Vienna gasps, glancing between me and Henley. “Wait a minute. Your friends do yoga, butyouwon’t?”
“Nope.” Widening my stance, I cross my arms over my chest. “And trust me, they’ve all tried to get me to join, but it’s not gonna happen.”
“What’s not gonna happen?” Elliot asks as he and Fletcher walk up to us, holding their yoga mats.
I fight my desire to give them both shit in front of Vienna. “Me doing yoga. I was telling Vienna that even you guys haven’t been able to convince me.”
Fletcher rolls his eyes at me. “You’re such a stubborn ass, I swear.”
“Hey, Vienna!” My sister comes walking over, her strides intense and purposeful. “There you are!”
“What’s up?”
“That guy I wanted to introduce you to is here,” Laney says, her smile blinding.
“Oh, yeah.” Vienna turns back to all of us, but locks eyes with me. “See you guys over there.” She follows my sister as they traipse off together, whispering to one another.
My blood pressure just skyrocketed.
“What guy?” I blurt out, my eyes still locked on Vienna as Laney leads her into the main building of the winery.
Fletcher shrugs. “Beats me. Must be something they talked about the other night when they were all hanging out.”
“She can’t talk to some other guy.”
Henley wears a smug smile as he says, “And why not? I mean, technically she’s single.”
“And sleeping with me,” I add.
Elliot hits me on the upper arm with his yoga mat. “Did you two talk about exclusivity? Because if not, then she has every right to…”
“Motherfucker,” I mutter under my breath, glancing back at the playground to check on Ellis. “I swear to God, if—” But I don’t get to finish my thought because Vienna comes out of the main building into the courtyard of the winery talking to some guy I don’t even recognize. “Who the fuck is this guy?”
My three best friends turn to assess the situation before Henley speaks up. “I have no idea, man. Maybe he’s new in town.”
My sister crosses the courtyard, headed to her spot on the small hill where she’ll lead the yoga class in about thirty minutes.
“Well, I’m going to find out.”
When I showed up tonight at the winery to help out my dad and, of course, support my sister because Ellis likes to pretend that she knows how to do yoga with her aunt, I never imagined that rage would be a part of the evening’s activities.
After blackjack the other night, I sent a text to Vienna that I was thinking about her. We chatted a bit about our days apart, but I couldn’t visit her again because I had to work two back-to-back shifts. Now, it’s Thursday night and the impending yoga event at the winery is underway.
I just didn’t count on needing to confront my fears so quickly.
I planned on speaking to her once we were back home, alone and away from the crowds. I wanted to show her with my body how much I’d been thinking about her since we saw each other last.
And even though I still don’t know how to communicate what I’m feeling to her, I was thinking that maybe it was time to talk about the two of us putting a label on what we are. I’m not even sure if that lingo is still relevant because it’s been over five years since I’ve been in a relationship—just another reason why I feel so out of my fucking league here.
But here I am, stomping across my family’s winery, intent on giving my sister a piece of my mind because I need someone to blame for what I’m feeling, and she’s the one who took Vienna to meet this guy.
Dilynne and Elodie join my sister in her usual spot, whispering about something before I reach them.
“Oh. Hi, Rhonan,” Elodie says, alerting my sister to my presence.
Laney pops up from the ground. “Hey, big brother. What’s up?”
“You know what’s up,” I grate out through clenched teeth.
