“I’ll take the class,” Niko offered.
“The class is full now.”
“Okay, well, I’ll just observe.”
“No. I don’t want Brock to think… He’ll think you’re there because he is, and then he’ll think he won.”
“Fine. I’ll co-teach with you.”
That startled a laugh out of her. “Right, co-teach.”
He nodded, deadpan. “Yeah. I’m certified.”
She narrowed her eyes, still ninety percent sure he was messing with her. “You’re a yoga instructor?”
“Technically, yes.” He didn’t elaborate.
She stared at him, searching for a tell, but his face was as blank as a poker player’s.
“Yeah, I’m going to need more information.”
He grinned, that lopsided, troublemaker smile she was already powerless against. “Senior year of college, I had a back injury and started practicing yoga as part of my PT. I got really into it, and after graduation, I got certified through the Soma Institute. And then four years ago, I had the opportunity to go to an eight-week immersive program as a student under a yoga master in Bali. If you want to fact-check me, I have a bunch of pictures on my phone.”
She did want to see those pictures, but she’d be damned if she admitted it. “Are you serious?”
“I’m dead serious.”
The image of Niko in Bali, doing downward dog against some impossibly blue sky, was almost too much to process. She tried to picture him in front of a roomful of people, teaching them to breathe and surrender, to trust their bodies and each other. It was, she had to admit, more plausible than she wanted it to be.
“Have you ever actually taught a class?” she challenged, but it came out breathy, more awestruck than skeptical.
“I have, yeah.”
She believed him, but she just couldn’t imagine him doing it. “Where?”
“For my team several times and at a retreat once when the group X instructor got ill.”
“Are yousureyou want to do this?”
Was she sure she wanted him to do this?
“Yes,” he confirmed confidently.
“Okay,” she agreed, with much less enthusiasm.
Within five minutes, Niko had completed his transformation from rumpled bedmate to showered and dressed co-instructor, and she had to admit, he lookedgood. He’d already made her a chai tea to go when she was in the shower, so he handed that to her as they made their way out the door.
He was really spoiling her.
On the drive over, Tiana explained the class format and tried to put the fact that her ex was going to be polluting her safe space out of her mind. She’d done everything she could to maintain a wall between her old life and the one she was painstakingly building in Hope Falls. The thought of Brock, with his dumb, swaggering confidence and politician’s smile, polluting the only place she’d ever managed to feel competent made her skin crawl.
But today, she had backup. Today, she had Niko.
When they arrived, Tiana took a deep breath. She started to get out, but he put his hand on her leg. He looked at her. Tiana’s body was humming with a kind of anticipatory focus. She knew Niko could sense it. Without saying a word, she knew he was telling her to wait, to breathe, and that he was there so it would be okay.
She gave him a nod and stayed seated as he got out and came around and opened the door for her. He also got her tote bag. It was strange not carrying anything when Niko was around. Even small bags, he didn’t want her carrying anything.
Inside, the studio was dim and quiet, the only sound the low hum of the heater. As she went about her typical routine of opening up, Niko left her to it, and she tried to keep herself centered and calm.
