Page 131 of All Packed Up

Grif stepped back only as much as he had to, and mirrored their instructor. Nic tried to match, but ended up wobbling before falling out with a huff.

Grif leaned into his space again as he tried setting his feet back up. “Clench your stomach,” he whispered.

Nic’s glare was as sharp as his punches once were, but when he went into the pose this time, he stayed, arms outstretched, gazing out over his left fingertips to the front of the room.

Tate led them through a flow for the other side of the body, and this time, Nic didn’t require any help, much to Griffith’s disappointment.

So leave it to the others to evacuate the room as quickly as possible after yoga. Even Wendy, though she seemed hesitant, left the room with a laugh as Tate grabbed her hand.

“You guys’ll clean up, right?” Arlo called out to them.

“Uh…” Nic began, narrowing his gaze at the alpha.

“Yep, got it!” Grif interjected, and Arlo disappeared with a wink.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Nic asked, crossing his arms and facing Griffith.

“I wish I could tell you,” Grif answered truthfully. He eyed the handsome beta as he grabbed the edge of a mattress, preparing to lay it back on the floor. “But it seems like they want us to talk.”

Nic stiffened before shaking himself out of it and taking his place at the opposite end of the mattress. “About what?”

“I dunno. Maybe about how shitty you are at yoga?” Grif teased.

Nic sent him a glare as they slid the mattress across the room. “I’m not shitty at yoga. My balance just isn’t that great.”

“Since when?” Grif asked, exasperated. Nic used to be the one keeping Griffith on his toes during practice, not the other way around.

“Since I started focusing on the gym more and not training underground fighters.” He huffed. “I’m not in the gym so much because I’m in the office.”

“You’re not getting old, are you?” Grif teased as he headed for the other mattress. “I’d prefer anything else as long as it was outside.”

At Nic’s silence, Grif paused with his fingers gripped around the edge of the mattress. The beta looked as if he wanted to say something, and even parted his lips, but at the last second, he shook his head and grabbed the mattress before helping Grif lay it back out.

It niggled at Grif, and he wanted to ask what Nic was going to say, but this was the first time he’d been alone with Nic in a while. Did he want to ruin it by making Nic run away?

“It’s not so bad once you get used to it. Took me a while to get on top of things, but I’m happy I can do more now. Like…” Nic waved his hand around. “Run away for a handful of days without it falling apart.”

“Does it still look the same?” Grif found himself asking. It startled him, how much he wanted to know the answer. He could still picture him and Nic from years ago, running drills in the low-lit area after hours. Sparring together, seeing who could tap the other out. The heated grind of practice tended to spark into arousal more often than not, and most sessions ended with them against the wall or on the mats or in the showers.

When he met Nic’s gaze, he saw the same memories reflected in his amber eyes. But the beta blinked them away, shook his head. “Different. It’s been updated. I had to keep up with the competition.”

Griffith’s chest tightened, and it took him a moment of tossing the pillows back into place for him to realize why.

His memories were outdated. No longer was the gym littered with evidence, with memories, of their relationship. There were new mats that they hadn’t kissed against and probably new equipment and a new dressing room with new benches that had been the perfect height for—

He was outdated in Nic’s life. The world had kept turning for the beta even without him there. While Grif felt stuck in some… waiting mode limbo.

It made perfect sense, now that he thought about it. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. It didn’t mean it felt fair.

It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt in some way.

“Cool,” Griffith managed to respond.

There wasn’t enough time for him to think of something else to talk about, still reeling from the slap of reality.

Nic finished laying out the last sheet and bid him farewell with a wave and a, “Speaking of, I’ve probably got some stuff to catch up on. I’m gonna head upstairs.”

Grif nodded. “Alright, I’ll have someone come get you if you’re not done by dinner.”