Page 26 of Through the Storm

I pullup in front of Katy’s house exactly three minutes early and immediately regret it.

Too desperate.

I force myself to sit in the car like a normal person who is not overthinking a yoga class.

I finally ring the doorbell, and she answers a moment later in her cute purple yoga pants, with her hair pulled back, water bottle in one hand, the other on her lower back like she’s already tired.

She smiles when she sees me, small and a little cautious. For one stupid second, I forget every sentence I prepared.

“Hey.” She steps outside.

“Hey. Ready?”

She eyes the car. “I think so.”

“Unless you’d prefer to bail,” I offer.

She laughs softly. “Let’s try not to bail on the first day.”

The drive is quiet but not awkward. Just… careful. Like we’re both trying not to step on something fragile.

When we pull into the parking lot, she looks up at the sign.

“So.” She glances around. “You’ve been here before?”

“Yeah,” I answer automatically. “With Ella.”

“That’s kind of cute.”

I snort. “It was ridiculous. She was a literal nightmare.”

That gets me her real laugh, and fuck, it does something to me.

I help her out of the car and then open the studio door for her.

“Ben!” one of the instructors says brightly as soon as we step inside. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you.”

I blink. “Uh. Hi, Cindy.”

“How’s Ella doing?” another instructor asks. “We haven’t seen her in a while. We’ve missed you guys!”

I feel Katy stiffen beside me. It’s not exactly a secret that I was a little bit of a fuckboy in the past. I’m the starting quarterback at a major football school. I get why Katy would make assumptions.

“She’s good,” I say quickly. “Busy but good. This is Katy.”

Cindy smiles. “Nice to meet you, Katy. Welcome.”

I guide Katy towards where our class will be, my palm on her lower back.

Her eyebrows knit together. “You seem very close with these teachers.”

I glance at her and suddenly wish I’ve never spoken to any other girl in my entire life. “Not in the way you’re thinking, Katy Cat. I just used to bribe them with chocolates so they would help me deal with Ella.”

Katy tilts her head. “You were very invested in her Pilates journey.”

“Well, she needed it. Needed me. She didn’t take the breakup well, so I thought that getting fit could help.”

She snorts.