“Ego?” He jerks back, clearly offended.
“Yep.” I nod. “You used our kiss last night to divert attention away from the news of your lawsuit. Your publicist didn’t waste any time letting you know how effective it was. Bravo. You hated that I didn’t play along with that stunt you pulled last night, and now my silence is bothering you. So much so that you tracked me down and crashed my yoga class.” I pause. “Wait, how did you know I’d be here?”
This very question didn’t dawn on me until now.
Ten seconds of silence, then… “Julianna. I’ve heard her mention coming with you to this studio a few times. I took my chances.”
“Right.” I nod once, accepting his answer. It’s true, I’ve taken both of my best friends and my sister to at least one yoga class each, and it’s safe to say they’ve never wanted to come back since.
“Selene…” He blows out a hot breath.
There’s a growing tightness in my chest that’s ready to snap. I can’t put my finger on one single moment that’s brought me to this point, but the more I look at Holt lying in front of me, the tighter the knot gets. It’s suffocating. Overwhelming.
Holt’s relentless searing gaze is unnerving. Enough to cause the dam I’ve built to break. “Look, I’m sorry my silence has suddenly bothered you enough to come down here. If I knew you’d be this inconvenienced, I would have saved us both the embarrassment and responded to you earlier.”
“Selene, listen?—”
“Why are you here, Holt?” I ask too loudly, my thoughts overruling all common sense. Once the words leave my mouth, I know I’ve broken one of the most sacred yoga rules.
“Shh!” Alison hisses. “No talking.”
Both Holt and I snap our heads toward the front of the class, half of which is staring at us, the other half hanging their heads low, pretending not to be listening to our conversation.
My cheeks bloom with heat when Alison’s eyes narrow sharply.
I mouth, “I’m sorry,”to her before slipping into the next position she wants us to in: child’s pose. I bend forward, bringing my chest to my legs and reaching my arms forward, pressing my palms flat on the floor. I’m thankful for this position. It allows me to block out my view of Holt. Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll go away.
He doesn’t speak again. I try, again, to clear my mind, but all I can think about is him beside me. His gaze sears every inch of my body, and it’s agonizing. Seconds tick by, and I wonder how long we’ll stay like this. Is this normal or has time slowed?
Finally, Alison urges us to come up and take a second to breathe and stretch. When I sit back, I avoid looking over at Holt, but I can feel his gaze glued to me. I close my eyes and roll my head to each side.
“Stop watching me,” I whisper.
“What else should I be doing?” he whispers back.
“I don’t know… Yoga might be a good start?”
“I don’t know how to do yoga.”
“Oh, my God,” I groan. “You coming here is the real torture.”
“Spicy today, aren’t we, Wallflower?”
I open my eyes and stop moving, curling the tips of my fingers into the tops of my thighs. The class continues with their next pose, but I’m no longer in the mood. Holt has stolen all the concentration and energy I had for this class today. I’d say it happened the moment he barged into this session, but the truth is, he was a distraction before he was ever even here.
I came here to get my mind off him and that stupid kiss last night, but now he’s right in front of me, and not just in my head.
An ache twists inside me—something overwhelming that causes my breath to hitch.
Without a word, I pull myself to a stand and begin to roll up my yoga mat. It’s completely uneven and it takes me a few tries to finally get it on the right track before I snatch my water bottle and phone up from the floor and tuck my mat under my arm. Once I leave the studio, I rush over to my tiny cubby and slip my socks and sneakers back on.
Holt is quick to follow. He watches me in silence as I slipinto each sock then shoe. Once I’m finished, I stiffen and stare at him, shooting him as many invisible daggers as possible.
The front desk clerk shifts her attention toward us before swinging it back to her screen, pretending to click on her computer.
I open my mouth to lay into Holt for ruining my class but stop short. His blue eyes have softened, and his black suit jacket dangles loosely from his hooked fingers at his side. I don’t know why but one look at him and I’ve turned to utter mush. I was angry with him inside the studio, but now I feel my anger shifting. My body and mind are completely betraying me.
“Why did you come here?” I ask him, trying not to sound like I’m on the verge of letting him see how he’s affecting me. “And don’t say it was because you suddenly had an interest in yoga. You weren’t even trying back there.”
