thinking about that second butchered interview—although we did manage some useful stuff in those last ten minutes—I took my opportunity now.
“No pre-workout run today?” I wondered casually, notepad and pen in hand. I decided against recording on a drive as short as this one.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to keep up.” The challenge in his tone underlined his smirk. I glared at him.
“Very funny.” I wanted to smile. I did not.
“Unless anything’s changed?”
“Nope.”
Maybe coffeewasa godsend, after all. I couldn’t even remember being tired.
With my newfound energy, I roared on, “Still the passenger princess I’ve always been.” I could tell he wanted to say something else, which was why I cut him off. “But,” I stressed. “This isn’t about me, Pressley. I totally see through it now!”
Henry snickered in amusement. “Got me,” he admitted, one hand raising in defeat, the other on the steering wheel. “So it really is all about me today, huh?”
“All about you, baby,” I said in a sing-song voice, nodding grandly and very enthusiastically. To the point where I’d only realized my mistake after it had made it past my lips.
Baby.
Not something you called your ex-boyfriend. Not even in a mocking voice and high on caffeine.
“Sorry,” I blurted. All that earned me was a hearty chuckle from the man beside me, whose eyes I was avoiding vigorously now. “Coffee,” I offered as an explanation.
You know, like when you did something incredibly embarrassing, but all you had to say was “Sorry, third tequila shot” and everyone would understand? That’s what this felt like.
“No!” Henry gasped.
Someone else might’ve described the sound of his laugh as delicious. As all-consuming and warm. Not me, though. Definitely not me. “Paula Castillo,” he went on. “You didn’t drink coffee, did you?”
I couldn’t help the smile—it was just silly enough to be charming again. “You would do that? For me?”
He’d said it as if I’d just sacrificed my firstborn. But remembering the taste, the reaction was justified. “I’m honored.Truly,” he added as he turned into the parking lot of the HBU athletic center. The one literally named after his dad.
“I know,” I played along. “You owe me. Big time.”
Stopping the car, he turned just in time for me to see something shift in his expression. A half smile still hung in the corner of his lips, and he huffed lightly. “I imagine I’ll owe you much more once we get through today.”
CHAPTER 13
NOW
“No.” My eyes flicked from the treadmill back to Henry. “Not in a million years. No.”
Not even the way his face lit up, the way his laugh rang through the empty gym, would get me onto that thing. My anti-workout stance was so firm, this was the first time I’d ever beeninsideof a gym, and not just in front of it to pick Henry up.
