Tobias gave him an exasperated look, and said, “Yes, it’s Chase.”
“Awesome! You guys are going to love him. I will take all the credit for introducing you two.”
Josh had briefly met Chase at the annual charity soccer tournament their team played in two months ago. They needed extra players so some guys from the gym joined them. Chase was Cole’s ex from high school, but they were still on good terms and they’d all soon be seeing more of him.
“Do we really have to do yoga? Won’t that make me lose muscle mass?” Hunter asked.
Tobias took a moment to stare at Hunter’s arms, forcing him to un-cross them and leave them hanging at his sides.
“You’ll be fine. Everybody try to touch your toes.”
They all followed their coach’s instructions. Josh bent forward, easily reaching his toes and curling his fingers under his sneakers. He spareda glance around the circle to see Cole was the only other one able to reach his toes, but he didn’t look as comfortable as Josh. Hunter was a good five inches away from his feet.
As he scanned the rest of the group, he caught Riley’s gaze. He gave Josh a look that said he was impressed with Josh’s flexibility, and Josh couldn’t help but preen. Riley had always given him the validation he’d craved since he was a kid.
“And that’s why we’re adding yoga,” Tobias explained as everyone unfolded themselves. “Besides keeping you limber, it will also keep the aches and injuries to a minimum. I’m going to make Tuesdays a full yoga day for all classes and Thursday will be a mix of yoga and core that Chase will lead us through. He’s also going to help with the regular classes by adding some cooldown stretches to the end of our workouts. That will start next week. Any other questions?”
“Yeah,” Cole piped up, and everyone tensed because… well, because it wasCole. “Did you think he was cute? I sensed some vibes between you two.”
Tobias said nothing, but gave Cole a withering look. It was the kind of look that might have made Josh cry if he directed it at him.
When Cole finally turned away looking slightly chagrined, Tobias barked at the rest of them, “Everybody line up along the wall for warm-ups.”
Time to commence their torture.
2
WHO THE HELL IS this guy?
Riley reread the email from one of his and Josh’s clients, trying to figure out why it made him so paranoid.
“Are you dealing with that author again?” Josh asked from his spot on the other side of the couch. “You always get huffy when you read his emails.”
Josh wasn’t wrong. He was never wrong about Riley. No one in the world knew him better.
“There’s something about him. He talks to us like he knows all our secrets or something. I don’t know, it’s just this weird feeling I get.”
He hummed and continued his clicking, drawing Riley’s attention away from his screen. Josh slumped on the couch, long legs extended and lying on the coffee table, with his lap desk and laptop spread over his thighs.
They both liked working in front of the television for background noise, so they never bothered making an “office space” at their place. They figured desks would have hogged too much room, and they wanted that space for activities.
Instead, they had a coffee table big enough for board game nights and a sectional comfortable enough to crash on, plus a space big enough for impromptu wrestling matches, which happened more often than he’d like to admit.
But, speaking of those wrestling matches…
“Dude, listen to this part," Riley said. "He says, and I quote,You two like towrestleover every idea, but I know you’ll work it out. If this one sells well, I’ll send you guys a bonus you can spend on extra glow sticks.Did we ever tell him how often we use glow sticks? And how does he know we wrestle?”
When Riley turned away from his screen to see Josh’s reaction, he was surprised to see an affectionate smile on his face.
“What?” he asked, confused.
“I don’t know, it’s sweet how worried you are. I probably mentioned glow sticks at some point. And he probably didn’t meanphysicallywrestle.”
“Okay, sure, maybe,” he conceded. But he wasn’t done. “Then explain why at the end hesigns it,I know you guys better than you think, love CJ.What the hell is that?”
Josh put his lap desk aside and slid down the couch so he was planted against Riley, throwing an arm around his shoulders and peering at Riley’s screen so he could read the email.
His racing thoughts settled thanks to Josh’s smell and touch. It was like a superpower they had with each other. His embrace had always calmed him, ever since they were kids. They both leaned on each other for everything. No one else had ever come close to being that person for Riley. It was probably why he had so much trouble getting women to stick around. But the right woman would accept his and Josh’s relationship and wouldn’t get weirded out by how close they were.
