Fallacy (Apprehensive Duet Book 1) (13 page)

Alex

I WATCH ASHLEY do her final reps of the day, and I can’t help but smile. She’s worked hard these last few months to get here.

I’ve seen a real drive in her to get herself better in the last four months since she and Tanner worked things out. She’s an entirely different person than she was. I’m thrilled to have been able to help her through her healing.

We’ve been meeting twice a week working on getting her body back into the best possible shape it can be after the accident. If you didn’t know her or weren’t able to the see the scars, it would be very hard to know she’d had a major knee injury or a barely functioning arm.

This is the best part of my job, regardless if it’s an athlete or your average person. Watching someone hit their goals and push themselves to get better is an incredible journey to witness. I see Quinn and Tanner standing in the doorway of Tanner’s home gym, waiting for me to acknowledge if today is the day. It’s been no secret Ash’s rehab is practically finished. She’s been pushing and pushing, and after seeing her today, I know she’s done. She doesn’t need any more help. She’s as close as she’s going to get to being back to her pre-accident mobility and strength.

“How do you feel?” I ask her as she finishes up her squats. Her squat reps started small in the beginning, and at first, she struggled to get through five, but with the right frame of mind and the right coaching, she just finished three sets of twenty. It takes an incredible amount of strength in your thighs and knees to do that many.

“I feel great,” she smiles, a sheen of sweat covering her face, shoulders, and chest. It’s a question I’ve asked her after every workout. Ashley had been using a different PT at the beginning of her rehab, but when I saw her sitting at home icing her knee and requiring pain meds after a session, I knew they were doing something wrong.

I see Tanner and Quinn enter the room, but Ash hasn’t noticed them yet. “Guess what?” I say.

“What?” she asks, grabbing a towel off of the workout bench to wipe away the sweat.

“You’re done,” I grin. “You don’t need me anymore. Your rehab is complete at this point.”

“Congratulations!” Quinn and Tanner yell from behind her, shocking the hell out of her.

“Really?!” she shrieks. “You think I’m good to go?”

“Yup,” I nod. “You need to keep going to the gym at least once a week to keep all the muscle strength you’ve built up, but as far as needing me, you don’t.”

I watch as Tanner wraps his arms around her and swings her around. He whispers something in her ear which causes her to blush, and we all laugh knowing it was something dirty.

It’s another thing that came out of this whole mess. Everyone in this room has formed a real bond. Tanner and Quinn bonded over collaborating to take care of Ashley while Ashley and I became closer too. We crushed her rehab together, building the required level of trust and understanding that comes with that. I got to see a side of Ash I hadn’t seen, and the same can be said for her about me. The four of us have forged a strong connection.

“That’s not the only good news to celebrate today,” Quinn informs us with a smile.

“Oh yeah?” Ashley asks, turning in Tanner’s arms. It’s nice to see them interacting normally again. Quinn had taken a ton of grief and abuse from Ashley. It was very hard for me to sit back and watch. It wasn’t my place to interfere with the way she dealt with Ashley, and it broke my heart to see Quinn so torn up day after day. When she finally laid everything out on the table about the way Ashley has been acting there was a noticed change in Quinn.

It never mattered to me she wasn’t herself while helping Ashley, but I’m glad she’s back. Her confidence was missing most of the time. She beat herself up a lot thinking she wasn’t doing enough for her friend.

I adored and admired her drive for helping Ashley even when she didn't always want Quinn's help. I got to see just how hard she loves, how much she cares, and how determined she can be. I didn’t mind in the least that we had been put on the back burner. If anything, I think it has made me more drawn to her. It made our emotional connection just as strong as our physical connection.

But I can’t say I don’t like seeing her smile as she is right now. I can’t say I don’t like the light back in her eyes. Her carefree attitude has come back, and she’s back to the girl I initially fell for, but with a lot more depth.

“My father informed me Gerald is retiring in June. My name is being added to the list of new vice president candidates.” Her grin is infectious.

“Finally,” Ash beams.

“That’s fantastic news, Quinn,” Tanner congratulates her.

“I’m so proud of you, angel,” I exclaim, wrapping her in a huge hug. “I knew you’d be able to get him to notice your worth.”

“Yeah, it is nice to finally get some recognition,” she agrees. “It’s nice to feel good, to feel validated for once.”

“Let’s go back to my place and have a celebration of our own,” I whisper into her ear.

That gets her ass moving.

“I really am proud of you, angel. I know how much shit you take at work from your dad. What’s the deal with you guys anyway?” I ask on our way to my house. I don’t understand where all this contention between them comes from.

“Growing up, I did everything my father asked of me. I got good grades. Joined all the necessary clubs. I was in the fucking student government for fuck’s sake. When I found out what a total scumbag the man is, I tried to do anything I could to get away from him. He went to an Ivy League school and wanted me to go to one too, didn’t matter which one. I went to Ramapo. He wanted me to take one major, I took another,” she begins to explain.

I can’t help but laugh. “Based on what you’ve told me about him, I doubt he took it well.”

“He didn’t,” she confirms. “He threw a shit-fit my sophomore year demanding I change my major to finance.”

“What made you change it?” I ask, wondering why she gave in to his demands.

“It was Ashley who helped change my mind,” she says. “She helped me realize changing my major wasn’t just to please him but myself as well. I’ve always loved numbers but lost a little of that love when my fantasy world imploded. Ashley pointed out changing majors would make me ten times happier. I dreaded half of the required courses that were mandatory for art history. If I switched, I’d be taking classes I enjoyed and excelled in. She was right. My junior and senior years were so much better. Plus, I didn’t have him breathing down my neck every other day to live up to the family name. Classes were much easier and more interesting. I spent less time stressing and more time enjoying my college years.”

I’m very intrigued by her reference to her fantasy world, but I decide not to press my luck any farther tonight. This is the most Quinn has spoken to me about her father, and tonight is a good night. I don’t want to spoil her excitement by continuing to talk about him. I’ll have to wait for another opportunity to ask that question. “Well, I’m positive you’ll nail this promotion. It’s the next step for you. You’ll have your name on his door before you know it.”

I can tell by the smile forming on her face that was just what she wanted to hear.

Quinn

I HATE AIRPORTS. Not the flying itself, just the airports. I hate them even more when I’m flying alone. You have to be here hours earlier than your flight, and after you’re done being security raped, you just sit around and wait for your plane to start boarding. It’s annoying. It’s crowded. It’s so damn loud.

I can't even text Ashley or Alex. It’s two o’clock on a Sunday. She’s at the field for the game, and I’ve learned it’s useless to try and have a conversation with her while she’s watching Tanner play. It also means Alex is busy too. I don’t have anyone else who would care about the big news I got at these meetings, and I’ve already bought a new pair of shoes while I wait. There’s nothing else to do really to pass the time until my flight boards in about forty minutes.

There’s a flash of green on the TV in the waiting area of the gate … a football game. I focus on it for a minute to see if it’s the Jets. At least I can burn time by watching the game, but then I notice it's just highlights and the score pops up on the screen, and it says final. Final? The game only started an hour ago. Then I realize I’m in California. It's five o’clock at home.

I swipe my phone and pull up Alex’s number, hoping to maybe catch in between his post-game stuff.

It doesn’t take long for him to answer. “Hey,” I greet him finally happy to have someone to talk to.

I immediately know now is not the time to share my good news. His voice is distraught and downtrodden as he says, “Hey, angel.” He sighs. Alex is a very happy-go-lucky person for the most part, and I haven’t seen him upset except for when Daniel passed away.

“What’s wrong? You sound off,” I ask. My mind starts to spin, thinking back, wondering if I forgot something or if I did something to piss him off. Is today the anniversary of his mom’s death? What?

“Nothing. It's just been a long day. I'm all right,” he replies before changing the subject. “How were your meetings? You back home yet?”

The sound of his unhappiness does something to me inside. I don’t like it. I answer his questions still trying to figure out if I’ve done something wrong or what could’ve happened to upset him. I just downplay it for now. “My meetings were as expected. I’m at the airport now.” I made this trip to meet with some venture capitalists out here. A great idea dropped into my lap at work last week. I’m almost positive this company’s new biotech will be huge, but I want to scope out what’s going on on this coast before presenting the plan to my father. I know he’s going to ask me if I did my homework and I want to be able to shove it in his face that I have.

I met with a few different colleagues I have here over lunch the last two days and subtly probed to see what they were working with. I don’t think any of them have anything close to what I have, so it’s good to go on this one. Well, at least from my perspective, but daddy dearest will have the final say. I swear if he passes this one over, I may kill someone.

“What time does your flight leave?” he asks, pulling me from my thoughts of murdering my own father.

“It’s supposed to take off in about half an hour. What’s going on with you? Still at the field?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’m about to head to a meeting, though. We have some things to discuss regarding some of the guys,” he sighs heavily into the phone. I can tell he’s not fine. There’s this feeling in my chest I don’t know how to describe at hearing him this way.

“You sure you’re okay, babe? You don’t sound fine to me,” I ask again, hoping he’ll open up a little. I know how hard it is to open up to people, but I’ve always found it super easy to talk to Alex. He listens, doesn’t judge, and gives me his theory on things, even if it doesn’t coincide with my opinion. I want him to feel the same about talking to me.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” he assures me with what seems like forced casualness in his voice.

“What are your plans for later?” I ask as an idea pops into my head. I can head to his place from the airport if he’s going home after. I would assume so. But what the hell do I know? It could’ve been a bad game, and maybe the team is going out for drinks or something after. It’s what people in the office do after a bad day at work. Maybe pro teams do the same thing.

“I’m heading home. What time do you land? I always hate coming back home after being on the West Coast. The time difference kills me every time,” he laughs. At least it doesn’t seem forced now.

“Yeah, it does suck,” I agree with him. Then my flight is called. “But listen, they’re calling my flight to board so I’ll text you when I get back home.”

“Okay, angel. Have a safe flight,” he says before ending the call.

I scoop up my purse and head toward the agent checking tickets at the gate. I hand my first class ticket to the attendant who smiles at me while waving me into the tunnel.

By the time I’ve buckled my seat belt, I have a plan in place. I’m going to head straight to his place. I'll stop at the liquor store on the way to his house and then grab a pizza. I’ll be the one to comfort him for once.