Acting Out of Love by Emily Evermore

Author:Emily Evermore [Evermore, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Enchanted Shore Press
Published: 2020-03-06T05:00:00+00:00

“Alright, man, out with it.”

Owen grunted, getting the bar up. One more set. “What?”

“You know what,” Brett said, leaning further over him, fingers at the ready as he spotted Owen’s bench presses. He had that determined look on his face that Owen knew well. It was the same look he got whenever he was about to spring a new, torturous workout on him. “You’ve been off all day. Your form’s been terrible, you’re struggling through our circuits, and you’re not nearly as chatty as you usually are. Your head is somewhere else, man.”

Owen pumped the bar up and down twice before answering. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Brett lifted an eyebrow. “Crystal stopped by here the other day.”

Owen’s concentration broke. He tried to push the bar up again, but his power and focus were gone. He grunted, the bar sliding to one side as his fatigued muscles refused to cooperate. Brett’s fingers hovered beneath the bar, taunting him with rescue.

“I got rid of her and told her to stop hanging around, but she still ran her mouth. She mentioned seeing you with another girl and kept asking if I knew her.”

“Brett,” Owen said, glaring at his brother. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“Hey, I’m your brother. Shouldn’t I know who you’re dating?”

“I’m not dating anyone.” Owen grunted beneath the weight of the bar. “Besides, you’ll just tell Mom.”

He acted affronted. “I would never.”

“Brett!”

“Just give me a name.”

“Jenny.”

Immediately Brett took hold of the bar, lifting it back onto the rack. Owen’s chest heaved up and down, sweat dripping down his forehead.

“There, was that so hard?” Brett asked, grinning like the devil.

“You,” Owen breathed, sitting up on the bench, “are fired.”

Brett laughed at what he knew were empty words. “Owen, why didn’t you tell me about her? You know I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Owen took a few deep breaths before answering. “I did tell you about her.”

It took a few beats for Brett to answer. “The dog walker?”

Owen nodded.

“Okay,” Brett said, sitting down on the mat and stretching both legs out in front of him. “How about you start from the beginning and I may just let you relax for fifteen minutes while you tell me the story.”

Owen pursed his lips, rubbing his sweat-drenched neck. He’d been wanting to talk to someone about it for a while now, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. It was just bringing that part of his life, the lie he’d created, one step closer to not being real. It was fantasy to pretend he was someone he wasn’t. And he was feeling more and more guilty about the lie he’d created around himself where Jenny was concerned. Maybe telling Brett was a necessary step towards telling Jenny the truth.

So Owen told Brett the whole story. When he finished the sweat had dried on his body, leaving him uncomfortably sticky. Brett didn’t say anything for a while.

“Well?” Owen said finally when he couldn’t take it anymore. “What should I do? How can I possibly tell her the truth now? She’ll hate me.

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