Page 88 of Find Me

“We’re not going anywhere, Shiloh,” he said softly.

“There are other ways to lose people you care about,” I pointed out. Not that I needed to. He knew. I saw the understanding in his eyes.

“After my dad died, I felt that way for a very long time,” he admitted. “It scared me to death when the twins wanted to get their driver’s licenses. But living in fear isn’t living.”

I nodded. “I know. I’ve been trying to get past it because I won’t be able to move on if I don’t. So please be patient with me.”

His shoulders slumped. “You don’t even have to ask.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked with an incredulous look. “You’ve been up my butt about all this since Keelan put the car in park.”

His signature frown returned. “That’s because I wanted to understand what was going on with you and instead of answering like a normal person, you had to be a pain in the ass about it.”

I ground my teeth together to keep myself from exploding. “I’m going to go take a shower now.” My tone was pleasant, yet I was hitting him repeatedly with a stick in my head. “Lock the door when you leave,” I told him and headed for my bedroom.

28

Wednesday after school,I successfully made it to the gym for Keelan’s class. I wore all black—black leggings and matching top—to match Keelan’s black gi. Stephanie was sitting at the front desk when I entered. I said hello but got nothing in return. Instead, her eyes followed me as I rounded the desk and headed for the hall that led to Keelan’s office.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked as I was about to walk down the hall.

I stopped. “To see Keelan.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“I don’t need an appointment,” I said.

“Yes, you do, and if you try to go back there, I’ll call security,” she threatened.

Done being polite, I brought forth a smile I’d seen on Shayla a million times. I called it herbless your heartsmile. “Go ahead.”

I continued down the hall. I went to Keelan’s office and found it empty. Then I went across the hall, to Knox’s office. He was on the phone. I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk and pulled out my new cell phone from my gym bag. I sent a quick text to Keelan, telling him I was in Knox’s office.

As I waited for Knox to finish up with his call, I scrolled through my phone. I tried not to be rude and listen, but I did. He was talking to someone about a mud run.

When he hung up, I had many questions about it. “Desert Stone is sponsoring a mud run?”

He just looked at me.

“That’s like a marathon in the mud, right?” I asked next.

He picked up a yellow flyer off his desk and held it out to me. “Yes, we’re sponsoring it and it’s an endurance run with muddy obstacles.”

I took the flyer and looked it over. The mud run was being held in October just before Halloween. “This sounds like a lot of fun. Are sponsors allowed to participate?”

“If by sponsors you mean Colt, Creed, and Keelan, then yes.”

I pouted a little. “You don’t want to do it with us?”

“No,” he said, completely unaffected. “Even if I did, I couldn’t. I need to man our table at the event. We’ll be advertising our gym and offering membership discounts to anyone who signs up at the run.”

“Poor Knox. All work and no play.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Keelan said as he walked into Knox’s office. He kissed the top of my head before taking a seat in the chair next to me. “What were you two talking about?”

I showed him the mud run flyer. “Want to do this with me?”

Keelan took the flyer. “The mud run, huh? You get really dirty doing one of these.”