Your father says good luck today.
I scowled and slid my phone away. So we were still playing the denial game then.
“I’ll take that if you’re finished.”
I looked up to find Leslie standing over me, her hand held out. I passed her the clipboard and mumbled a thanks. She smiled and retreated.
Another few minutes passed. I tried hard not to think about Dad. Or Mom. Or anything resembling my old life here.
Breckenridge was home now.
Steve was my family.
Frowning, I remembered the way he’d taken my injury. Disappointment over losing his “star” competitor as he liked to call me, sure. But it was more than that. He’d been after me for years now to go pro. My refusals had meant nothing. If anything, he’d seen me as more of a challenge. But this injury had convinced him that would never happen. His distance from me as a coach made sense. As a friend, it stung. Some family.
“Easton Raines.”
The sound of my name pulled me from my thoughts. The voice that said it pulled my inner wolf to attention.
My head snapped up, and my eyes locked on the girl standing in the doorway. Not girl. Woman.
My wolf practically growled the correction.
For nearly a month now, the damn beast inside me had been utterly silent. Now, it was all I could do to contain him.
Slowly, I rose, walking toward her as I studied her features. Sexy. Gorgeous. Familiar.
Her deep brown eyes landed on mine, and recognition hit me like a wave taking me under.
My wolf nearly howled.
My heart thundered.
Something inside me—a missing piece I didn’t even know I was looking for—slid into place. Like a key into a lock.
What the fuck?
Just like that, after ten years, I was face to face with Cat Bequette, my high school sweetheart. And just like that, my wolf had chosen her for its mate.
4
Cat
Holy. . . Was this real?
I’d read the name as I’d said it with no time to realize who the patient was until the words were out of my mouth. Now, all I could do was stare as he limped over to where I waited. My heart thudded against my ribs. My mouth went dry, and my tongue—shit, I couldn’t feel my tongue! Get it together, Cat.
“Cat? Is it really you? You look fantastic.”
His dark hair was a bit longer now, sweeping down his forehead nearly to his eyes. I studied his sharp jawline and those blue eyes the color of an icy ocean. East had always been way too handsome for his own good, but ten years had only made it worse. Or better. He was still the sexiest thing on two legs. And I was still clearly hung up. Damn.
“Hello, East.”
He scanned the length of me, and I pressed my toes against the bottom of my shoes to keep them from curling. The room spun.
I did not need a distraction like this right now. Not on top of everything else.
His gaze caught on my nametag which also listed my job title as therapist.
“You’re a physical therapist.”
“Among other things.”
Owner and manager wouldn’t fit on the plastic. But I wasn’t about to get into all that now. None of his business anyway.
His mouth lifted slightly. Not a smile but something resembling interest. “Are you my physical therapist?”
God, why did it sound dirty when he said it? So possessive?
“I am. Why don’t you, uh, follow me?”
Before he could turn that into an innuendo, I turned and led the way back to the intake area, heart pounding. Maybe I could ask Karen to swap. But no. Then East would know I bailed. And he’d know why. I refused to let him know he could still affect me—especially after how he’d ended things between us. Better to push through this.
Damn, I wish I’d read the patient file ahead of time.
But Rudy’s nagging had made me late, and now—
“You look the same as the last time I saw you.”
His voice, the deep, rich timbre of it, still made my insides heat.
I led the way into the new patient area and dropped his file onto the counter. “You mean the day you left.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He tilted his head as my tone registered. “Is something wrong?”
I channeled my inner Rudy and mustered every shred of New Age Zen I could find. Forcing cheer and lightness I said, “Not at all. Just a busy morning. It’s good to see you again.”
“Good to see you too.” A shadow passed over his features. “I just heard about your parents. I’m sorry.”
Grief welled up, hitting me harder than expected. Something about those words coming from East made the wounds feel fresh again. “Thanks. It’s been a hard year.”
“I can’t imagine. They were amazing people, Cat.”
“They were.” I forced back the urge to let a tear slip. Crying on my ex’s shoulder was not an option. Especially when he hadn’t so much as called or texted last year when it happened.
I cleared my throat. “Why don’t you tell me what brings you in today?”
He looked like he wanted to say more about it. I was relieved when he let it go.
“Snowboarding accident. A month ago, I went up for a supercat—no pun intended—and didn’t so much land it as succumb to gravity’s laws.”
I ignored the pun on my name—and the smirk that came with it. “And for those of us who don’t know what a supercat is?”
“A double wildcat?”
I shrugged.
“A wildcat is sort of a backward cartwheel. A supercat is two of them.”
“Two backward cartwheels,” I repeated, impressed despite my best efforts to resist. “In the air.”
“Guess I’m a bit of an adventure seeker.”
“Or an idiot,” I mumbled.
He grinned then continued, “Anyway, I came down hard on my left leg. Not enough weight dispersion, I guess. My knee popped, and I’ve been in pain ever since.”
“Yes, I remember your mother saying you were working for some fancy resort. Do
