I pause, turning to look into her deep brown eyes. “I know, Iz…zy. I didn’t expect it to. But, well, maybe when I bring it by tomorrow, I’ll get to talk to you for a few minutes. Maybe not, but that’s okay. I’ve got twenty-six other ideas to try.”
“Jaxon—” she starts, as if exasperated.
“I’m not giving up this easily. I heard everything you said to me the other night, and you were right. I completely lost your trust and your friendship, and while I don’t deserve to ever earn either back, I’m going to try. At the very least, I’m going to tryto be worthy of your forgiveness should you ever decide to give it to me. And, in the meantime, you deserve every nice thing I’m about to throw at you. But Iamsorry.” I send her a wink, a subconscious movement that I couldn’t have stopped if I tried.
“Don’t fucking wink at me, Jaxon,” she yells. But I’m already out the door, walking toward Nash and the waiting vehicle.
Chapter nine
Izzy
“I’vegottogo,Becca,” I yell as I scramble around the kitchen to fill up my water bottle. “I need my keys!”
She stomps into the kitchen, handing me the keys to the vehicle she has been borrowing while her car is in the shop. “Why?”
“You know why. I’ve got old-lady workout class tonight.”
“Oh right. I somehow missed the fact that it was already Wednesday,” Becca replies. “Do you think Jaxon will show up?”
I take in her excited face and then wave my hand at it. “Change your expression, or you too will be on my list of ex-best friends.”
“He’s brought you coffee the last three mornings,” she says, choosing to ignore my threat. “And you did mention you were working out tonight. I think he might show up.”
“There is a big difference between him bringing coffee to our office and chatting for a few minutes in the morning and him spending an hour at a workout class with a bunch of old, out-of-shape ladies. Anyways,” I say, heading toward the door, “itdoesn’t matter. I’m not changing my life just because Jaxon has decided to make amends. I’ll see you later.”
“Have fun!” she yells after me, and I swear she laughs.
I climb into my car for the short drive to the school gym where our class is held, Becca’s words following me. Jaxon has shown up every morning like clockwork, though his drink delivery has been narrowed down to an iced vanilla latte—my favorite for this time of year. I’m not sure who’s helping him out, but he’s clearly got an inside source.
My guess is Carter.
I park in the lot behind the gym, my attention immediately going to the dark SUV parked two spaces away.
Before I can stop it, my heart picks up slightly, my stupid body reacting to stupid Jaxon Steele before my mind even registers he’s there. It was that damn wink. It fucking did something to my insides that made me very attuned to the fact that this is no longer Jaxon Reid, the scrawny high school boy, but Jaxon Steele, international heartthrob. It definitely wasn’t the feel of his cock against my ass in the golf cart. Nope, certainly not that.
But just like I have the past few days, I shove that feeling right back down where it belongs, reminding my traitorous body that wedo notforgive him.
Even if I haven’t exactly hated talking to Jaxon each morning to start my day.
A tap on my window pulls me from my spiraling thoughts.
“Are you heading in?” Jaxon asks through the glass. “Turns out, you need a key to get to the weight room.” The sheepish smile on his face reminds me so much of the time we were twelve and he ate an entire batch of my mom’s cookies, that I almost smile. But I don’t. Obviously.
“Go home, Jaxon,” I say instead, not waiting for him to step back before I shove my door open.
He jumps out of the way just in time, saving his shins from an uncomfortable meeting with the bottom edge of my door.
“I need to work out,” he says as he falls into step beside me. “And I thought it would be fun to join a class. I was told this is the only one in town.”
“Yeah, but men don’t come,” I say.
He looks startled at that information, and just as I think I’ve won, another car pulls into the lot. Unfortunately, it’s the workout teacher and her husband, Joseph—the one man who does come to the gym during our workout time. Even if he doesn’t work out with us.
Jaxon raises his eyebrow at me as if to say,oh, really?
“Joseph doesn’t count. He does his own thing.”
Jaxon shakes his head, continuing to follow me into the school and down the hall to the weight room. “Plus, there isn’t such a thing as workouts that are male or female specific. I want to be here. It’ll be like old times—even if they clearly upgraded this space since I was last here.” He’s looking around the newly updated weight room as he says the last part, and I can’t help but feel the pride that flashes through my chest. It is a very nice weight room.
