Luna
TEN
“I’m taking you to lunch,” my mom declares, walking into the private yoga room that I’m cleaning after my last client.
“I have another client today,” I start to argue, wiping down bolsters and continuing with my work.
“She just called and moved it back an hour. Come on, I want to take my baby girl to lunch,” she smiles, knowing I won’t be able to say no to her.
It’s not that I don’t want to have lunch with her, it’s just that she reads me too easily.
Ever since my appointment with Cayden last week, I’ve been out of it, and I know she notices. When she asked how it went, I brushed it off, saying it was fine when it was anything but.
I’ve replayed that session over and over in my mind, wondering if I overstepped my bounds or pushed him too hard, too soon.
When I got to work today and checked my schedule for the week, I noticed his follow-up session was canceled. Which means, I royally screwed this up with his coach, and more importantly, Cayden doesn’t want my help or believe I can.
“Okay, I’ll go,” I sigh, throwing the towel down and grabbing my purse. It will probably do me good to get some fresh air anyway.
“That’s my girl!” My mom beams as I follow her out. She locks up and then links her arm with mine. “Rusty’s work? I’m craving a salad from there.”
“Works for me,” I smile, walking alongside her as we head toward the restaurant.
The place is packed when we arrive, the lunch rush is in full swing, but we manage to find two seats at the bar overlooking the water.
Rusty appears almost immediately with a big grin on his face.
“Well, you two are a sight for sore eyes. What can I get you two beauties?”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” my mom grins back, causing Rusty’s shoulders to shake with laughter. “I’ll have my usual salad with grilled salmon,” she says, not bothering to pick up the menu since we know it by heart anyway.
“I’ll do the same,” I smile.
“And two whites of my favorite wine,” my mom adds, sending me a cheeky grin. “We’re celebrating today,” she states when I raise my eyebrow because we usually don’t drink on our lunch dates if we’re working later.
“What are we celebrating?” I ask, completely oblivious to what I’m missing.
“To life,” she smiles. “Isn’t that a good enough reason?”
“I completely agree,” Rusty chimes in. “Nothing is better than living a life you love.” He waves his arm at the beautiful ocean in front of us. “Blessed for sure.”
“That we are.” My mom’s green eyes warmly smile at Rusty before he heads to the register to put our order in.
I shift in my seat and study the people on the beach below. A few families are out today enjoying the warmth of the sun, their little ones digging holes or chasing the seagulls that appear on the beaches in hopes of being fed.
“Want to talk about it?” My mom asks after our wine is delivered.
“Talk about what?” I take a sip, thankful she ordered it to ease some of my tension. This isn’t like me to be so affected by something—particularly a someone.
“You’ve been distant and in your head a lot lately. You didn’t even give Mav hell when he beat you in poker on Sunday night, and you two are the most competitive people I know at our family game nights,” she softly laughs.
She’s not wrong. Sunday family dinners have always been something I’ve looked forward to, especially when it’s my turn to pick out the game for the night. Being the youngest, I’ve always been competitive with my older siblings and can get really into it. The banter is half the fun of winning.
“I guess I just have a lot on my mind recently. With my solo in the spring show coming up and trying to balance practice and work,” I say, shrugging it off, “it’s just a lot right now.”
“I’ve seen your solo, love. You could dance that with your eyes closed, and still hit every movement beautifully,” she smiles. “Dance has never stressed you out. It breathes life into you.”
Our salads arrive, and I move the lettuce around my plate as I try to put what I’m feeling into words. I knew my mom would see right through me. She knows me better than anyone and has always been the one I go to when I have something on my mind.
This time feels different, though. My emotions are all over the place, and it’s hard for me to decipher them all.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help your friend,” I suddenly blurt out. “I know you recommended me when he came to you, but I’m pretty sure Cayden hated everything about that session,” I laugh dryly.
“That’s what you’re worried about?” My mom’s eyes widen in surprise before she chuckles softly.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Those sessions aren’t for everyone, and that has nothing to do with your ability as a teacher.
” She studies me for a second before speaking again. “What makes you think he hated it?”
“Well, for starters, he couldn’t get out of there fast enough when it was over. It was like the hounds of hell were at his feet,” I snort, remembering how fast he left without so much as a backward glance. “Usually, I make people feel so much at home that I have a hard time getting them to leave.”
“I can see that being true,” my mom softly laughs before pressing her lips together in concentration. “Not everyone leaves because they are uncomfortable with you, Luna…sometimes they leave because they feel too much.”
“Too much of a dislike,” I mutter before shoving a bite of salad in my mouth.
“He stayed, didn’t he?” She simply reminds me.
I hesitate, my mind replaying the session again. The way his jaw tightened. How he flinched every time I touched him. It was like his body was fighting something I couldn’t see.
“He could have easily left the second it got uncomfortable,” she continues, “but he didn’t.”
“I’m pretty sure his coach forced him to stay. At least for one session anyway.” I push the salmon around on my plate and frown, remembering he canceled this week’s appointment.
“I don’t think anyone could force that man to do anything he didn’t want to do,” my mom laughs. “He’s got quite the dominating presence. He’s also drop-dead gorgeous,” she adds, hiding a smile behind the rim of her glass as she takes a sip of wine.
I feel my cheeks redden, causing my mom to slightly chuckle. “So you did notice,” she teases.
“You would be blind not to. He’s also a client. Or was,” I cringe, remembering he’s not anymore. “Not to mention the fact that he’s the dad of one of my new dance students.”
“What?” My mom laughs. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“You mean messier and messier,” I say under my breath.
I feel my mom’s eyes on me, and I avoid eye contact, pretending to be interested in my lunch as I spear another piece of lettuce. She can read me like a book, and I doubt very much I can hide the fact that Cayden does something to me.
What that something is…
I’m not entirely sure yet.
“You like him,” she observes.
“It doesn’t matter what I’m feeling,” I shake my head with resolve. “I won’t mix my business and personal life. Besides, he’s made it perfectly clear with his standoffish ways that he’s not interested.”
My phone chimes on the table, and I immediately reach for it, needing to be saved from this conversation.
It’s a notification from my work scheduler letting me know I just got a booking for tomorrow. I click on the time slot to see who it is and freeze.
Cayden Blade
2:00 p.m. Yoga Restorative
Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I glance up at my mom and show her the screen.
A knowing smile breaks out on her face as she reaches for her wine. “I guess he didn’t hate it as much as you thought.”
“No, I guess not,” I murmur, setting my phone down and contemplating what this means. He obviously got something from the session, or he wouldn’t be coming back. “I was afraid I pushed him too hard or said something wrong to scare him off,” I admit quietly.
“Your work isn’t always easy, love. It’s your job to help people feel things they’ve spent a long time avoiding,” she says softly. “He’s been through a lot the past three years.”
“He told you?” I ask, surprised he would tell my mom about losing his wife.
“No. I already knew. Didn’t you?” Her forehead scrunches up in confusion as I shake my head.
“Not until he told me. How could I have possibly known that? We just met.”
“You know who he is, right? That he plays hockey?”
“When I asked about the pain in his hips, he told me he plays hockey.”
“Do you know what team he plays for?” She prods, making me even more confused with all these questions.
“Well, no. I didn’t ask, and he didn’t tell me. It doesn’t really matter, does it? I mean, his hip pain has nothing to do with what team he is on, so it wasn’t important to ask.”
My mom shakes her head and laughs at my lost look.
“What am I missing that you’re not telling me?”
“Nothing, love…nothing,” she grins. “I’m a firm believer in letting things fall into place as they should.”
Picking up her fork, she finishes the rest of her salad, but I can’t shake the feeling that she knows something I don’t.
Deciding to let it go for now, I eat the rest of my meal, lost in thought about seeing Cayden tomorrow. Part of me is excited to see him again and dive deeper into who Cayden really is, and the other half of me is terrified of what I might find.
Looking out at the water, I watch a wave roll in and disappear into the shore. It’s almost as if I can sense him nearby, which is ridiculous because he lives in Bayside. I can’t help but get the feeling, though, that he was here.
The wind picks up, lifting my hair from my neck as I breathe in the salty breeze. Green eyes burn into my vision, causing a fire to spread throughout my core. I have no clue what tomorrow will bring, but one thing is for certain…
He won’t be the only one fighting something he can’t control.
I nervously glance at the clock again.
1:58 p.m.
Needing to keep busy, I pull out two waters and set them next to the two yoga mats I have set out. I barely slept last night as thoughts of seeing him again kept me tossing and turning. He’s gotten under my skin, and I’m not sure what to do about it.
I’m turning on my playlist and adjusting the volume to low when I feel him behind me. The air in the room changes suddenly, my hand instinctively going to my stomach as if I could somehow stop the sudden butterflies that have taken flight.
The soft click of the door being shut has me taking a deep breath and slowly turning around.
Our gazes collide, his jaw hard and set. He’s unreadable as I try to look past his barriers.
“I didn’t think you would be back,” I finally say, breaking the silence.
“Neither did I,” he admits, setting his keys and phone on the table.
He removes his shoes and socks, but keeps his t-shirt on this time, choosing black gym shorts over sweats.
Instead of removing his hat, he pushes the bill further down, shielding more of his face from me.
His hair curls around the edges, giving him a softer, almost boyish look—a complete contrast to the serious man in front of me.
“Why did you?” I ask, wanting to understand him more.
“Frankly, I have no fucking idea,” he answers truthfully. “I’m hoping to get some answers to that today.”
I nod, not wanting to push it further. Gesturing toward the mat, he follows my lead and sits down next to me. “We’ll start it off again with some breathwork before really working deeper this time to open your hip flexors.”
“Sounds good,” he states, lowering onto his back and getting comfortable as I slide the bolster under his knees. His eyes close, allowing me a moment to study him without abashment. I notice he has more stubble today on his face, like he’s gone a couple of days without shaving.
My fingers suddenly itch to rub my palm against it, wanting to know what it feels like against my skin.
His eyes flutter open, and if I didn’t know any better, I would swear he could read my mind. The greens of his eyes deepen in color, a swirl of desire and need aiming directly at me.
“Cayden,” I whisper, swallowing hard and not wanting to break the spell just yet.
“Yes?” His voice is low and restrained, sending a delicious quiver through my body.
“I hope you get some of the answers you came for today.”
“And what if I’m not ready to face them?” He asks so quietly, like he’s afraid to voice it out loud. His chest rises and falls under his shirt, the air thick and heavy between us.
“Then we take it one breath at a time,” I say softly.
Even if it destroys us both.