Jasper Vale (The Edens #4)(43)

So where was I headed?

The last time I’d been in this position, staring at a blank future, I’d managed to find a career. A best friend.

But that friendship was about to change. When Eloise and I got divorced, Foster would choose a side, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think it would be mine.

Damn, but I’d miss him. The worry of what was to come was like an endless cloud hanging over my head.

Foster jumped up to his bare feet, rolling his arms in big circles, loosening his muscles. “Is Eloise working today?”

“No, she’s at home. The weekend desk clerk needs Saturday off so she’s going to cover and take today off instead.”

When I’d left the cabin this morning, she’d been folding laundry. She’d mentioned running errands later and swinging out to the ranch. There’d been no invitation to tag along, probably because she knew I would have said no.

It had been a month since that awkward and tense dinner with her family. Other than occasionally crossing paths with Talia here at the gym or my infrequent stops at the coffee shop where I’d bump into Lyla, I hadn’t seen much of the Edens.

I preferred it that way.

Eloise didn’t bring them up. Even Foster rarely mentioned them anymore.

I’d only gone to that dinner because Eloise had insisted, but it had taken all my willpower not to call out her parents on their bullshit.

How could they not see how hard she was trying? I had no doubt that they loved her. But there was a reason she was faking this marriage.

Her family, her parents, had put so much pressure on Eloise to change that she’d convinced herself she wasn’t good enough. That to get that hotel, she couldn’t say no. That she had to be perfect.

She already was.

They wanted her to harden that beautiful heart, to put up walls and shut people out. To guard herself so no one, including me, could take advantage of her trusting nature. If they kept pushing, they’d snuff out all of the wonderful that made her Eloise.

But this wasn’t my fight. Considering the unhealthy relationship I had with my own parents, I had no place to speak up. So I’d stayed quiet at dinner.

Did I have to like the Edens? No. And despite Eloise’s wishes, they didn’t need to like me either. I’d be gone soon. The wedding was at the end of the month.

It would be Eloise’s turn to deal with family—mine.

And Sam’s.

After that, she’d realize just how messed up this entire situation was, how shitty it was of me to ask her to go with me to Italy. She’d probably put a rush on drafting our divorce papers.

“What else do you feel like doing?” Foster asked. “Want to spar?”

“Do you?” We’d spent so many years together, I knew what answer was coming.

He shrugged. “Not really.”

“Let’s call it quits.” I stood, walking over to the bench where I’d left my sweatshirt and phone.

“How about we go to lunch?” he asked.

“Sure.” I pulled on my hoodie, covering my sweaty T-shirt. If I only had weeks left in Quincy with Foster, I’d do just about anything he wanted.

Except another painful dinner at the ranch.

“You good with Eden Coffee?”

“Sounds good.”

Although going there felt like a slight betrayal. According to Eloise, Lyla was still acting strange, so she’d been avoiding the coffee shop. But if that was where Foster wanted to eat, I’d let him choose. He had to live in Quincy for the rest of his life. He had to deal with the Edens.

Eloise and Lyla would patch things up after I was gone.

“Mind if I take a quick shower?” Foster jerked his chin to the gym’s small apartment. It was where he’d lived when he’d first moved to Quincy.

“Not at all.” I swept up my phone, taking a seat on the bench while he disappeared into the apartment. A moment later, the water turned on.

I was just about to scroll through the news when my phone rang. My insides knotted at the name on the screen.

Samantha.

The call shouldn’t have surprised me. Ever since I’d mailed the reply to that wedding invitation with my name and a plus-one, I’d known another call was coming. Still, my pulse quickened as my heart crept toward my throat.

“What, Samantha?” I answered, gripping the phone too tight as I pressed it to my ear.

“Oh, my full name. You’re in a bad mood.”

When was I going to stop answering her calls? I regretted it each and every time. Yet here I was, listening to her voice on the other end of the line for the thousandth time. “Did you need something? I’m working.”

“Are you though? I read an article today about Foster Madden’s retirement.”

I gritted my teeth, holding back a snide comment that would just drag this out.

So she’d called to rub it in my face. Sam had always criticized my job as a trainer. To her, it was a hobby. Not something any self-respecting man would do, because it would never make me rich.

I was already rich, something she very well knew, but no amount of money would ever be enough for my ex-wife.

“What’s new? Fuck anyone interesting lately?” she asked.

“Do we really need to do this?”

“Oh, that’s a yes. Tell me all about her. Does she tug your hair just the way you like it?”