My brows shot high, and I searched the room and did a double take, my gaze landing on a man I hadn’t seen for over ten years.No way. “Mark Lonsdale.” Shock had me pausing before his words registered fully and the reality that my old college friend was here, in this room, hit me.
And looking at his name tag, he was the academy’s counselor.
CHAPTER16
SUTTON
Mark fucking Lonsdale.Life had to be messing with me.
The guy looked nothing like I remembered, not that I’d known him all that well. But with the tight hug and back slaps he gave Jayden, his bright eyes and flushed cheeks, my stomach bottomed out, and my chest tightened.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Jayden’s voice was light and excited. “Man, it’s been what, ten years?”
“Eleven.”
That response right there had me moving my feet. “Mark,” I said with a chin lift, forcing myself to offer a hand.
Jayden flipped a look at me, a grin on his face as he stepped away so Mark could shake my hand.
“Good to see you again.” While I couldn’t find it in me to smile, I kept my tone pleasant. Unaffected.
Yeah, that was totally me, dealing with an unhealthy shade of green for the first time in my life and freakin’ the crap out.
He gripped my hand and gave me a friendly shake while I worked hard at not being a dickhead and squeezing tightly. I pulled away, calling myself all manner of names in my head.
I was not a prick. I was not this guy.
“You too,” Mark answered, the same smile he’d given Jayden directed my way. Something eased a little at seeing it, and I attempted a slight curve of my lips. “How about we all catch up later? For now, we should get started.”
I slowly exhaled, keeping the action light, controlled.
It took me only a couple of seconds to deduce he was the counselor. That meant he had to be a good guy, right? Sure, I was grasping, but if he was an asshole who liked hitting on other people’s boyfriends, these guys wouldn’t have offered him a job. Because of course that was part of the interview process.
I silently groaned and angled toward an empty chair, disliking how irrational I was being. Spotting two open seats, I headed that way, turned, sat, and changed my mind completely about Mark fucking Lonsdale when I caught him wink at Jayden.
The session started, Jayden at my side. Meanwhile, I could barely concentrate.
This was not how it was supposed to go.
Being here, agreeing to this gig was filled with good intentions for sure, but there was also the pull of using the time to figure things out. Part of that was embracing counseling in a safe environment, one that was mandatory so I wouldn’t feel in the spotlight or singled out.
Nothing about this felt safe, and I wondered whether Mark knowing us would be some sort of conflict of interest, meaning our sessions, at least our one-on-one session, wouldn’t be able to go ahead. Certain that was the case, I relaxed a little, shoulders losing some of their tension. And when I felt a soft touch at my neck, I angled to see Jayden reaching out and briefly touching me. Ease swept over me.
My smile was real, receiving one back immediately.
“—why you were interested in being part of the program. A reminder that in this space, we respect opinions, and we also request privacy. You can share as little or as much as you want.”
Shit. Having not been fully paying attention, I’d missed at least five minutes of whatever Mark had been saying. But it sounded like I had to participate in some way.
Nerves leaped into my throat, something so unusual that my reaction had me sitting up straighter in my seat. Speaking in crowds had never been an issue. Nor had informal group sessions I’d led when back in college as part of my course.
Hell, I spoke on national TV regularly, had done so in packed stadiums, never once breaking into a sweat.
My reputation for keeping my shit together and being the epitome of reasonable while keeping my cool wasn’t something I aspired to. It simply was.
Until now.
And I didn’t like spiraling one single bit.
