Page 16 of All This Time (Blossom Peak #1)

Fletcher

Ropes Course, Reality, and Rage

God, how could I have forgotten how stubborn Laney Hart is?

“You okay back there?” Henley calls out to me as he increases the distance between us on the ropes course, leaving me further behind while I continue to mentally revisit my time at Laney’s salon yesterday.

She’s pissed. Like, deeply, soul-level pissed. I knew there was tension, but I didn’t realize she’d been nursing a full stadium’s worth of resentment for years. Clearly, I’ve got work to do.

“I’m trying not to injure myself so I don’t have to explain to my coach why I can’t play the game I’m paid to!

” Holding onto the ropes even tighter, I traverse the boards beneath my feet, keeping a slow pace so I don’t fall, even though I’m strapped into a harness and connected to the cable above me.

Henley laughs. “We can’t have that now, can we?”

“Not until I get my Super Bowl ring.” As I cross the last few boards and land on the platform, I release the breath I was holding. “Jesus, what a workout.”

Henley adjusts his helmet. “This is the beginner’s course, Fletch.”

“You’re kidding me.”

He holds his stomach while he laughs. “Nope. Sorry to deflate your ego.”

“Well, consider me humbled.”

I decided to pay a visit to Henley at Sky’s the Limit ski resort and adventure park since I don’t have much else to do while waiting for seven o’clock to get here. Business was slow today, so Henley convinced me to tackle the ropes course while we caught up.

I would have been fine just sitting at a table and talking, but Henley’s not the type to sit still.

When he told us he was going to take over the resort from the previous owners a few years ago, it didn’t surprise any of us.

Honestly, this job was right up Henley’s alley, given his daredevil tendencies.

On the other hand, the only adrenaline I like to chase is that which occurs with my feet planted firmly on the ground.

During the winter when the snow sticks, this place draws skiers, snowboarders, and families with young kids to enjoy the winter activities, scenery, and Santa’s Village that the resort transforms into in December.

But during the summer, the slopes shut down and the adventure side of the property opens with ziplining, rock climbing, hiking, biking, and apparently near-death rope challenges.

Hence why I’m sweating my balls off while my fear of heights keeps me from moving too fast so I don’t fall to my death.

Henley leads me through the rest of the course, and when I’m back on earth, I take a seat at the bar in the lodge while Henley orders us some lunch and checks on his employees from behind the bar.

He slides me a water and leans in front of me. “Well, it looks like all of your body parts are still intact, so I take it that Laney hasn’t tried to jeopardize your football career yet with any physical harm?”

“Nope, you’re doing a better job at that than she is, making me do that course.”

“Oh, stop whining or I’ll make you do the mountain bike trail next.”

“Hard pass.” Sighing, I lean back in my chair. “I knew having to spend time with Laney for Elliot’s wedding was going to be interesting, but I severely underestimated how much she wants to avoid me.”

“The Fletcher Adams charm isn’t working on her, huh?”

“Nope. The nicer I am to her, the more riled up she seems to get.” Chuckling, I spin my glass on the bar in front of me while remembering how flustered she was when I ripped my shirt off in front of her yesterday, or how painful it was for her to thank me for carrying a box to her car Saturday night.

Yeah, so maybe that wasn’t me being nice, exactly.

In fact, watching her struggle with how to handle me is starting to become its own source of entertainment. The way she glares, how her lips purse like she’s trying to hold back a whole monologue.

But the only thing those annoyed expressions do is remind me that once upon a time, I couldn’t think of anything but what those lips would feel like against mine.

Yeah, it’s official—my feelings for Laney Hart haven’t diminished over the years, even though I’ve shoved them down and ignored them with alarming success…

Until now. Being near her again is bringing everything back to the surface, reminding me of the girl I fell for in the first place and how those feelings never went away.

I’ve just been avoiding them because it was easy to do with space and time between us.

But Laney’s not the same girl I knew. And, against my better judgment and my loyalty to Rhonan, I want to know how the brave and fascinating girl who captivated me back in high school has become the version of herself she is now, with thicker walls than Fort Knox.

“Riling her up probably isn’t the best plan,” Henley says while he fills up his own glass of water just as his phone rings in his pocket. When he fishes it out and glances at the screen, he rolls his eyes and declines the call.

“Not someone you wanted to hear from, huh?”

“It’s this girl, Meghan, that I hooked up with last year. She’s been calling me for a few months now, but I was clear it was a one-time thing. Apparently, she can’t take the hint.”

“You aren’t even interested in a couple dates?” I ask, already knowing the answer since Henley is not the relationship type. I always assumed I wasn’t either… But things can change.

“You know that’s not my style. One night only works just fine for me,” he says.

“Normally, I wouldn’t even keep a girl’s number, but now I’m glad I did so I know to avoid her. Anyway, back to you pissing off Laney.”

Chuckling, I say, “I’m not doing anything horrible to her, but apparently it doesn’t take much to get on her bad side.

Yesterday I went to her salon because I booked a few appointments there to support her business, you know?

And I thought that would help, but then I found out she calls me Lucifer and makes her employees put a dollar in a jar every time they say my name. ”

Henley throws his head back in laughter. “Oh, fuck. That’s priceless.”

“I can’t deny that it is pretty funny, but fuck, Henley… How the hell am I supposed to come back from that?”

“Why don’t you ask her what the problem is?”

“I’m gonna try tonight. We’re meeting at her house at seven to start working on wedding shit, and I’m determined to wear her down.”

Henley crosses his arms over his chest. “Does it really matter if she has a problem with you, Fletch? I mean, you’re only here for the wedding, and then you’re headed back to your life in Charlotte and the NFL. Sure, Laney is Rhonan’s sister, but…”

“What about my sister?”

Rhonan’s voice cuts through the room like a warning shot. He steps up to the bar next to me wearing his sheriff’s uniform with his hand placed firmly on the gun holster at his hip, but his eyes are locked on mine, full of curiosity.

“I was, uh, just telling Henley that Laney and I are starting to work on Elliot’s wedding stuff tonight.” Henley and I share a look as I silently ask him to drop the previous subject.

Rhonan taps the bar in front of him. “Can I get a burger and fries to go, please? And the biggest Coke you’ve got?

” he asks Henley before he turns back to me.

“Good luck with my sister. I think we both know that Laney can be a bit of a control freak, but her organizational skills and inability to say no to people is what got her in this mess to begin with.”

Henley scoffs as he stands at the computer, plugging in Rhonan’s order. “Dilynne doesn’t understand it either, but Laney has a bigger heart than any of us, I guess.”

Little do they both know that I have firsthand experience with Laney’s generosity and compassion, which makes my predicament even more complicated.

“I was worried about her being involved with the wedding planning, but she’s handling it better than I thought she would,” Rhonan adds as he pulls his phone from his pocket and checks it.

“What do you mean?”

My friends share a look before Rhonan answers me. “Laney was engaged a couple of years ago to that guy Spencer she was dating.”

My pulse instantly skyrockets. “What?”

Henley clears his throat before adding, “And the fucker cheated on her.”

How the hell did I not know about this?

Rhonan mentioned she was dating someone a while ago, and I knew that it didn’t work out, but I never knew they were engaged or that he was unfaithful to her.

Fuck.

Rage fills my veins, the type of anger I can only recall feeling a handful of times in my life—because the thought of any man hurting Laney like that makes me want to rip this guy apart with my bare hands.

“Are you fucking serious?”

Rhonan scoffs. “Yeah. She seemed to bounce back pretty quickly, but I don’t know…

” He shrugs as Henley hands him a plastic bag with his food and a to-go cup.

“She just hasn’t been the same since. And when Tori asked her to be her maid of honor, I thought for sure she’d say no, but part of me thinks she might just be trying to prove she’s all right to everyone, you know? ”

I can’t stop clenching my fists as I sit there and process this revelation. No wonder Laney doesn’t seem the same, and given our history, she’s probably keeping me at arm’s length because the last time we were on good terms was before she told me…

“Fletcher?” Rhonan’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Keep an eye on her for me, will you?” he asks, his question genuine, but the protective instinct it lights within me is already there. “Let me know if you feel like she’s struggling or needs to bow out.”

“Of course.”

“Tori will survive if Laney can’t handle everything.”

Henley chuckles. “But who will fill in for her? My sister?”

Rhonan shakes his head, a smile on his face. “Fuck, that would be a disaster. But I won’t lie, I’d pay to watch it.”

I think back to the story Dilynne told me at the winery, knowing if she had the chance, her revenge on Tori the second time would be even worse than the laxatives.

“I think Laney will be fine, but I’ll definitely try to take on as much responsibility as I can.”

“Thanks. I know I can trust you to look after her.”

Henley grunts. “What about me? You don’t trust me?”

Rhonan points a finger at him. “Your method for helping women get over their exes is getting them under you.”

Henley grins. “What can I say? I’m dedicated to the cause.” He laughs before adding, “But Laney is your sister. Even I know she’s off-limits.”

“True, but I feel like Fletcher is less of a threat than you are.”

Henley bounces his eyebrows up and down while he looks at me. “You hear that? Rhonan thinks I’m better looking than you.”

“Do you want a trophy or something?” I say, grinding my teeth together at the thought of Henley touching Laney at all.

I respect Henley’s carefree attitude toward sex. He’s honest with the women he hooks up with, never pretends it’s more than it is. If that works for them, no harm, no foul.

But Laney isn’t just any woman.

She’s my Laney—my angel.

And the irony is, as Rhonan says his goodbyes and heads out to his cruiser, he has no idea that Henley isn’t the one he should be worried about making a move on her.