Page 56 of Lose You Twice

I pull off my compression shirt and whip it at his head.

It hits him in the face.

“The fuck was that for?” he demands, yanking it down.

“You know what.”

“I was being considerate.”

“You were being a pain in my ass.”

“I gave a warning before pants came off. That is basic decency.”

Asher looks up from his stall. “The fact that you think that counts as decency is the problem.”

I sit on the bench and start untying my skates with more force than necessary. The lace bites into my fingers. My hands feel wrong. Too hot. Too empty.

Grayson notices.

Of course he does.

“You okay?” he asks quietly.

“No.”

That answer stops him.

It stops Weston too.

For once, nobody fills the space immediately.

Then Grayson clears his throat. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know she was starting today, and I wasn’t trying to make it weird.”

A humorless laugh leaves me. “It was already going to be weird no matter what, man.”

“True.” He nods. “I mostly enhanced the weird.”

Asher shuts his locker. “Your weirdness is like a disease. An easily spread one at that.”

“Rude.”

Grayson leans forward, elbows on his knees. “You need to talk to her.”

I look at him, and I know he’s right, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Weston’s eyes move between us. “Wait. Did you know she was working here?”

“No, I didn’t,” I say, shaking my head. “I might’ve if I replied to her text, though.”

Weston’s entire expression changes. “She texted you?”

I really can’t fucking deal with him today. “Cooper.”

“Right. Boundaries. Love those.” He pauses. “But what was the gist?”

I drag a hand over my face. “She said we needed to chat.”

“So you got a text from your ex, saying you needed to talk, and you did the opposite of that and are somehow still upset that she didn’t warn you that she would be working here?” For once, Weston makes a shit ton of sense, and I feel like an idiot.