Hard Knox - Riley Hart Page 0,46

know you. You’re a good man. You wouldn’t do anything to hurt Logan. If you moved forward with Callum and it didn’t work out, you would make sure he was okay and you would still be close to him, like you are with your ex-wife. The second is, I’ve never seen you like this. Yeah, you have fun. I’ve seen you hook up and date around, casually, but this feels different. Don’t you owe it to yourself to see why that is? Don’t you deserve that?”

I wanted it to be that easy. Wanted to be able to answer him yes and tell him none of the other stuff mattered and mean it. But the truth was, I didn’t know if I could, so I just said, “Thanks for the talk, man. I should get home to Logan.”

Law nodded and squeezed my shoulder again.

I was no closer to having an answer than when I’d come.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Callum

Two. Fucking. Weeks.

It had been two fucking weeks since I’d seen Knox, and I wanted to strangle him…and maybe myself, which, yeah, was a little weird, but I couldn’t put all this on him. I hadn’t made any effort either, and the few times Logan had asked when I was coming over again, I’d made excuses, but still, I was doing it to make sure Knox was okay. To let him work through whatever was going on inside his head. And maybe because I was scared to see him too.

This was exactly what I’d been afraid would happen, and I’d let it anyway. Now everything was a mess.

I’d enjoyed my time with Knox and Logan so much, I hadn’t even taken the time to make friends in Havenwood outside of them. Remington fucking Monroe had offered to have meals with me at Sunrise, and I hadn’t done it. Josh had said we could go to Richmond sometime, and I hadn’t done that either. Kellan was fun to talk to, and that was another thing I hadn’t pursued. Not that they were actively pursuing it with me, but at least they had offered.

I was determined to make that change today. I would get out. I would make friends. I would get over Knox Wheeler and find a way to be friends with him again.

It was a Friday, and I happened to be off at the clinic. I put on some workout clothes and made my way to the gym. I remembered them saying Josh owned it, so that might be a way to chat with him again and make some plans. Plus, it was about time I got back into a decent exercise routine. It was something I’d always done in LA but hadn’t found the time for since moving to Havenwood.

I saw Josh and his dark hair the second I walked in. And okay, I couldn’t miss his body either. Josh looked like one of those guys you admired on Instagram, with the perfect physiques and muscles and, well, obviously he was gorgeous. Currently, he was leaning over the counter, talking to the employee on the other side of it, a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties.

He glanced my way, then did a double take, and smiled. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

“Pretty good. Was thinking it’s about time I joined the gym before I started to lose my girlish figure,” I teased, making him laugh.

“You’ve come to the right place. Well, the only place in Havenwood, but that’s beside the point.” He glanced at the other worker. “He’s a friend. I’ll help him, Jasmine.”

Oh, I liked that, liked that he called me a friend.

“We’ll get you taken care of in my office.”

I followed Josh toward a door, which he unlocked and let me inside. He left it open, signaling for me to sit down.

“You liking Havenwood so far?”

“Yeah, getting my bearings. I have a bigger patient load, but still doing mostly urgent care. I probably should start looking for my own place, but I haven’t quite made it that far yet.”

“Yeah, I hear ya.”

I handed over my ID and debit card. He took the rest of my info, asked me about different packages, and signed me up.

When we were finished, he said, “Still looking to head to Richmond sometime? Kell used to be my bar buddy, but now that he and Chase are together, he’s left me on my own.”

My stomach twisted uncomfortably. Not because I didn’t want to be friends with Josh, because I did. Not even because I didn’t want to head