“My tolerance for anything under three feet tall is about as weak as you right now.”

Fucker. “Add the goddamn weight already.”

Sam chuckled and slid on another forty. “I’m just thinking I might need a place to escape every now and then. You’ve got a pretty decent couch.”

“You wanna crash here while Dani and the kid can have free reign at your place?” Imagine that. Sam thinking about someone other than himself.

“More or less. I’ll tough it out when the little mama comes to town though, so you two can fuck like bunnies on the kitchen counter or wherever else it is you like to bend her over.”

Boom. Brody dropped the bar and jack-knifed up. “You’re gonna ask for my help and disrespect my girl in the same sentence?”

Sam held up his hands, a cocky grin on his face despite the gesture. “Whoa, man. I’m just giving you shit. It’s been awhile, right?”

Not long enough apparently.

“She’s cool as hell,” Sam added. “I like her. You like her. Maybe she’s good for you, too, if you know what I mean.”

All too well. “You had to go there, huh?” Once again, bringing up his inability to control his shit.

“Avoiding it is exactly why you’re still dealing with it.” Sam pointed to the bench sternly and Brody glowered.

“I’m keeping my appointments.” Started doing that meditation shit Doc Sherman had recommended, too. Felt a little like a hippie while he did it, but it worked, so whatever.

“Only since Jenny, bro.”

Yeah, well... “Does it matter as long as I’m going?”

“You gotta work this out for you—not because you wanna keep her around.”

“It ain’t like that.” Brody reclaimed the seat and got in position once again.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I’m just saying it’s a narrow friggin’ line. Try and stay on the right side of it, yeah?”

He was. Every damn day, one night at a time. “Yeah, man, I got it. You ready?”

Sam nodded and Brody pounded off two shaky reps.

“Hit me again.”

“You sure?” The arrogant bastard smirked. “You haven’t pushed over three-sixty since the desert.”

“Only way to get back to that guy is to be that guy, right?”

Sam gave him a respectful nod, added twenty more, and grinned like a fool while Brody pumped it out, not once, not twice, but three times. “Holy fuck, buddy. Welcome back.”

***

“I can’t offer you full-time right now, but a solid twenty hours a week is doable.” Jenny smiled at the pretty blonde seated across from her near the front of The Lodge, River Bend’s requisite upper-crust restaurant. Truth be told, it wasn’t even that classy, but it’s warm, cabin-like decor and flickering fireplace, gave a cozy, semi-professional feel that the diner did not.

“Heather got me a few hours at McCauley’s, too, so I should be set for a while. Frankly, I’m just happy to get away from Hastings. I need a fresh start.” Eyes cast down, Elena stirred a straw through her lemonade. While she definitely looked the part of a cosmetologist, with her perfectly coiffed do and pristine make-up, she had an anxious edge about her that made Jenny nervous.

“Any chance you’re running from a man?” she asked gently, knowing that burned look all too well.

“More like sprinting.” Elena gave a genuine laugh, as the waiter quietly removed their empty plates from the table. “I hope that doesn’t freak you out. I mean, it wasn’t that bad a situation. He only hit me the once.”

Oh, God. “Elena...that’s....” Unforgivable.

“Yeah, I know. One time too many. It’s just...I was with him since high school. I’ve never known anything else. I’m not going to lie—making this move scares the hell out of me. I have Heather, though. If anyone understands what I’m going through, it’s her.”

Really? Did Heather have skeletons in her closet, too? She’d never let on. Then again, some things were just better left in the past. Another lesson Jenny had learned the hard way.

“I’m not heading back until tomorrow. Maybe I could swing by the salon in the morning for a tour?” Elena pepped up, her eyes bright again.

“Absolutely.” The waiter slid their bill onto the table and Jenny tugged it her way before Elena got any silly ideas. “We open at nine and I think my first client is a color job, so that should be perfect.”

“Great.” The skittish woman reached for her wallet, but Jenny waved her off.

“I got this. Business meeting and all that.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” But her reassuring smile turned chilly when Reed approached their table from the bar. Great. She’d been so concerned about Elena that she hadn’t noticed the group of county workers assembled for one of their frequent ‘team building’ nightcaps. “Ugh, this is my past rearing its ugly head,” she muttered and Elena shot a not-so-discreet glance toward Reed.

“In that case, I’m going to scoot. I’ll see you tomorrow?” She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. Her wispy blouse and snug leggings should’ve caught Reed’s perpetually wandering eye, but he never even acknowledged her. Just smiled at Jenny as Elena waved and snuck away.

Jenny gathered up the forms and scheduling info she’d shared with Elena and stuffed it into her bag. Maybe if she got up fast enough, Reed would leave her alone. Funny how having a man in your life that actually respected you opened your eyes to the ones who didn’t.

“Hey there, princess,” he greeted her in his too-smooth, typical Reed voice. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”

“That’s usually what happens when you’ve finished your meal.” She pasted on a fake smile and then felt bad about it. She didn’t want to hate Reed. She wasn’t even sure she did. She was just sick of the humiliation she felt every time he came around.

“I won’t keep you long, then. I just wanted to check in and see how things were going.” He gave a sincere smile and she sighed. See? He was trying. Maybe she should, too.

“Things are good. I just hired a part-time stylist.”

“That’s great. More time with your mom, right?” Casually, he slid into Elena’s vacated seat, his bulky, athletic body taking up too much room.

Brody was just as imposing. Not quite as tall, but built the same. Same pretty, bad boy glint in his eye, too, though a hell of a lot sexier with all that ink on his arms.

“Um, yeah. She’s doing better than expected at home, but she’ll want to get out more as the weather gets nicer.” She reached for her water to keep her hands busy.

“How’s your wounded Marine?” he asked, not as casually.

“Really?” she laughed, locking her gaze with his unapologetic one. “That’s what you really came over for, isn’t it? God, you really are a dog.”

He lifted a hand, his smile as unrepentant as his stare. “If worrying about how he treats you makes me a dog, then so be it. I’ve been called worse.”

She shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. You won’t even tell me who you’re seeing, but I’m supposed to share the details of my relationship with you? That’s ballsy, Reed. Even for you.”

His jaw ticked as he brought his beer to his mouth and took a pull. “So it’s a relationship now?”

“Oh my God, stop. Seriously.” She pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. “You don’t get to do this, okay? You don’t get to stick your nose in my personal life and act like it’s completely normal. We may be friends, but we’ve also seen each other naked.”

He quirked an eyebrow and rocked his head from side to side, considering her point.

“See, that’s weird. Why aren’t you weirded out by this?” Her face began to burn and she started to feel like Elena had looked. Twitchy and ready to jump out of her skin.

“Come on, Jenn, you know it’s easy for guys to separate sex and friendships.” He leaned back in the seat and tapped the bottom of his beer against his jeans, still looking her in the eye. “What isn’t easy for me is knowing you’re involved with a potential loose cannon like Brody Nelson.”