Do you want me to be? I almost asked, but I bit my tongue. This wasn’t a real marriage. I had to stop forming expectations I had no right to form. “I think Dax and I will probably grab something after yoga.”
“Yoga?” he repeated.
So Dax hadn’t told him. “Yeah. Kent told me about this class for people who need extra assistance. It’s got an ASL interpreter, so I invited him to come along.”
“If you wanted company,” he started, then stopped. “I’m sure it’ll be a good time.”
What was he going to say? That he would’ve come with me? That would’ve been massively unfair considering his attitude since we got back from our faux-honeymoon. God, I wish it hadn’t been the way it was. I wish there hadn’t been any fuckingromance in any of it because the fantasy it had left me with was overwhelming.
I managed a smile. “I think it will be. See you later.”
Without looking back, I made my way across the driveway to where Dax was waiting. He offered me a hand, but I shook my head and managed to get into the car by myself. I was feeling a little weak and very tired, but I wasn’t going to give up.
‘You ok?’ Dax asked, waving to get my attention.
I nodded. ‘Fine. Today’s been hard.’
He cast me a look of sympathy before starting his car. He revved the engine for a second, and when I winced, he immediately took his foot off the gas. ‘Sorry! Forgot you can hear.’
I couldn’t help a small laugh. Dax made me feel…normal, I guessed, for lack of a better word. He didn’t tiptoe around me. He didn’t put distance between us. He didn’t think I was fragile. He was a good friend.
‘You ready?’
He grinned and nodded. ‘Just don’t make fun of me for the fact that I have no flexibility.’
‘As long as you don’t make fun of me if I fall on my face.’
He held his fist out, and I bumped it. ‘Deal.’
The class was amazing. It was hard and easy at the same time. I worked up a sweat just by forcing my body to move in a way it didn’t want to—in a way that it needed to. I was shaking by the end and wishing I had a wheelchair, but we were allowed to rest on the floor in corpse pose until we felt comfortable moving.
I nearly fell asleep, and when I turned my head and looked over, Dax was chatting with the interpreter in the corner, and theinstructor, who was a wheelchair user, was rolling up mats. He caught my eye and smiled, and I felt like an asshole for forgetting his name.
“Need any help?”
I laughed as I sat up and tested my toes. They were a little stiff, but not so bad that I wouldn’t be able to walk. “I think I got it. I went a little harder than expected.”
He rolled over and came to a stop, offering me a hand. His biceps bulged, and while he was attractive, he immediately made me think of Nash and those damn arms. The way they looked when he was bracing himself over my body…fuck.
“You did amazing for your first session,” the guy said.
I glanced at his chest and saw his name on the badge he was wearing. Ryan, right. “I could barely keep up.”
“Yeah, so for next time, get rid of that thinking. There’s no keeping up in this class.” I grimaced, and he laughed. “I know, I know. I sound like a self-help book, but trust me when I say it’s important. I was a student here right after my accident, and I felt the same way you do. Like I wasn’t going to be okay unless I could match the rest of the class. After hurting myself so badly that I needed surgery, I realized I had to knock that shit off.”
Well hell. “I don’t want that to happen.”
Ryan snorted. “No one does. But truthfully, you seemed like you were listening to your body. It’s okay to push yourself a little. Just know your limits.”
“You sound like my PT.”
He smirked. “Good. I’m in school to become one.”
I didn’t really know the guy, but that fit. “You’ll be amazing at it. And this felt really good. I think I’m just scared that I’m going to fall in love with it, then my body’s going to fail me, and I won’t be able to come to class.”
Ryan bit his lip, then jerked his chin at the door. “Follow me.” He rolled ahead, slowly so I could keep up without my cane, andhe moved to the front desk. “Here.” There was a card pinched between his first and middle fingers. “I do private lessons.”
My cheeks flushed. “I uh…I can’t really afford?—”
