Chapter 19
Nineteen
Tabitha
“Wow,” Stephen says quietly, his hands pausing just below my shoulder blades. “You’re really tense.”
I let out a breath. Tense? Me? Just because I fucked my friend’s brother in a barn two days before I have to stand up for her at her wedding tomorrow? “Yeah. That’s kind of my thing.”
He presses into the knots along my spine. “It feels like you’ve been carrying a backpack full of bricks.”
“I’m a med student. And…there’s just a lot going on.”
He chuckles under his breath. “You ever let anyone help you carry it?”
I sigh into the table’s face cradle. “Not really. I’m more of a smile-and-power-through kind of girl.”
“Mmm.” He moves his hands lower. “Your body’s not buying it.”
“Well, my body can file a complaint with management.”
“It already did,” he murmurs. “You just weren’t listening.”
I go quiet, caught off guard by how true that feels.
“I’m listening now,” I say.
“Good,” he replies, voice low, calm. “Then let’s start here.”
He moves his hands in slow, steady circles over my back, and for the first time in weeks, maybe longer, I feel myself start to let go.
Not completely. Not all at once. But a little.
He finds the knot just under my right shoulder blade—one I didn’t even know was there until he pressed into it—and it sends a sharp jolt through me.
It’s not painful exactly, just achy. Like my body’s been clenched so tight for so long it forgot what it’s like to be touched with care instead of urgency.
His hands are warm. Confident. I try not to overthink it. It’s just a massage. Just bodywork. But still, there’s something in the way he touches me that makes my chest ache a little, not with desire, but with something quieter. Something like relief.
I focus on the rhythm. The pressure. The way he finds every hidden place I’ve stored stress and gently works it loose, like he knows exactly where the damage lives.
And for now, I don’t have to do anything but breathe.
Just breathe and let him take some of it away.
I’m lost in a warm pink haze.
“All right, love. We’re all done.”
My eyes flip open.
Done? Did I doze off?
“I didn’t flip over,” I say.
“Sorry. You were in the zone, and your back needed so much work. So I just kept going.” He runs his hands up my spine.
“Next time, let’s try some cupping. It might help draw out some of that deeper tension—get to the stuff my hands can’t quite reach.
The kind of stress that settles in and pretends it belongs there. ”
Next time?
I lift my head and look over my shoulder. “There won’t be a next time. I’m just visiting.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, my friend is getting married this weekend. I’m in the bridal party.”
“Oh. Yeah, I heard about that. The Steel wedding.”
“Simpson, actually. Are you going?”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. I only moved here a few weeks ago. I don’t know anyone that well yet.”
“Oh. Yeah. Invitations went out over a month ago.”
“I’m sure I’ll get to know everyone soon.” He shrugs. “Maybe I’ll be at the next wedding.”
A thought occurs to me. Angie told me I could bring a guest. Even at the last minute if I chose to. I told her I didn’t have anyone in mind, but what if…?
“Would you like to go, Stephen?”
“I hardly know the family.”
“You know me.”
“Not really.” He lifts an eyebrow. “I know your body, though.”
“Come as my guest. It’s all on the up-and-up. You can come with me to the rehearsal dinner tonight too.”
He frowns. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“It’s no imposition. Everyone else in the wedding party has a date, so this way I won’t be the odd woman out.”
He laughs. “As beautiful as you are, love, I’ll bet you’re never the odd woman out.”
“So is it a date, then?”
He shrugs again. “Sure. I’d be honored.”
“Great. The rehearsal is tonight at seven p.m. at Bryce and Marjorie Simpson’s house. I can text you the address if you give me your number.”
“You sure it’s okay if I come?”
“Absolutely. These people love company. The more the merrier.”
“All right. I’m going to step out now so you can get dressed.”
“Okay.”
Stephen steps out of the room, and I pull the sheet back over my naked body and rise. Already I feel less tense about everything.
I didn’t want to tell Stephen that my body was most likely a mess from having sex against a barn wall.
I only just met him. He’s a nice guy—not to mention gorgeous—and this way maybe I’ll keep my mind off Henry for the next couple of days before I go back to Boulder.
I dress, look into the mirror.
Massage hair, of course. Stephen did an amazing scalp massage, so I’ll have to shower again to get all the oil out of my hair.
But it was so worth it. I’m feeling so, so relaxed.
I walk out of the massage room, and Stephen is waiting for me up front by the register.
“How much do I owe you?” I ask.
“Normal charge is ninety dollars for an hour,” he says. “But for you? Only forty-five. That’s what I have to pay Willow.”
“Stephen, I’m willing to pay what I owe you.”
“I wouldn’t hear of it.” He flashes me a dazzling smile. “I’m just very happy I met you.”
“The feeling is mutual.” I pull out my credit card, and he runs it. I add a very generous tip. He gives me a card with his cell phone number on it, and I text him the address for Angie’s parents’ place.
“Just come by the house at seven o’clock tonight,” I tell him. “I’ll let Angie and Jason know you’re coming.”
“And you’re absolutely sure it will be okay?”
“Certainly. I’m positive. But let me text Angie just to make sure.”
She texts me back instantly.
Of course. The more the merrier!
I show it to Stephen. “See? This is from the bride herself. Just like I told you.”
“I’m honored, then. I’ll see you tonight. What should I wear?”
“Tonight is casual,” I say. “I’ll be in a sundress. Jeans and a button down would be good.”
“Perfect. I’ll be there. And, Tabitha?”
“Yeah?”
He offers me a smoldering smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”