been talking about it, this much I know from patients who come in and flat out ask me if I’m seeing the McDaniel girl. But to have my own brother come out and confirm it … the women in this yoga class can’t wait for it to be over so they can go blab to anyone who will listen.
I don’t mind though, let them. Presley and I know, without having to have a middle school conversation about it, that we’re only dating each other. And I’m pleasantly surprised that for the first time in two years, I want the town of Fawn Hill to know what’s going on in my love life.
“Nice to meet you.” Presley shakes Forrest’s hand. “Hope you’re ready for a workout.”
The smile she wears is downright cocky, and I feel my dick twitch in my shorts. Down, boy, we have to get through this without embarrassing ourselves.
My brother looks skeptical. “I’m just surprised this took off so quick.”
“Don’t be an ass, Forrest Nash. Presley is really great at teaching, and this town needs to get with the twenty nineteen workout craze. Lord knows some of the residents here could work off that pie from Kip’s,” Penelope, one of the young PTA moms and an all-around town queen bee, chides him.
Again, my brother lifts his shirt, much to the delight of some of the women standing around. “I don’t think I have that problem.”
“Put your abs away, wonder boy.” Penelope rolls her eyes.
I pull Presley aside for a minute, and as soon as we’re out of earshot, I give her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“It’s okay that I’m here? I wanted to surprise you, see you in your element, but I can go if you want me to.”
She lays a hand on my arm. “Keaton, I want you to stay. If only so I can kick your ass.”
“Only if you massage it later. I have a feeling I’ll be sore.” I advance toward her playfully.
“Enough, Casanova. I have a class to teach.” She pushes my chest with one hand and walks off.
It is a sight to watch her go.
Only, ten minutes into the class, every muscle in my body is straining.
“I’m using muscles I didn’t even know were fucking there,” I whisper to Forrest, rubbing my calf as the whole group bends over in some salutation.
And even though my tendons are on fire, I can see why the yoga class is so popular. The reason? Presley. She’s enigmatic while also being a calm, soothing presence over the class. She knows her shit and explains in a quiet voice as she walks around, helping people with their poses.
The whole thing is actually relaxing, but works your body, which I guess is the goal.
“My shit doesn’t bend that way.” Forrest eyeballs the ass of the woman in front of us.
“Just … try your best,” I say, exasperated.
“If my ball sack splits open, you’re paying for the plastic surgery.”
The woman next to us giggles, and another gives us a death glare.
There isn’t supposed to be much talking during yoga, and yet my brother apparently never got that memo.
“If the gentlemen in the back can’t keep it down, I’ll have to ask them to leave. This class is for quiet meditation, thought and health.”
Presley smirks at me from her mat up at the front, and I nod my head in apology.
I sure do hope I get that massage later. And that I can reciprocate.
21
Presley
“So, you’re replacing me?”
Ryan’s bitter tone comes through the speaker of my cell as I draw a perfectly winged eyeliner stroke across my lid.
“Shut up, I’m not doing anything of the sort. Plus, you could never be replaced. Who would retrieve all of my passwords when I lock myself out of websites?” I chuckle.
“You’re technologically hopeless, but I still love you. So what’s the deal with these chicks? And when are you coming back to the city?”
I bite my thumbnail, anxiety racketing through me, and thank God Ryan can’t see it. Because I wasn’t sure I was ever coming back to the city. I’d only spent two months in Fawn Hill, and one of those had been without knowing anyone but Grandma. Now that I had a life here—a job, my yoga class, blossoming friendships and a man I was dating—I honestly couldn’t imagine leaving. In the city I’d had nothing but misery, one-night stands and the craziness of twenty-four hour noise in my brain. I would have never expected it, but Fawn Hill was quickly becoming