Whiskey & Wildflowers

Chapter 14

After a restless sleep, Josie slipped out of bed early, careful not to wake Henrik. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid him forever, but she wasn't ready to face him yet either, so she needed to put distance between them. A morning workout could be just what she needed to get her mind straight, so she changed into her gear and headed towards the gym. She'd been slacking of late, and it would be good to get back into her familiar routine.

The morning air was crisp, the lawn sparkling with dew. She took her time stretching, warming up her muscles before beginning her workout in earnest.

The knot that had been in her stomach since the night before persisted, refusing to loosen as she put her body through its paces. She couldn't even put her finger on why she was so affected, just that it all felt... weighty. Significant. Like their bodies were communicating on a deeper level than just sexual.

Which was crazy. Josie liked Henrik well enough — he was attractive, kind, and funny. She enjoyed spending time with him, and she certainly enjoyed their chemistry in bed. But that was it. She was placing no expectations on their couple, not even considering the idea that they could attempt to make things work on the outside. Maybe she would have felt differently if Lucas were still around and she was coupled up with him, but Henrik? They were so different. She was a social media influencer, caught up in a world in which he had interest. He was a wilderness survival expert, for goodness' sake — not that she was afraid of the outdoors, but her idea of a vacation was lying on a beach. Maybe an easy hike, or some snorkeling, but mountain climbing?

It was all out of her element.

The worst part was, she knew Henrik had stronger feelings than she did — he'd said as much a couple days earlier. Was she leading him on? Would he get in too deep, only to have his heart broken? She didn't want to do that to him — didn't want that on her conscience.

Her best bet was breaking things off before things became more serious.

But then, who would she couple up with? If she was calculating correctly, they were almost halfway through their time in the villa. It might be too late to jump ship.

"Morning, Josie."

She paused her workout to catch her breath, her lungs heaving as she glanced up to see Noah and Jakub approaching. She gave them a lopsided grin.

"Slackers. You're late."

"You're up early," he replied, raising his arms over his head and stretching his muscles.

Jakub merely grunted as he headed straight for the weights.

"Why waste such a beautiful morning?" Josie replied with a shrug.

"You're right." Noah gave her a soft smile, and for a moment, she let herself entertain the idea of them as a couple. What if he hadn't gotten caught up with Hope and Priya so early on? What if he'd picked her instead of Hannah that first day?

She shook off the thought as she grabbed a set of weights and began doing lunges, fighting past the burning sensation of her muscles. Noah was nice enough, and certainly attractive — but she wasn't sure they would have made it very far.

After a few minutes, she sidled up to him. "So, you and Priya..."

Noah's eyes widened before briefly darting towards Jakub. He lowered his voice to just above a whisper, clearly not wanting the other man to hear. "She told you? That we..."

"That you've talked about coupling up? Yeah. And if you want my two cents, I think it's about time."

He visibly relaxed, then lowered himself to the ground, where he began his leg stretches.