“What?” they both said simultaneously.
Ethan glanced between them, his brow creased. “Of course. It’s the only thing that makes sense. We’ve tapped out the company, and you’ve tapped out your family. Michael is the perfect choice. Plus, with him on our team, there’s no way we can lose. Peter and I already worked it all out.”
Of course they had.First they screwed everything up by refusing to listen to instructions and then they took it upon themselves tofixit.
“I can’t partner with Michael,” she said, and he felt his brow crease.
Why in the world couldn’t she partner with him? What was wrong with him?
“Maybe he could partner with Becca and I can work with Ben.”
Ethan seemed to think it over for a moment, sitting propped up in bed like a presiding judge. “That could work. Becca is the weakest team member. Pairing her with the strongest makes sense.”
Michael thought about shoutingyou’re the weakest link, dumbass, but that wouldn’t get him anywhere he wanted to be and the guy was laid up in a hospital bed. Then he thought about how hard Becca had fought against her fear, how brave she’d been, and his hand involuntarily clenched into a fist.
“Becca’s going to do great. She’s an asset to the team,” he said through clenched teeth.
Both Amanda and Ethan turned to look at him. Ethan’s gaze was appraising. Amanda’s was more complicated. He saw gratitude and something else—something wistful he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“You guys will make a great pair,” she said.
He wanted to tell her she was being silly—that of course the two of them should be partners, not he and Becca, but given the way he felt about her, it didn’t seem right letting her boyfriend pair them up. It felt too much like asking a hungry kid to guard the cake.
––––––––
“EXPLAIN THIS TO me again,” said Becca, grimacing as she curled her legs to raise the weights. “The dumbass went climbing without you because what’s the sense in taking your girlfriend, the climbing guide. And then fell and broke his leg.” She lowered the weights and pinned Amanda with her gaze.
“Yes, but don’t call him a dumbass.”
Her sister gave her the side-eye, and Amanda acquiesced. The knee-length cast and blatant disregard for instruction made it a hard point to argue. She’d been calling Ethan much worse names in her head since she left the hospital.
“Fine, but try not to say it to him,” she said, pretty sure that was the best she could hope for.
“And now,” said Becca, finishing her reps on the leg curl machine and spinning around on the bench to face her. “I’m supposed to trade partners with you so you can be with Ben and I get stuck with Michael?”
“What do you meanstuck with? With the way you guys were hanging off each other, I thought you’d be happy to be his partner.” She glanced around the gym to make sure the man in question wasn’t within earshot. He’d been there to greet them when they got to the gym, but she hadn’t seen him since. She’d know; part of her had been looking for him the whole time.Just out of curiosity, nothing else.
“Sometimes you really aren’t as bright as you look. I’m not the one he’s interested in. Dumbass.” She muttered the last word under her breath.
“Hey! You can’t call me that either.”
Amanda increased the weight on the leg curl and swapped seats with her sister. She started her reps in earnest, hoping if she got winded, she wouldn’t ask Becca what she meant when she said Michael was interested in someone else. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t any of her business who he was interested in. She and Ethan were happy together. At least they were when he wasn’t being a dumbass.
“I’m not trading partners,” said Becca, planting herself in Amanda’s field of view. “I’m keeping Ben. I like him. He’s cute, he’s got a decent job, and he’s not intimidated by my job. In the world of men over thirty, that makes him practically a unicorn. I’m keeping him. You’re just going to have to figure out a way to work with Michael.”
“You have to switch.” She raised her head enough to glance around the gym to make sure Michael wasn’t anywhere he could hear them. “I can’t do it.”
“Oh please.” Becca rolled her eyes in a way that made it really hard to like her. “Why in the world not?”
She almost saidbecause Ethan said so, but that wasn’t the real reason and Becca wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about what Ethan said.
“You like him. I can tell. Why won’t you just admit it?”
“Shh,” Amanda hissed, sitting up so fast she let the weights drop.
“Everything okay over here?” asked Michael, popping up out of nowhere.
It was just like him to be in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.
