Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Am I in the right place?” I asked the curly-haired woman behind the dimly lit reception desk.
Her face was buried in a sudoku book. Glades Bay was too small for its own yoga studio, so I’d found myself at the surf lifesaving club instead.
I tried not to hate the location, even though the sea-facing windows brought me straight back to Bellamy House.
“Depends on where you think you are,” she replied in a flat monotone, not looking up.
“Evening yoga with Jo?” I double-checked the info on my phone.
“Then you’re in the right place. Yes—got you!” She scribbled a final nine into a square and looked up. “Haven’t seen you before,” she added, her turquoise eyes scanning me from head to toe.
I tried not to let my discomfort show. I was wearing grey track pants and an oversized vintage-knit jumper I’d scored from a charity shop a few months back. Was this not yoga attire?
“Evening, Laney,” said a familiar deep voice from the front doors. My knees nearly gave way.
Dax.
He froze as he reached the middle of the room and registered me. Laney’s gaze bounced between us.
“I didn’t realise you were still here,” he said.
Well, at least I knew I was in the right place now. My cheeks flamed as the last conversation we’d had barged its way back into my mind.
“I didn’t know you were back,” was all I could manage. I couldn’t meet his eyes, but I mentally clocked the distance back to the exit. Not far, but he’d beat me there easily.
I was relieved to see he was wearing a black T-shirt and low-slung track pants and that I wasn't underdressed. Those things should be illegal with a body like his.
“Riley?” Dax’s voice sliced through my fantasy, and heat flushed to my cheeks again.
“Yeah?”
His chocolate eyes searched mine. “I seem to have that effect on people,” he joked, looking towards Laney, who beamed at him. Sure, smile at him. Don’t worry about the out of place stranger looking for help.
“You zoned out while I was talking.”
He was talking? The last thing I remembered was… sweatpants.
“I’m surprised to see you, is all. A good surprise,” I added quickly, watching the light return to his eyes. I wasn’t ready to see that spark dim again. “I’m not sure where I’m supposed to be.”
“You’re here for Yoga Nidra?”
I nodded, though I was half-tempted to say I was looking for the bookshop and leave. Zen wasn’t really my thing, and my anxiety was rising by the second.
“Laney, I’ll take Riley down with me.” Ahh, please do. “Pop her under a free trial,” he said and handed her a neat stack of change for himself. Something fluttered down through my stomach. Okay, please don’t tell me I now find his change piles erotic?
Yup. I’m officially a loser.
Dax led me down a long corridor and pushed open the door to a large open room with beautiful varnished floors. I wondered what wax they used…
A sandalwood smell wafted to my nose, and I looked around trying to place it.
“Incense at the front,” Dax pointed out.
At the head of the room was a small altar with flowers and a strange brass statue of someone with a lot of arms standing on someone else.
“Don’t worry, that’s about as hippy-dippy as it gets,” he said with a crooked smile, though it didn’t entirely reassure me.
The room was gradually filling up, mostly with women, but I noticed a few men too, rolling out colourful mats and setting up bolsters. I spotted Harry in the back corner; he gave me a polite wave before disappearing under a blanket. Everyone looked like they were getting ready for bed.
Okay… maybe I could like yoga.
“Is this something you want to do alone?” Dax asked, like I was about to undergo therapy—or a colonoscopy. Probably referring to the meltdown I’d had the other night when I’d insisted he butt out. I hadn’t even meant it.
I shook my head.
“Good. I’ll show you my favourite spot.”
His hand brushed mine, and sparks flared up my arm, prickling warmth into my skin. He led me to a corner space against the back wall.
“It’s closest to the kitchen—for coffee and cookies after. The wall’s good for leaning if you get tired of lying down. And you won’t feel like you’re on display if you’re having a moment.”
A moment?
“So there’s no moving in this class? No downward dog?” A crease formed between my brows. Relief and disappointment battled in my chest. I mean, I was less likely to make a fool of myself lying down, but I’d pay good money to see his downward dog.
He laughed and shook his head, pulling a couple of mats from a basket, rolling them out for us.
“Nidra means sleep. No movement here.”
I sighed. “Good, because I was wondering how I’d stop myself from looking like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.”
“Oh, I never said you didn’t need to be flexible.” Mischief filled his eyes. I swallowed and tried to remember how to breathe.
He chuckled again before tapping his temple with a finger.
“In here,” he winked.
Did Dax Holmes just wink at me? Yup. I sank onto my mat, mimicking the other horizontal humans before I turned into an actual puddle. How did people relax in a room full of strangers? I couldn’t figure out how to keep my eyes closed. What if someone snuck up on me?
I sat up again just as Dax returned with a few thick bolsters and some woollen blankets. Now if only we had some beer…
“I’ll set it up for you this time,” he said, folding one blanket at the top of my mat and another at the foot. “Next time you’ll know what you need and how you like it.”
I swallowed, disappointed that his innuendos seemed lost on him.
Heat filled me as I watched him lie down, arms stretching overhead, his t-shirt lifting just enough to expose a trail of hair beneath.
Those trousers hugged everything, and I was genuinely disappointed when he tucked himself up with one of the blankets.
“I couldn’t close my eyes or lay down for the first four,” he looked up at me as he thought back. “Don’t feel weird if you can’t.”
I nodded at him, pulling myself back towards the wall so I could stay sitting up.
This really was a good spot. The teacher wasn't here yet, but everyone was lying down. Many with their eyes covered with a sweatshirt or blanket and all waiting devotedly. It was strange. If Dax hadn’t been here, I would have left by now.
It seemed like a bizarre group adult sleepover where no keys were added to a bowl at the beginning, and I couldn’t see the appeal.
I tried to close my eyes like everyone else, but I couldn’t help peeking out of my drooped lashes at Dax.
I wanted to slip under that blanket with him and feel his body against mine as I breathed in his scent of pine and vanilla.
I nearly imploded on the spot as he cracked an eyelid and grinned at me. I hadn’t said that out loud… right?
“Good evening, everyone. Sorry I’m late,” came a soft voice.
A young woman with long, sandy-coloured beach waves entered barefoot, wearing black leggings and a slouchy green jumper that hung off one shoulder.
Bells on red twine jingled around her ankle as she moved, sounding exactly like I’d always imagined a fairy would.
I was pleased to see that some of my assumptions about tonight weren’t groundless.
She looked exactly as I imagined a yoga teacher would, and her voice was calm and syrupy.
She crossed her legs on a bolster at the altar and connected her phone to a small speaker.
Soft instrumental music drifted into the air.
I knew it. This was going to be lame.
The bony woman introduced herself as Willow. Yup—so lame. She launched into housekeeping and the usual spiel before beginning.
“Let’s take a moment to arrive in this space together,” she exhaled, eyes closing.
Everyone else followed suit. “Perhaps noticing what you can hear,” she paused.
“Maybe noticing where your body connects to the surface beneath it.” Recognising the similarity of the words from when I had my meltdown at the children’s home, I looked over at Dax, who was grinning, his eyes still closed. He’d been grounding me.
I wish he’d ground me. To kiss those grinning lips. I sighed. Focus Riley. Focus! You’re here for a reason. And not that reason!
I let my eyes flutter shut as I brought my attention back to my breathing. Taking a deep breath in and managing to sigh it out when instructed, even though my brain screamed at me that this room full of exhaling adults was a cult.
Cult, and this being stupid, were currently battling for the front page of today’s tabloid issue of my brain.
But… I had to admit, my body was already more relaxed than it had been five minutes ago—even if my mind wasn’t.
Willow guided us to move our attention through different points of the body, “like a leaf floating down a stream.” Lame.
But the more I tuned in, the more surprised I was by how tense I’d been without realising.
I allowed every part of me to soften. It felt like a game-changer.
My body grew heavier, sinking into the floor.
With my back against the wall, I finally felt safe enough to keep my eyes shut.
A snort from across the room startled my lashes open again. Willow just smiled and glanced in the direction of the sleeper, then dipped her head as if to say—it happens.
I let my eyes close again.
“Now we’ll move to creating a safe space within ourselves,” Willow drawled.
Okay, that was my threshold of stupid officially crossed.