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“What’s that?”

“I have to admit, the idea of you thumping Trish… it’s kind of hot.”

It was my turn to put on a devious grin.

“Well, there might be more of that kind of aggressiveness ahead. I hope you’re ready for that.”

“I am absolutely ready for that,” he laughed. “Just… I might need a few days. I’m kind of almost dead.”

“I’ll be gentle. At first.”

Smiling, I leaned in and kissed him once more.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Jesse

“All right, you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Up.”

My fingers curled around the bar, and I lifted, bringing it off the rack before taking a step back.

“Down,” Owen said.

I did a full squat, the weight on my shoulders, coming up slow and smooth. As Owen counted them off, I went up and down, making sure not to overtax myself but pushing until I felt the pain and exhaustion just beginning to really set in.

“And on the rack,” Owen said, coming up behind me to brace the weights.

They clanged into place, and I walked forward, relieved and feeling lighter. Sweat stained my tank and ran down my neck, but I kept my hands dry. Worst thing you could do let a weight slip out of your hand.

“That felt good,” I said.

“Getting closer to pre-injury,” Owen said. “I mean, lightning fast. It’s only been four days since you got out of the hospital.”

“Yeah, well, they didn’t jack up my knees. Just my head.”

“Which is why we have to keep it slow,” Owen said. “Concussion protocol says you can lift light weight and do lightexercise. None of your heavy sets for at least a couple more weeks.”

“I know, I know,” I said.

“Well, that’s it for today. I think I’m going to skip leg day.”

“Oof, you never skip leg day,” I said.

“Did a lot of running yesterday,” he muttered.

“Yeah, about that,” I said. “Where? Because I know you weren’t here on the treadmill.”

“I was doing some stuff,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

I made a face, and he made one back. Clearly, Owen was hiding something, but I had no idea exactly what it was. Whatever it was, though, I was sure I’d find out sooner or later. He couldn’t keep it secret forever.

I did know one thing about it, though. He was bulking up quite a bit, and it had something to do with it. He was at least ten pounds heavier than he had been two weeks ago, and I recognized the cycle of bulking and cutting from Logan’s days of amateur bodybuilding. Owen never had an interest in that, though. It was curious.

“So you up to anything today?” Owen asked.