21. Chapter 21
My alarm goes off, and I quickly stretch my arm over to reach my phone on the end table, careful not to shift the mattress, and press snooze.
Joke’s on it, because I’ve already been awake for a solid thirty minutes because I woke up tucked under one of Austin’s muscular arms and have been incapable of falling back asleep.
I’m too scared to move—to breathe—out of fear it will wake him up and we’ll have to awkwardly address the fact that we knocked our pillow barrier out of the way at some point in the night, and now my body is pressed into his side.
My head is tucked between his cheek and shoulder while his hand holds tightly to my waist.
This is everything I didn’t dare let myself hope or dream of—cuddling all night long and waking up next to him.
I just wish it had been intentional, but we were probably both seeking warmth from the frigid air coming from the vents above the bed.
I thought I was coming to the Caribbean, not the tundra, but I guess I should thank the freezing temps for giving me a taste of what it feels like to snuggle up with Austin.
When he moves next to me, I quickly close my eyes and feign sleep. Austin slowly lifts his arm off me, and I keep my eyes shut until I feel the bed shift. I yawn, rub my eyes, and put on my best why yes, I did just wake up and had absolutely no idea we were cuddling all night face. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” He smiles. “How did you sleep?”
“Good.” I pull the covers up. “Even though I think I might turn into an icicle.”
“Is it cold?” Austin sits up in bed, his shirtless torso braving the elements. “I didn’t notice.”
Probably because we were each other’s personal body heaters all night long. But it’s best not to mention that.
“How did you sleep?” I ask.
“Like a baby.” Austin moves his hands behind his head in a stretch, making his biceps strain in the most delicious way.
This is the kind of wake-up I could get used to.
He gets out of bed and dances around the pillows on the floor. The ones that had been a barrier between us hours ago. “Want a coffee? I can run and grab some to get out of your hair while you get ready.”
A man who gives me the space to be alone while I get ready for the day and offers to get me a coffee? In a world of boys, he’s a gentleman.
“That would be great. I’d love an iced latte.” I’m not the biggest coffee girlie. I usually prefer a flavored lemonade, but I still enjoy an occasional latte when I need the caffeine boost. And I’ll take all the help I can to get through this week.
“Any particular flavor?” He slides on a sweatshirt and his tennis shoes.
There’s a playful quality in my voice as I say, “Surprise me.”
Austin’s mouth tilts up at one corner. “You got it.”
I busy myself with getting ready for the morning-movement class Bradley and Bianca invited all their guests to partake in.
I put on a maroon matching workout set that I definitely didn’t buy because it’s the exact color of Austin’s team—okay, I totally did—and pull up the top half of my hair in a silk scrunchie that has long ends resembling my signature silk scarves.
I’ve just finished brushing my teeth and applying deodorant and the barest bit of makeup when Austin knocks on the door.
“I’m ready,” I call out loud enough for him to hear me.
Seconds later, Austin steps into the room carrying a cup of hot coffee for himself and extending an iced drink my way. I grab the cup from him and take a sip.
“Do you like it?” he asks.
I close my eyes and nod. “This might be the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. Just don’t tell Kelsey.” My roommate is a former barista, so she’s made us all plenty of drinks over the years, and while they’re delicious, I’ve never tasted anything quite this good. “What is it?”
“Toasted coconut. I thought you’d want to try something more tropical while we’re in St. Lucia.”
“You thought right.” I wrap both hands around the plastic cup and take another sip. “I’ll have one of these every day for the rest of my life, please, and thank you.”
His eyes take in my outfit. “Is it bad I was going to work out in this?” He gestures to his Mustangs sweatshirt and gym shorts.
“Not at all.” I gesture to the door. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah.” Austin opens the door for me, and we head to the elevator. “I just feel like a gremlin next to a supermodel.”
I laugh at the ridiculous thought of him being anything other than gorgeous. I mean, has the man never looked in a mirror?
He nudges my side with his elbow. “That doesn’t help.”
“What, you need me to tell you how handsome you are?”
The elevator dings and the doors open, but Austin doesn’t step in. He looks down at me and his brows furrow. “You think I’m handsome?”
I playfully slap his arm. “Oh, come on. It’s not like I’m telling you something you didn’t already know.”
A slight blush colors his cheeks as he reaches out his arm to stop the elevator door from closing. He waits for me to step in, then follows behind me and hits the button for the lobby.
I’m building up my courage to ask him if he really thinks I look like a supermodel when the elevator stops at the next floor.
The doors open and a group of people dressed in fancy workout gear from brands I would never find at the thrift store steps in.
I think it’s pretty safe to assume they’re friends of the Vanderbilts.
So, I keep my mouth shut until we finally reach the lobby.
We follow the group outside where an instructor waits with Bianca, Bradley, and a few other guests with mats already rolled out. I grab two of the sweat towels from the front and set them down next to my iced coffee beside one of the mats.
“It looks like we have a good group, so we’ll go ahead and get started,” the instructor announces.
I sit cross-legged on my mat. Austin attempts to do the same, but his long legs jut out at awkward angles until he finally just sits with his legs stretched out in front of him.
“My name is Felicity, and I’ll be your instructor this beautiful morning in St. Lucia. Welcome to Mat Pilates.”
Austin leans toward me. “When you said morning movement, this wasn’t what I pictured.”
“You already have a strong core, so you should be fine.”
He wiggles his eyebrows. “Were you staring at my abs last night?”
“I did no such thing.”
I totally did.
“Let’s start by lying on our backs with our knees bent and feet flat. We’re going to have our arms parallel with our backs. Press your hands into the mat. Then we’re going to inhale and exhale like we’re trying to warm up our hands in the winter.”
We follow along with Felicity.
“Great, now this time we’re going to do a pelvic curl as we exhale.”
“A pelvic what?” Austin asks.
“Just lift your butt this time,” I whisper back.
“And now stretch as you slowly lower your spine back to the floor.” Felicity has us do this same stretch a few times before moving on to some small leg lifts.
“This isn’t so bad.” Austin smiles at me. I don’t want to kill his optimism by letting him know these are the warm-ups, but he’ll learn for himself soon enough.
“Now you’re going to pull your knees to your chest and wrap your hands around your ankles,” Felicity instructs. “And we’re going to roll like a ball.”
Austin looks over at me, his eyes wide. “Is this lady for real?”
I nod and get in position, following Felicity’s instructions while Austin struggles to follow along.
We do some single-leg circles before Felicity leads us into the corkscrew.
Austin looks over at me, sweat dripping down his face.
“Morning movement, my butt. They should rename this class ‘Torture Disguised as Fitness.’” He attempts to do the correct position, but fails, landing flat on his back. “This is the kind of class you go to?”
I execute the position perfectly. “Three times a week.”
“No wonder you love my cookies. You need some sugar happiness and carbs in your life after you sweat this much.” He grabs one of the sweat towels and wipes his face. “I’m not sure I’m going to make it.”
Now’s probably not a good time to tell him that I haven’t even broken a sweat. I don’t want to kick him when he’s already down. It’s not like I’d be able to just step in and hit a home run off a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball either.
While Felicity explains the next position for the class, I turn to Austin. “If you could eliminate one thing from the world, what would it be?”
“What does that have to do with me feeling like I’m about to die?”
“I’m trying to distract you.”
Austin sucks in a breath and slowly lets it out. “Right now,” he mutters. “Pilates.”
I laugh and the instructor glares at us. I press my lips together, feeling like I’m back in middle school getting scolded by the teacher for talking to my friends.
“I’m serious,” I whisper as I complete my high scissors.
He works to get into the same position as everyone in the class. His face is beet red, and I’m worried he might pass out for a second, but finally he glances over at me, not at all in the correct position, though close enough to show he made some effort. “Alzheimer’s.”
I know how much watching his grandma change with her diagnosis has impacted Austin and his family. But still hearing him say it out loud tugs at my heartstrings.
“It affects so many people, and it’s so hard to watch the person you love become someone else entirely.” He hangs his head and lets out a weary sigh. “Nothing prepares you for the first time you talk to them and they can’t remember who you are.”
“I’m sorry.” I hate that I brought up the question.
It was a stupid idea to try and distract him, and the only questions that seemed to be lingering in my mind were from the “20 Questions to Fall in Love” article, and I couldn’t very well ask him what qualities he values most in a relationship or what his nonnegotiables are.
And, even though I hate that the question might have brought back up difficult memories for him, his answer was validating.
My mind wanders back to my recent date with the mama’s boy.
He would’ve eliminated something ridiculous like peaches or shellfish.
But Austin’s answer is just another reason why I’ve had feelings for him all these years.
He’s not just a talented baseball player or a good friend; he’s a wonderful person. The kind of man who would choose to eliminate something so many people in the world suffer from rather than something trivial.
“Don’t be.” Austin blows out a long breath. “It’s nice talking about her.”
The instructor shoots us another annoyed look. I follow her into the crab exercise and mouth, Sorry. She doesn’t seem placated.
“You’re getting us in trouble,” I hiss at Austin.
“It takes two to have a conversation.”
I turn to tell him I’m whispering while his voice is echoing outside, but the words die on my lips when I spot him looking like a weird combination of a twisted pretzel and a baby giraffe with Rollerblades on who can’t find his footing as he tries to get into the correct position.
A laugh escapes my lips. Felicity clears her throat. Before she has a chance to throw us out, I say, “We’re going.” I grab my sweat towel and coffee and turn to Austin.
“Thank goodness.” He pushes up from his mat, leaving a sweat stain behind, and grabs his own coffee and towel with one hand and mine with the other, and we make a run for it.
My smile is wide and my hair whips behind me as we jog toward the beach.
I glance over at Austin. He looks as happy as I feel, despite the morning-movement class.
This right here is what I want. Austin making a fool out of himself at a workout class that he only went to because he knew it would make me happy.
Getting kicked out of said workout class because we can’t stop laughing and talking.
I want this. Us forever making memories together.
We reach the beach, and Austin sets his coffee cup and towel on the sand. “I don’t know how you do that multiple times a week.”
I shrug. “You get more flexible over time.”
“Please tell me that wasn’t a beginner’s class.” He lets out a self-deprecating laugh.
“No.” I shake my head. “That was more intermediate or advanced.”
“Good, I feel slightly better about myself. I was worried for a moment that I had pretty boy muscles.”
“What the heck are pretty boy muscles?”
“They don’t serve any purpose other than looking good. Like guys who lift all the time but die when they do any cardio.”
I take another few sips of my drink before all the ice melts and makes it too watered down.
“You use your muscles all the time in baseball”—he yanks off his damp sweatshirt and drops it beside his other stuff, and I can’t help but stare at the muscles in question—“so they do serve at least two purposes.”
He grins at me. “So they look good, too?”
“I thought we already discussed your handsomeness earlier.” I place my hands on my hips and look up at him, feeling bold. “You know, you’re getting really needy, wanting all this reassurance.”
Austin’s eyes twinkle with mirth as his lips tilt into a devilish smirk, making his dimple pop. Suddenly his hands are around my thighs, lifting me up. I instinctively wrap my legs around his waist and hold onto his neck.
“Slugger, what are you doing?” I squeal.
When I glance behind me and see he’s running toward the ocean, I squirm and try to climb down, but his hands hold tight to my legs.
We fall into the ocean together, and a wave crashes over us, soaking our clothes.
I wipe my hair back from my face and giggle, feeling alive.
Austin treads water for us as I tilt my head back toward the sun.
Yeah, I could get used to this.