Chapter 23

I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

I had remembered distantly that warrior training had been advertised as part of the curriculum for Lunarhaven Academy. But I hadn’t given it much thought since I enrolled. Since I’d gotten pregnant, I hadn’t even considered it.

Now, I was trapped. I had approached Coach privately after the announcement, but he said there was no way out of the training, not even for me. It was absolutely mandatory for all students.

“I’ll see if I can find some way to help you,” he had promised, but it had come in the same breath as, “But I really don’t know what we can do.”

Now, in bed, I pulled the blankets over my head and groaned.

Maybe if I spent extra time learning the defensive moves, I could protect my stomach somehow. No, that wouldn’t be enough.

My reaction time had been slowing with my pregnancy. I couldn’t expect to protect myself at every moment.

Suddenly, a knock on the door roused me from my dire thoughts.

I checked the clock. Eight am, on the dot. Who could possibly be here this early?

The knocking came again, steady and insistent.

I rolled off the bed, pulled a blanket around my shoulders, and stumbled to the door.

Outside of it stood a woman with a cart of cleaning supplies. Behind her was another woman holding a clipboard and a food container.

“Are you Cynthia?” the woman with the cleaning supplies asked. When I nodded, she said, “I’m your new housekeeper.”

“And I’m your new nutritionist!” said the woman behind her.

They both pushed into the room. The housekeeper grumbled at the messy state of it and immediately began picking up my dirty clothes.

“You don’t have to…” I mumbled, but she ignored me.

“Here,” said the nutritionist, pressing the food container into my hands. She wore a friendly smile. “Breakfast.”

I peeled back the lid enough to see fresh fruit and oatmeal.

“I also brought some guides for you on how to eat healthy,” the nutritionist said. “We can go over them now if you have the time?”

“I don’t understand,” I told her. I waved to both women. “Where did you come from?”

“Oh? Didn’t Asher tell you to expect us?”

I frowned. “I haven’t talked to Asher.”

The nutritionist only smiled brighter. “Then I have a big surprise. Asher hired us for you!”

Over the next hour, the nutritionist reviewed the guide with me and gave me her number to call with any questions. “I’ll bring breakfast again tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll bring a mop,” the housekeeper said, glaring at the floor. I thought it looked clean, but I guess she wasn’t satisfied.

I thanked them both and closed the door behind them when they left. Then I reached for my phone and dialed Asher.

I wasn’t exactly ready to talk to him yet, but with an act of kindness like this, I couldn’t not thank him.

And maybe I also really wanted to hear his voice again. Not that I would admit so anywhere but the darkest recesses of my mind.

“Cynthia,” he said when he picked up.

Closing my eyes, I tried to control my heartrate. It always raced a bit when he said my name.

“Your new hires showed up at my door this morning,” I said.

“A compromise,” he said. “This way, I can make sure you are healthy, and you don’t have to deal with me directly.”

The words settled uncomfortably in my chest. “You’re tired of me.”

“That’s not what I said,” he immediately replied. Then he sighed. “I’m trying to make things easier for you. I know you dislike my presence. This way, you won’t even have to see me.”

Dislike? Was that what he thought? “Asher. I am grateful, really. But…”

I didn’t know how to say my true thoughts. I couldn’t tell him that I very much didn’t dislike his presence. That it was actually the opposite.

Saying it aloud would admit too much to both him… and myself.

Yet for some reason, I couldn’t bear the thought of him thinking I hated him.

You just have to follow your heart.

Nicole’s words came to me, unbidden. At the time, it had seemed unreasonable advice. Now, it felt impossible to ignore.

“Your presence isn’t…” I searched for a word that wouldn’t give away too much. “Intolerable.”

There was silence on the line. I checked, but he hadn’t ended the call.

Finally, his voice came, soft. “Good.” A beat, and then it was stronger. “But the nutritionist and the housekeeper are staying.”

I huffed in frustration. “I didn’t say that to get you to call them off. I don’t mind the help.”

Actually my room looked the best it ever had since I moved in. And I already felt more energetic than usual from the healthy breakfast, despite my lack of sleep the night before.

“Glad we agree,” Asher said. “Now tell me why they said you looked so exhausted.”

Of course, anyone Asher hired would report to him. I’d have to be careful in the future, if I wanted to keep secrets from him.

This time, though, I had no trouble sharing. Maybe Asher could think of some solution to my problem.

“Warrior training starts soon,” I said, hoping that was enough.

It was. “I see,” Asher replied. “Don’t let it affect your sleep. I’ll take care of it.”

“Take care of it how?”

He hummed. “Trust me.” Then he ended the call.

I stared at my phone in bemusement. His phone etiquette really was atrocious.

Even so, talking to him had loosened a knot tangled in my chest, and not just because I trusted him to look out for me.

Our brief conversation had my heart aflutter, and all we did was talk.

Funny how talking to Asher made my heart race faster than the prospect of a date with that nervous guy ever did.

I was being unkind to that guy, keeping him waiting for an answer.

And I was being just as cruel to myself, by pretending he would be enough.

You just have to follow your heart.

I opened my messages and found his text.

I typed, I’m sorry but there’s someone else.

And I hit send.

Our cheerleading practice had been converted into warrior training for the next week, so when we gathered in the gym, we added elbow and knee pads to our usual work-out clothes.

I could stop my hands from trembling. Asher had said to trust him, and I did. He wouldn’t want me to get hurt.

But here I was standing at practice while training dummies were being set up, and Elena was eying me like she couldn’t wait to knock me down.

“You got this!” Nicole said to me, giving me a thumbs’ up. My anxiety must have been obvious.

I nodded to her, but continued to worry.

“Alright, girls, gather around.” Coach checked his watch. “We’ll be starting soon. We’re just waiting for the rest of our crew to show up.”

“We’re all here, Coach,” one of the cheerleaders said.

Before Coach could reply, the door to the gym opened. The sunshine outside was blinding compared to the artificial interior lights. I had to shield my eyes at first, as a figure stepped through the doorway.

“Sorry I’m late, Coach.”

I knew that voice.

I’ll take care of it, he’d said. Trust me, he’d said.

The door closed behind him and I could see again.

“Asher?”