Page 105 of Gym Bros
“And?”
“He denied it. Said my mom was the only one for him. That he would never.”
I nod.
“Not sure I believe him, though,” Sam adds.
“Why not?”
“Because he gave me everything I ever asked for after that.”
“Oh.”
“Do you know who I’m talking about? Elizabeth Cain?”
“I’ve met her,” I say.
“You ever see her with my dad?”
“I mean—we’ve—yeah. But not like—not like the way you’re saying.”
Samuel takes a huge breath, and his shoulders drop about six inches.
“I’ve been in a few shows with her. Marcus is always at the shows, but in terms of seeing them liketogethertogether—” That wasme.
But it could be Elizabeth, too. I suspect Marcus sleeps with a lot of people, but the man is really fucking discreet. And I’m kind of thanking God for that right now.
“Anyway,” Sam says, like he’s shaking off the thought. “What do you want me to do?”
“Partner plank,” I remind him. “And I need you to focus.”
Samuel puts himself into a strong, perfect plank, which is still his best pose. I walk over to him and stand next to him facing his feet for a moment while I try to figure out the best way to accomplish this. Hands first, I think. Stepping over his back to straddle him, I bend forward and put my hands on his ankles. “You good? Holding steady?” I ask.
“Yep. I could do this all day.”
“Okay, well, here I come.”
I put the toes of one foot on his shoulder and find my balance before lifting my other leg off the floor. I check our reflection, and my ass is up way too high, so I readjust my hands and feet until I’m fully extended, the tops of my feet on his shoulders.
“Nice,” he says, checking us out.
“Look how cute we are. Oh, shit, am I allowed to say that?”
He laughs, and it’s nice to hear after all that heavy shit just now.
“Where’d you get the idea for this?” he asks.
“It’s just partner yoga. It’s a whole thing. Like goat yoga.”
“They have classes for this too?” he asks.
Unlike him, I cannot hold a plank forever, but I brace my core and steady my breath. “Yeah. You wanna go to one?”
“Me? Am I your partner?”
My elbows nearly give way with the full frontal assault of the question, and I figure it’s time to climb down. I’m not gentle about it, springing my toes off his back and landing with both my feet on the floor at once.
He makes an oomph sound, and his body wobbles slightly, but once I’m off, he lowers to the floor and rolls onto his side, knocking my leg out from under me, sending me directly to my ass.
