Page 70 of I Could Be Yours

“I would have joined you for yoga,” Flip says.

“Bond with the bros and do something competitive. We’ll see you in a couple of hours.” Rix, the girls, and I gather our stuff and stop by our rooms to freshen up.

I rinse off quickly in the shower, change into a pair of yoga shorts and a sports bra, and grab my bag and a gift I picked up for Rix on the way out of my room. I stop at Rix and Tristan’s suite, crossing my fingers as I knock on her door.

“Who is it?” she calls.

“Your bestie!”

She opens the door dressed in yoga shorts and a crop top, looking relieved. “Thank God.”

“Did Tristan follow you back and try to seduce you?”

“Yeah, but I put the safety latch on. There is no such thing as a quickie with him. It’s always a marathon of orgasms.”

“It’s a hard life, being engaged to a hockey player who loves you to pieces.” A pang of guilt hits me over the fact that I’m hiding things from her. But what’s going on with me and Nate has an expiration date. We don’t want the same things. I have my heart set on the fairy tale. I want someone who believes that love conquers all. I want a family and a cat named Teacup and a dog named Sparkles. I want romance and eventually babies and growing old and wrinkly together. I want someone who will love me even when the beauty fades.

Rix’s face gets all dreamy for a moment. “Tristan is a really dedicated fiancé.”

“He is. I’m so glad you fought for each other.”

“Me too.” She smiles. “Let’s go do yoga with the girls.”

We meet up with them and walk over to the studio.

“Thank you for setting this up for us.” Hemi’s arm is around Shilpa’s shoulders. “I love that we’re getting in some quality time that doesn’t include a sports competition with the boys.”

“Agreed! I love that the guys want to do things, but I can’t be high octane every moment.” Hammer rolls her head on her shoulders. “I could definitely use some yoga to stretch out all my tight muscles.”

“Is that from the volleyball game earlier, or your alone time with Hollis?” Rix asks.

The guys spent about five minutes lounging before they became restless and decided beach volleyball was a good idea. They do nothing at a leisurely pace.

“Both.” Hammer cringes and looks at Lexi. “I probably shouldn’t admit these things in front of you.”

Lexi shrugs. “Technically I know I’m your stepmom, which is all kinds of weird for both of us, but I view you as a friend. I will never repeat any of this to Roman, because it’s better that he lives in the land of make-believe where you do none of thethings the rest of us do with our partners behind closed doors.”

Hammer hugs Lexi. “I appreciate you.”

We enter the yoga studio, grab mats, and get comfortable as the instructor introduces herself. It’s exactly what we all need—an hour of time with friends, without extreme cardio and testosterone. Shilpa falls asleep fifteen minutes in. The instructor covers her with a blanket and tucks a pillow under her head before the rest of us continue.

“Jeez, you’re bendy,” Dred says when I move into the advanced form of pigeon pose.

“I took gymnastics for a lot of years, and I was a cheerleader in high school and university.” I often keep this kind of personal information to myself because people put me in a box labeledtoo pretty to have a brain, but I feel safe with these girls.

She nods. “That definitely explains the bendiness.”

“And yes, I dated the quarterback.” It was so cliché.

“Was he the hottest guy in the school?” Hammer asks.

“Tristan was the hottest back then, closely followed by Flip,” I explain.

“But the quarterback ranked third overall,” Rix chimes in. “What was his name again, Ess?”

“Jett Hudson.” I gave him devil horns in my yearbook.

“Oh, that name screams hot jock,” Dred replies.

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