14. Chapter 14 – Rae
T he air between Zach and me felt fraught after our dance in the park. I put my energy into the kids. Focusing on them, their happiness kept me from obsessing about how familiar and different it was living with Zach in the aftermath of that night.
Every time I passed him a bowl at dinner, our fingers brushed.
Utterly innocent, but I couldn’t stop myself from flushing.
Reading stories to Hana at bedtime was absolute torture.
She insisted we trade, taking turns. Night after night, I had to listen as Zach’s deep voice brought grumpy dragons and naughty penguins to life.
It wasn’t fair. He was already featuring in my dreams. This new side of him didn’t help my self-restraint any.
Anya’s lip twitched into a smile as I burst into her yoga studio for her Wednesday class.
“Slow down there, friend. Yoga’s not a race. The only prize you get for being early is strategically placing your mat so you don’t have to witness whatever Gran’s yoga pant slogan of the week is.”
I winced. Gran had taken kitschy yoga pants to an all-new low. Personally, I wanted to steal the pair that said Zen AF . Most of them were hilarious. Some… not so much.
“Sorry, Anya. If you can’t tell, I really need this class today. ”
Vi and Lucy slipped inside behind me, catching the last part of my statement.
“I told you the ovaries were exploding all over the place…” Lucy muttered, loud enough that it wasn’t meant as gossip. Nope. She absolutely wanted me to overhear.
“Including yours?” I asked, a flash of jealousy taking me by surprise.
Zach flirted with everyone. I thought I’d grown immune. But the thought of Lucy noticing his more romantic side made my gut clench.
“Ha- no .” She traced her abdomen. “This body was not made for babies. My ovaries are minding their own business, thankyouverymuch .”
“Don’t look at me,” Vi said. “He’s my brother.” She shuddered. “Pretty sure my ovaries retracted and rolled back up into my uterus just listening to this conversation.”
Anya tutted gently, tilting her head away from her roommate. “That’s… not how that works. That’s not how any of that works.”
Merita Rodriguez and a handful of Anya’s other regulars slipped into the studio’s entryway. I waved to Merita and passed into the studio, claiming a mat at the front of the room. Strategically away from Gran’s usual spot.
Lucy and Vi plopped down mats next to me, blessedly not commenting further as we settled in for practice. Anya started class Gran-less, leading us through the usual cycles of noticing our breath, gentle stretching, vinyasas and balance work, before bringing us back to our mats for final relaxation.
Yoga really did work magic. I was looser. More able to let thoughts of Zach float by without obsessing.
I lingered with Anya, Lucy, and Vi as the rest of Anya’s students waved goodbye, slowly emptying the studio .
Anya took a long pull from her water bottle, eyeing me over the top. “I feel like I missed something big. Drew and I didn’t make it to the concert last weekend. But I heard there was… dancing?”
Lucy smirked. She’d spill the beans if I didn’t. Clearly, she’d already told all to Vi.
“Zach and I took the kids. Hana is quite the pied piper. She got him dancing. It was adorable.”
“Annnddd…” Lucy nudged.
“He and I danced. One time.”
Lucy snorted. “There’s ‘danced,’” she held out her arms stiffly, mimicking an awkward sway, “ and there’s ‘ danced ,’” she wrapped her arms around herself, making smooching noises. She dropped her arms, grinning. “You guys were adorable.”
“It was just a dance.”
“And hell is just a sauna.” Lucy shuddered. “They gross me out.”
“Other than dancing together, how has it been, living with Zach?” Vi asked, curiosity in the lilt in her voice.
For the first time, I questioned spilling my feelings to my friends. Anything I said might make it back to Zach. Vi was his sister. Anya was dating his brother. Even Lucy couldn’t be fully trusted—she’d wasted no time telling Vi exactly what I’d been up to with her brother.
I inhaled, pausing. None of them deserved my doubt. Not after everything I’d failed to tell them about me and Simon. They’d accepted my breakup with him more gracefully than my dad and brothers had, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t still rebuilding their trust.
“It’s a little weird… and wonderful,” I admitted softly.
Vi wrinkled her nose. “That does describe my brother in a nutshell.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t mean it like that. He’s the wonderful part. I just don’t know how to act around him. It’s like one minute we’re flirting, and that’s exciting and new, but then the next, Hana has spotted a spider on her ceiling and is freaking out, and we have to deal with that.”
“Watching kids together isn’t exactly romantic,” Lucy said.
I shook my head, a soft negative. “It’s not unromantic, either.
He’s so good with them. He’s always been a charmer, but I thought he reserved his energy for hooking up.
Watching him with the kids is different.
He listens so intently, you know? And the funny voices he does reading to Hana at night? Talk about ovaries exploding…”
Vi frowned, touching the back of her hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel feverish…”
I swatted her away. “Knock it off.”
“Honey, you are gushing,” Anya pointed out.
“Am not.”
“Puh-lease,” Lucy chided.
“It’s sign ninety-nine that you and Simon weren’t the real deal,” Vi added smugly.
“I think Zach’s good for you,” Anya said.
“I just don’t want to hear exactly how good he is for you. He’s still my brother,” Vi warned.
Anya’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, and she exchanged a conspiratorial smile with me. “Don’t worry, Rae. If you need a safe space to talk about the Fenwick men, I’m your girl.”
Lucy’s hand shot up. “Ooh. I like smutty details. And I’m not related to or dating any of them. Put me in, Coach.”
I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling, flushing. “ Guys . I don’t have any smutty details.”
“ Yet ,” Lucy added triumphantly .
I laughed, shaking my head. “Okay. Well, on that bright and cheery note, I’ll see you all later. I’ve got an errand to run on my way back to work.”