Page 11 of Unbelievable You

I hadn’t noticed his eyes the last time, but they were a lovely shade of deep blue and his smile was beautiful.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed. It couldn’t be easy to be that big. I wondered if he’d always been the tallest kid in his class. Probably.

“Is this your first yoga class ever?” I asked, feeling like I wanted to be extra nice to this guy for some reason.

“Yeah, is it that obvious?” He had what looked like a brand-new mat slung across his shoulder and a bottle of water with him.

“Hey, you’re not wearing jeans or sneakers, so you’re already doing better than some people.”

He laughed softly. “Okay, so is there anything else I need? They told me this mat was the best at the store, but I have no idea what makes a good mat.”

They’d probably sold him the most expensive one.

“Why don’t you choose a spot and roll it out and we’ll see,” I told him.

The store had sold him an extra-long mat, which was good given his height.

“So you’re probably going to want a mat towel, and a regular towel. Be right back.” I grabbed both for him, along with a yoga strap.

Torrin listened intently while I explained the yoga towel that would cover his mat, absorb sweat, and give him a better grip. I also got him a yoga strap from the basket in the corner and explained what it could be used for.

By the time I was done, it was almost time to start class.

“You’ve got this,” I told him.

He gave me a weak thumbs up as I sat on his mat with his legs crossed.

I was going to keep my eye on him, but I had the feeling he was going to be fine.

Torrin did survive his first class, and I could see it on his face that he’d had a little bit of a revelation. He waited for me after and told me how much he’d loved it and that he would be back. I gave him my schedule and told him to try other teachers and styles too. He thanked me with so much enthusiasm that I found myself blushing. It was nice to have someone appreciate what you did.

I came back down to earth when I got home and had a message from my mother that we needed to talk. I knew what that meant. She was probably going to start in on me about law school. Again. I didn’t think death would even stop her. I’d still get ghost messages to take the LSAT. A few times in the past I had agreed to sit for the test, but then never showed up. Oh the fights we had after I did that. Memorable.

I kept ignoring her for the rest of the week as I adjusted to my new schedule. Another local studio had taken on some of the other teachers from mine, but the slots they had for me were so early that they wouldn’t work for me, so I decided to stick with the gym for now.

On Saturday, Cade had a small party at Eloise’s house. I showed up with cookies and a bottle of nice wine. Reid also came, even though she was coming off a shift at Sapph, but she brought one of our other friends, Jo. Eloise’s best friend Camille and her family were there as well. The three kids were cute as could be, but high energy. Cade was also high energy, though, so she ended up chasing them in the yard, playing tag, and teaching them jump rope tricks.

Camille’s husband John was quiet but nice, and he did know his way around a grill. The food and company were both excellent. Better than expected.

At one point, Eloise approached me while I was sitting and sipping some wine. Reid was talking to John and Camille, and Jo had joined Cade to play with the kids.

“Enjoying your afternoon?” she asked me, and I could tell she’d been waiting to have a moment alone with me. I’d been expecting it.

“I am.”

She took the chair next to mine and let out a little sigh. Eloise was a beautiful woman. Cade had excellent taste.

She seemed content to sit in silence as we both watched Cade chase the kids around. Eloise smiled softly and laughed when Cade lifted the youngest boy and swung him around in a circle.

“I didn’t want to fall in love with her, you know. I fought it,” she said.

I knew this. Cade had told me all about it.

“But Cadence is a force of nature. And I think when she decided she wanted me, she made it so. An inevitability.”

Well, that did sound like Cade. I couldn’t argue with her there.

I nodded.

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