Chapter Twenty
THE NEXT MORNING Brock took Jana through a grueling workout. They worked the heavy bag, the speed bag—her least favorite, because she wasn’t very fast—and then he had her jumping rope and sparring for four rounds.
“You don’t have as much steam as usual,” Brock said as she took a drink from her water bottle. “Anything going on you want to talk about?”
She shook her head. “Not really. I just have so much going on right now.” She’d been thinking about the exhibition match. As much as she loved to fight, she knew she wasn’t up to par. She simply didn’t carry the same level of aggression as she had a week ago, and she knew it was the change in her and Hunter’s relationship. Maybe giving up the fight, easing up on her need to do absolutely everything, was the slowing down that she needed.
“Hunter told me about the exhibition match, but would you be upset if I don’t fight in it? I’m just so crazed with trying to decide about the studio and everything right now. I feel like one more thing might push me over the edge.”
He handed her a towel and she wiped her face.
“Not at all. Listen, fighting was your idea, and if it’s causing you stress, or you’re not enjoying it, don’t continue because of me. Take some time off if you need it.”
“Thanks, Brock. I’m okay. I just don’t want the added pressure of an exhibition match. Thank you for understanding, though.”
“I have to admit, I was surprised to hear from Hunter the other morning.”
She’d wondered when Brock was going to get around to mentioning the call, and in the days since, she’d tried to figure out how to handle it when he finally got around to it.
“Sorry about missing that practice and not calling you myself. The night before had been a particularly rough night.” She sat down on the bench and leaned her back against the wall.
“Yeah, Harper told me.” His stare was steady, and she wondered just how much Harper had shared. “Sorry about the Seaside space. But I’m sure you’ll find someplace else.”
“Do you think it’s a mistake?”
“Opening a dance studio? Of course not. You’re so talented, Jana, and you love teaching. Why work for a guy who doesn’t appreciate it and takes advantage of you?”
She nodded, thinking about Hunter, who appreciated everything about her and pushed her to do the same. “Hunter offered me his place out on Route 6.”
“Seriously?” Brock’s eyes narrowed, as if he were questioning why Hunter would do that, and just as quickly the look faded and he smiled. “That’s prime space. Can you afford the rent?”
“Gosh, we haven’t even talked about the rent. I don’t know how I feel about renting from Hunter.”
“Why?” He cocked his head in that older brother sort of way that said, Do I need to hurt somebody?
She shrugged, trying to act casual. “He’s a friend. What if something goes wrong? It could kill our friendship.”
“Listen, I might have warned you about dating Hunter because I think he plays around a lot, but he’s a good man. Even if you burned the place down, he’d know it was an accident.”
Hearing Brock talk about Hunter playing around and knowing that the only playing around he’d done in the last six months was with her made her want to defend him. She contemplated telling Brock that they were seeing each other, but she wasn’t ready to take that step yet. She gazed up at him waiting patiently for her to respond, like he had all the time in the world, when she knew that he, like her, had a million things he had to take care of.
“Can I ask you something?” she finally asked.
“Anything, sis.”
“Why do you think none of us have settled down with anyone? I mean, you’re twenty-nine, superhot, nice as can be, and you don’t have a steady girlfriend. Harper is, like, made to be married or something, and Colton’s successful and truly the nicest guy around.” She smiled at Brock. “No offense, but you’re big and scary-looking when you’re mad, and Colton doesn’t have that same edge. Did Mom and Dad mess us all up somehow?”
Brock laughed. “Mom and Dad didn’t mess us up. We had great role models. They love each other; they just have old-fashioned values. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing that worries me. I was kind of hoping you’d say that they did something that I don’t remember, because if that were true, it wouldn’t come down to me being too messed up to commit to a relationship.” She wasn’t about to tell her brother that she had no idea why she was willing to give so much to a man who was obviously willing to give even more, but she was still having trouble fully committing. Hunter had called her his girlfriend that morning instead of his girl, and it had sent a wave of panic through her again.
Brock shrugged. “We all have our reasons. I’m busy with the club and I’m very picky. Harper’s been working on her writing career, and Colton? Well, from what Colton says, it’s different for gay guys. They’re less into monogamy than chicks are.”
“Maybe I’m really a gay man,” Jana teased.
He searched her eyes. “Huh?”
“It scares me, committing to a relationship. I just know I’ll mess it up.”
Brock sat beside her and leaned his elbows on his knees, wringing his hands together. “The guys you dated when you were younger really did a job on you. And I think that mess with Spencer broke something in you, Jana. It’s always worried me.”
“That’s just it, Brock. I don’t think it was them, or specifically Spencer. This is all on me. I’m the one who messed up my relationships.”
“That’s not true. All guys aren’t all clingy like Spencer.” His tone turned serious. “If you’d just give yourself a chance—”
“Thanks, but this isn’t about Spencer. He’s just the last guy I committed to. This is about me. You guys all have good reasons for not wanting to commit, and I don’t have anything more solid than knowing I’m not good at relationships.” She’d committed to not committing. It made no sense, and it worried her that she’d throw that away on a guy with a reputation that even her brother couldn’t deny. But her heart told her otherwise.
“Jana, you’re spinning all this in your head. You think we didn’t get Mom and Dad’s old-fashioned values, but I don’t believe that. I think we’re all good people. We care about others. We work hard. We’re just on different timetables with our love lives. But that’s okay. That doesn’t mean we don’t have solid values. It just means we’re human.”
She rose to her feet and took another drink from her water bottle. “I better take off. I’m teaching a class at ten, and I want to get in touch with Sky. Hunter’s letting me do a test class at his place to see how I like it. I want to invite Sky and the girls for a Foxy Mamas class.”
“Okay. But listen, if you want to talk more, text me. We can meet for a drink or something.” He stood and pulled her into a hug. “There’s nothing you can’t be good at Jana, including relationships. If you want to be good at relationships, you will be.”
She gathered her gym bag and equipment and hurried out to her car, thinking about what Brock had said. Was that true? Did she not want this with Hunter? She stopped cold at the sight of Hunter leaning against her car. His booted feet were crossed at the ankles, and his thick arms were crossed over his broad chest. When he lifted his eyes to hers and pushed from the car, her steps faltered.
He’d left her house early to meet Grayson at a job site, and she hadn’t been expecting to see him until that evening. “What are you doing here? How did your meeting go?”
“I missed you.” He raked his eyes down her body, and she flamed from the inside out. “You look really hot in that little boxing outfit.”
It was no wonder that he made her head spin when he actually touched her; he could turn her on with nothing more than a graze of his eyes.
“Oh, and the meeting went well.”
He bent down to kiss her, and as she went up on her toes to meet him halfway, she glanced over her shoulder to see if Brock was watching.
“Come on, babe. How long are you going to keep this up?” Hunter snapped.
She tried to ignore the piercing guilt his question inspired and tossed her gear in the back of her car.
“You can’t hide us forever, and I don’t even understand why you are. It’s starting to piss me off.”
“I’m not trying to upset you.” He’d brought this up a lot lately, but no matter how many times he reassured her, she still worried. “Aren’t you concerned at all about all our friendships? We hang out with all of our brothers and sisters. What if we break up? Then they’ll feel weird around us anytime we’re together.”
He folded her in his arms and gave her that look that made her insides go all fluttery. He was pushing for her to give in. Hunter always pushed her past her comfort zones.
“Listen to me, pretty girl. The only thing coming between us is your fear of commitment.”
She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he was right. She loved the way he pursued her, and his confidence in their relationship, but she still wasn’t sure that letting everyone know they were together was the smartest thing to do. The thought of putting Sky in that weird position was enough to make her hold her ground.
“Okay, maybe it’s your inability to trust that the guy I’ve become is here to stay, but that’s all on you, babe, not me. I’m in this for the long haul. I know you’re the woman for me, and I know I’m the only man for you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “One day you’ll realize that, too.”
“Why do you always have to push so hard?”
“You think that’s hard?” His smile turned wicked. “That’s so soft it’s practically liquid.”
Her steely resolve instantly turned molten.
Hunter dug his hand into his pocket and handed her a key as he stepped in closer, bringing all that heat with him. “I know we talked about you getting the girls together for a class tonight, so I wanted to be sure you had a key. I’m going to babysit Billy so Clark and Nina can go out.”
“You are?” For some reason the thought of Hunter babysitting again melted her resolve even more. She looked down at the key and noticed it was on a key chain of a heart that said TAKEN. He was bossy even when he didn’t say a word.
She arched a brow and he held his palm up toward the sky. “What? It’s true.”
She laughed.
“Want to come by after the class if I’m still babysitting?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
He kissed her again. “Then it’s a date. You, me, and the little guy. No dirty stuff, though.”
“Okay. I’ll try to behave myself.” She climbed into the car and he closed the door, then leaned in to give her a kiss. “Thanks for bringing me the key and for letting me try out the space.”
“Anything for you, pretty girl.” He kissed her again. “You’d better take off, or I’m going to climb in that car and take off that sexy little outfit of yours and have my way with you.”
“Promises, promises.” She blew him a kiss and waved as she drove away, knowing he’d have kept that promise if she’d stayed. She was learning that Hunter’s word was as good as gold.