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“I guess we’ll get started then.”
Not quite forty minutes later I was convinced that Lindsay was Satan in lavender lycra. She was all smiles and encouraging words while making my limbs feel like they were going to drop clean off my body because all my muscles were about to collectively give up. Poof. Just gone. Even Jeremy had a sheen of sweat on his usually clear brow.
“You’re doing great, Chase, just keep this elbow up a little higher.” Lindsay’s finger lifted my left elbow ever-so-slightly as my shoulders screamed. I smiled, at least I thought I smiled, but it was likely more the gritting of teeth as I silently cursed her to the bowels of hell.
“We’re going to be pulsing for the last ten seconds.”Fuck you, wench!“And pulse, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Weights down! Great work everyone.”
I dropped my weights in a rush, only just missing my toes, and let my arms hang at my sides like the limp, overcooked noodles they were.
“She. Is. Good,” Jeremy said, dabbing his brow with a towel. I marveled at the fact he could still lift his arms that high. He was right, though, Lindsay was very good. Just when I was tempted to give up she’d appear at my side with her kind, encouraging words while making tiny adjustments that made me want to cry. The woman had a gift.
She was also absolutely stunning, with the kind of poise you just didn’t see on people in the twenty-first century. It was like someone had plucked her out ofBridgertonorPride and Prejudice, threw her in some expensive yoga pants, and dropped her in Brooklyn. Her smile made it really difficult to hate her, even though I desperately wanted to.
My desire to hate her only intensified as we moved through the abs portion of the class. And, yet, she’d come and she’d smile and I’d try to smile back while tears were collecting in the corners of my eyes. She was just so pretty and so nice and I really hoped I didn’t vomit so she’d want to be my friend.
When the class finally ended I was sure I’d never been so relieved in all my life. I collapsed on my mat and tried to stretch my exhausted muscles before they seized up altogether as the rest of the class filed out around me.
And then Lindsay was there, smiling and serene and making me feel like an old potato.
“Jeremy, I cannot thank you enough for letting me stand in this morning. I really appreciate it.” She was bouncing on her toes, her skin even more dewey up close. I made a mental note to make change my moisturizer.
He ran a hand over his hair, neatening up a few unruly strands that had escaped. “You’re welcome, you did great.”
“Really!?” Her smile was so wide I was momentarily blinded by the wattage. She seemed to genuinely want Jeremy’s approval, which, for some reason, made her a lot more approachable than she would have been otherwise.
“Do you want to join us for a coffee?” I asked and Jeremy shot me a gaping look.That’s right! Who says I can’t be spontaneous? Look at me breaking my creature of habit mold!
“That would be great, I don’t want to crash though.” Her blue eyes were wide and sincere.
“Don’t be ridiculous, we’d love to have you,” Jeremy said with a reassuring smile.
“Then I’d love to, thank you. I’ll just grab my bag.”
“No rush, I’m still waiting for my legs to recover,” I said with a smile and she laughed, like I was being hilarious. I wasn’t joking.
“What are you doing?” Jeremy asked once Lindsay had sashayed out of the room.
I pointed to my own chest, looked over both shoulders. “Me? Nothing.”
“Next you’ll tell me we’re not going to Huckleberry.” He was looking at me like I’d sprang a second head.
He continued to eye me but I just smiled and got to work spraying down my mat and getting the rest of my things together.
Ten minutes later—after a much needed rinse in the shower for me—we met Lindsay out front.
“Where to?” She asked.
“We always go to Huckleberry,” Jeremy replied.
And because I was feeling both a little vindictive and adventurous, I shot him a smug look and said, “Actually, if you don’t mind, J, I’ve got a new place I’d like to try.” Was I going to be missing my halloumi bagel all week because of this decision? Probably, but I was committed to be this person who tried new things and didn’t care about routine.Look at me!Next thing I’d be telling Mack we should start sleeping together just to keep things interesting. Ha! No, that wasn’t happening. That was a truly terrible idea.
I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder as Jeremy, Lindsay, and I approached Cream and Sugar. The thing that I had not taken into account was the Dallas effect. Like Rudi Blue, it seemed the association with Dallas and Duke’s wedding had sent Cream and Sugar into overdrive.
There was a line snaking its way down the block and a crowd drinking coffee out front. Well, this may have been poorly thought through on my part. But I would not admit defeat.
“Give me a second, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Do you have a connection I don’t know about?” Jeremy asked with one perfect eyebrow arched. I ignored him and walked up the line. There was a guy standing at the door. What the hell was I going to do? Say hi, can I have a table even though there is an enormous line—
