Okay, maybe Clara needed to rethink the whole keeping Scarlett around just because she was quiet, because Jesus Christ, that was rude. After all, this was her freaking house, and Scarlett had left her “private stuff” sitting out on the kitchen counter. It was ridiculous to be angry at that.
Well, the run-club-bonding thing was probably off the table.
Branches snappedbeneath Holden’s feet as he ran, cool air slapping him in the face. Jesse ran beside him, his best friend matching him step for step.
It was later than they normally ran. The sun was already up and the temperature slightly warmer than usual. It was still damn cold though, something he appreciated about Montana. Because who the hell wanted the heat when they ran?
He sucked in a lungful of air, the smell of pine and forest filling his nose.
Fuck, he loved these mountains. He’d spent his entire adult life in the military. The transition out had been hard, but this big open space beside his house made it easier. So did living in the same town as his best friend.
What didn’t make it easier? Clara.
Dammit, why couldn’t he get her out of his head? The sheer fucking fact that she’d been angry at him yesterday was toying with him. Making him want to call her. Hear her voice or that sweet laugh of hers.
He shouldn’t be thinking about her this much. She was a friend. That was all.
He ran faster, Jesse once again upping his pace to match him.
Exhaustion weighed on his limbs, and he loved it. Exhausting his body was what drowned out everything else. It allowed his brain to stop working and focusing on everything heshouldn’tbe focusing on.
When they finally reached his place, his chest was moving quickly, sweat dripping down his bare chest.
The house he’d bought was old and on four acres of land, but the reason he’d bought it was for the attached workshop. It fit all his woodworking tools and boasted large doors so that when he opened them, he could work with just the sound of the wind in his ears. The mountains as his backdrop.
They stepped inside his house, and he felt Jesse’s gaze on him before either of them spoke.
“Something on your mind?” Jesse finally asked.
Usually, he told his best friend everything. They’d been to hell and back in the military, assigned to the same Ghost Ops team. But anything to do with Jesse’s sister felt too strange.
“Just thinking about work.” A damn lie. And the look Jesse gave him said he saw right through it.
“How’d your quote go yesterday?”
“It was fine, although the woman had her quirks.” He crossed to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. “You know, if you stay long enough, you’ll see your mom. She’s dropping by to pick up a key holder.”
“A key holder?”
“Apparently she keeps losing her keys.”
Jesse scoffed. “That isn’t a new thing. She’s been losing her keys for as long as I can remember. I lost count of the number of times I had to walk to school because she couldn’t find the car keys. They usually turned up a day later under some Pop-Tart wrappers between the couch cushions.”
Holden chuckled. “Becket’s Pop-Tart wrappers?”
“Who else. That guy used to eat Mom out of house and home.”
Holden laughed. Jesse had grown up with two siblings. With noise and laughter. While Holden had grown up with his mother. They’d been best friends. It was great…until she’d gotten her diagnosis.
He swallowed the acid in his throat as his phone rang, Briar’s name flashing on the screen. “Hi, Briar.”
“Hi. Just wondering if you had that quote for me?”
Holden moved into the living room. “Not yet. I’ll probably take a couple more days.” He’d told the woman up to a week but shouldn’t be surprised that she expected it earlier.
“Oh. Okay.”
“I’ll—”
