Page 17 of Heal For Me

Janelle slides down next to me and wraps her arms around me.

“She’s not even that pretty.”

Who . . . oh. His soon-to-be fiancée. Right. I wasn’t even thinking about that, distracted with everything else, but when I think about it, I cry harder.

He might want to coach me, but he’s not in love with me.

6

Ash

I throw my feet over the edge of my bed and slam my hand onto the alarm, stopping the blasting of the world’s most grating noise. We have open gym today, and as much as I don’t want to go, I have to because I’m the coach and I scheduled it. I considered sending Luca, but Mum convinced me it would be good for me, and I was too tired to argue.

I bump into Janelle in the hallway, and she’s holding a bag and is dressed for volleyball and definitely not the freezing temperatures outside.

“Good morning.” I think she attempts to whisper, but it’s nearly louder than her normal talking voice. “I thought I could come. Show the newbies what’s up.”

I chuckle and head for the steps. “Alright, your first task can be making sure Luca is up.” I made a mistake scheduling the open gym before school, and Luca is a pain in the ass to get up.

We reach the kitchen and find Henry leaning against the counter eating an apple.

“Why are you up so early?”

“I haven’t gone to bed.”

Janelle brushes by me and rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath. She’s not sold on Henry yet.

Henry doesn’t seem to mind her hostility, based on his smirk as he watches her dig into the fridge. I even catch his eyes falling to her ass before he forces them to me. I cock my eyebrow but say nothing. The last thing I want to do is set Janelle off by calling out Henry for checking her out. I don’t know how she would handle that information, and it’s too early for anything dramatic.

“I’ll go get Luca up now.” She throws a thumb over her shoulder as she backs out of the room.

“You have any idea how you are going to manage that? He’s not an early riser.”

A flirty grin spreads over her face. “I have a few ideas, yeah.”

I’d rather not think about her ideas. Luca and her are a mistake, simply because I know he will never settle down, and I think Janelle would like to. She doesn’t seem that pressed about getting him to commit and seems to be enjoying the casualty of it, but I just hope it stays that way.

When I turn from grabbing a water from the fridge, Henry is staring at me, eyebrows pinched and lips flattened.

I grab the apple from him and take a bite out of it. “What?”

“She hasn’t fucked Luca, right? Parker was just being dramatic the other morning.”

“I have no business discussing other peoples’ sex lives.” I attempt to pass, but Henry places a hand on my chest.

“Seriously, Ash. Have they fucked?”

Why my brother is so concerned with who Janelle has or hasn’t fucked offers an uneasy feeling. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything, so why does he look almost anxious to hear my answer.

“A few times.”

A flash of disappointment, maybe even jealousy, passes, and that confuses me the most.

Janelle’s giggles break through the awkward silence between Henry and me, and his gaze is pulled to her. Luca saunters in after her half asleep, half dressed, and a sloppy grin.

Janelle stops and looks around, her hands on her hips and mischief dancing across her face. “Well, if this isn’t the start of a porno, I don’t know what is.”

Luca barks out a laugh, Henry scowls, and I simply roll my eyes and turn to the sink.

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