Page 25 of California Wild

Relief flooded her chest. “You’re the best.”

“I know.”

They wrapped up the call, and Hayley closed her eyes for a second, breathing in the sharp scent of espresso and warm pastries from the counter.

One thing down.

She grabbed a quick bite—a veggie sandwich and a banana from the café next door—before heading toward her hot yoga studioa few blocks away. She’d been going to this place for years. Dedicated. Same time, same classes.

By the time she walked inside, the humidity wrapped around her like a second skin. The familiar earthy scent of burning incense, eucalyptus, and sweat filled the air.

The studio was dimly lit, music low, bodies already moving through slow stretches.

This was what she needed.

To sweat. To breathe. To just be.

For the next sixty minutes, she moved through poses, letting herself burn out the stress, the static, the restlessness that had been clinging to her since last night.

By the time the class ended, she felt lighter.

Not fixed.

Not suddenly sure of everything.

But a little less tangled up.

She rolled up her mat, shouldering her backpack, and stepped outside into the sun, feeling the warm breeze cool the sweat against her skin.

* * * * *

The moment Hayley stepped out of the yoga studio, the warm California breeze hit her, carrying the scent of salt and eucalyptus, pavement baking under the sun.

Her body still hummed from the class, muscles loose, skin damp with sweat. She adjusted her backpack strap, exhaling, already mentally sorting through the rest of her day—

Then she saw him.

Across the street, leaning against a sleek, black motorcycle, stood Jesse Navarro.

Arms crossed. Sunglasses on. Watching her.

Hayley’s breath caught.

For a second, she thought she was imagining him.

But no—he was real.

And so much worse in the daylight.

Tall. Muscular. Tanned. That golden-blond mess of curls barely tamed. Tattoos visible where his T-shirt stretched over his biceps.

And the way he was looking at her.

Like he wanted to devour her.

Her stomach flipped.

Jesse didn’t move, didn’t call out, didn’t wave her over.

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