He stared at me for a moment, opening his mouth and then shaking his head. “Stubborn and proud.”
“It’s a family trait,” I told him with a smile. “Though you are persistent, so perhaps you are the pot speaking of the color of kettles.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes. “So, anyway, I’ll see you later. You look like you were pretty busy before Mr. Shepherd showed up.”
I looked at the table and shrugged. “I was interrupted, but don’t worry on my account.”
“Is that your way of saying I should hang out?”
“You can, if you want.”
“Yes, God forbid you give a straight answer,” he said with a snort before dropping into his seat. “I guess I’ll just annoy you then.”
“If you so wish,” I said, leaning back. “It’s not as if that’s different from any other time.”
“You say that, but I think you like me.”
“You can tell yourself that if you so wish.”
“You know what? I think I will.”
LUKA
My muscles screamedas I pushed, managing one more lift before dropping the bar back with a heavy thunk. Cade chuckled as he reached down to pat my shoulder. “Doin’ real good, almost thought ya weren’t gonna make that last one.”
I smiled as I sat up, grabbing the towel to wipe my face. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t too sure myself, but I had to try at least.”
“True, true,” he said with a chuckle. “You got some good pumps in, though.”
“He says having lifted more than I did and more reps,” I snorted as I grabbed the spray bottle and a clean towel to wipe the bench down.
“Hey, you can run longer than me, right?” he asked with a grin, gesturing toward his legs.
“Cade, one of those is a fake leg that works as well, if not better, than a real one,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t think that counts.”
“Sure it does, well, maybe the leg isn’t the problem. Maybe the lungs that took a beating from chemical fumes might be the cause,” he said with a shrug.
I knew it was common for people who’d gone through a lot to cope using humor, and Cade was no different. He was as quickwith a smile as he was with a laugh, and he was a good workout buddy, encouraging people when they needed it. It might be easy to miss that someone like him needed help, but...this was Arete, where every guest needed significant help.
From what little I knew about his past, there was a lot of hurt and pain inside him that never made itself known, at least not to most people. And maybe, if he hadn’t been a guest, I wouldn’t have suspected he was hiding that level of hurt. Or maybe I would, over time. I didn’t know. What I did know was that it was hiding behind his good nature and warmth.
“What, uh, what have you been up to lately?” I asked after wiping down the bench. “Anything productive?”
“Now, you askin’ ‘cause you care, or ’cause you’re s’posed to?” Cade asked.
“You know, you’re starting to sound like Rowan,” I snorted. “I can ask because I care, sometimes. It’s not like all of us who work here are in cahoots to get you guys to have some grand reveal about your history.”
“But ya would like if I did,” he said, snorting.
“Probably wouldn’t hurt,” I said with a shrug as I grabbed my water bottle to take a huge swig. “I mean, this place is for recovering, and you can’t recover if you don’t start dealing with your problems.”
“It’s kinda funny,” he said, his eyes over my shoulder. “Everywhere else in the world, when ya act like nothin’ is wrong, everyone believes ya. But here, no one does.”
“You wouldn’t be here if nothing was wrong.”
“I mean, yeah, but I don’t hear ya askin’ after Clay’s mental health. Matter o’ fact, y’all seem to think it’s not important.”
“Hey,” I protested with a frown. “I’ve never thought his mental health isn’t important.”
