Chapter 3

Chapter Three

River

I’VE NEVER SEEN SUCH a tangled, tumultuous aura. Storm clouds roil around the beautiful man at the back of my yoga class. Despite all my better instincts, I get close to him during the class, touching him, fascinated by the energy pouring off him. When I push even lightly on his back, tight, tense muscles and tendons crackle like bubble wrap.

No one has ever needed one of my classes so bad.

You wouldn’t guess it by looking at the man. He scowls his way through the entire class, then packs up swiftly when it ends. He seems like he wants to crash through the windows to get out of the café, and the moment I realize that, I’m desperate to stop him. Something inside me can’t let a person this tangled, this confused, this hurt just walk away. He’s worse than Cameron, back when Cameron’s aura was more black than orange. Some people imprison themselves in their own misery so thoroughly and so deeply they can’t find their way out on their own, and I’m scared this man is among them.

I approach, smiling. The man’s friend, Megan, notices me first. I remember her from prior classes.

“That was a really good practice today,” Megan says.

“Thank you. It was a good flow,” I say. “It felt right for a sunny weekend afternoon.”

Megan nods vigorously, but her friend refuses to look at me. He looks anywhere else — at the floor, at the cats, at the windows and the world outside them. Something clicks into place. I get the impression this man runs from discomfort, from anything that might force him out of his self-imposed isolation. Even now, he’s searching for an excuse to bolt. I can’t let him find one.

“Is this your friend from work?” I say.

Megan’s smile broadens. “That’s right. This is Clark. Clark, River. Though I guess you knew that because of class.”

Clark. I roll the name around on my tongue. It suits him. I like the sharpness of it, the hard edges. It’s a crisp, neat, direct name.

Clark is shifting from foot to foot. Thanks to that introduction, he can’t slink away like he was hoping to. That would be too awkward now. Social convention forces him to look at me, which affords me a glimpse of his stunningly dark eyes, eyes as sharp and crisp and direct as his name. When he finally looks at me, gazing slightly upward thanks to my height, those eyes pin me in place.

I manage to stick out my hand after a beat. “Nice to meet you.”

Clark evaluates my hand like he’s never experienced a handshake, but I’m guessing this gesture is actually how he experiences most of the human touch in his life. He flinched when I adjusted his down dog pose; he shivered when I gently cracked his back.

It makes me want to touch him more. A lot more. Part of me says that’s because I can help him; part of me is not so optimistic about my altruism.

I set those desires aside. They’re only natural, after all.

Clark shakes my hand. His skin is warm and soft, as though he doesn’t do much with his hands besides type on a keyboard, yet he’s certainly fit. That was obvious when he moved easily through every pose, even doing the more difficult variations of a few.

“Was that your first yoga practice?” I say.

“Yeah. I, uh, Megan convinced me to come,” Clark says.

“So I heard. I’m glad she did. Did you enjoy it?”

Clark’s eyebrows draw together as though the question confuses him. “It was fine,” he says shortly.

“Just fine? You seemed to move well. You’re less tense than when you arrived.”

Clark’s eyebrows draw even closer. His face shuts down before my eyes. “How do you know that?”

So many ways, but I choose the one I think he’ll accept. “The way you’re standing.”

Clark looks down at himself like he’s seeing his body for the first time. He crosses his arms over his chest, closing down even further. I make a mental note about his discomfort around anything commenting on his body, but it’s a little shocking to realize how thoroughly he’s ignoring the energy he’s sending out into the world. Anyone who’s even a little bit sensitive will sense it immediately.

Megan picks up on the awkwardness as well. She starts backing away, offering a quick, “I’m gonna grab a coffee. Clark, you want anything?”

“No, it’s too late for coffee.”

“It’s never too late for coffee,” Megan says as she slides away.

Suddenly, I’m alone with him. Everyone else has left the yoga area. The cat tree separates us from the other side of the café, where a handful of my students sip their drinks and play with the cats, the ones who haven’t retreated into the tree, at least.

I scramble to fill the silence before Clark can use it as a reason to leave.

“You know, there are other classes I offer,” I say. “Not just here. I teach at another studio as well. I do all kinds of bodywork, not just yoga. You might benefit from it if you have some aches and pains, especially in your back.”

Clark narrows his eyes. “I’m fine.”

I put up my hands. “I’m not suggesting you aren’t, but there was a lot of tension in your back. When I cracked it…”

I trail off, remembering the soft, involuntary sigh he issued when I released all that tension he’s carrying around. It’s already back, most likely, and my hands tingle with the urge to touch him again and dispel it. No one should walk around carrying all that. I can help him, I know I can help him, and the longer I talk to him, the more I want to. I’ve never met a student who needed me this badly, or who I was drawn to this strongly. Maybe it’s my desire to help. Maybe it’s the energy wafting off of him. Maybe it’s his beautiful face. I won’t claim I’m above simple human desire, but this isn’t just simple human desire. Clark is carrying a burden he doesn’t need to, and I can help him set it aside if he’ll let me.

I forget I trailed off until I catch Clark staring at me, apparently reliving that moment as well. His gaze sharpens the moment our eyes meet, and he physically shakes his head.

“No. Thank you, but I’m fine.”

He turns to go, and every wrong instinct inside me screams all at once. It’s wildly unprofessional, but I can’t stop myself from grabbing his wrist. I’m larger than him, but he could break free if he wanted to. He doesn’t. Clark goes very still the instant I grab him, looking down at where my hand wraps around his wrist. Suddenly, his skin is burning hot in my grasp, or maybe that’s the shocked flush clawing its way up my neck and into my ears.

I release him hastily, and thankfully he doesn’t sprint out of the café.

“I…” I fumble. “Can I show you something? Wait just one second please. It’ll only take a moment.”

Clark narrows his eyes, but nods, and I run for the staff room. I rifle through the papers on the counters, ignoring the cat who yowls at me for disturbing him. I grab a paper and dash back out into the café, hoping against hope that Clark will still be there. Miraculously, he is, but he’s folded his arms under his chest.

“Here,” I say, holding the paper out for him.

He takes it like it might explode. “What is this?”

I wave at the paper, which contains a large headline, some smaller text and a sprawling image of a lakeside. “I’m teaching at a yoga and wellness retreat that’s coming up next month. I think you might enjoy it if you gave it a shot.”

Clark is shaking his head before I even finish. “I can’t take this kind of time off of work on such short notice.”

“This is actually great for work retreats,” I say. “We have a couple teams arriving for a work-related retreat already, but we have room for one more. If you and Megan organized something at your job…”

I trail off again, hoping he’ll pick up the thread, hoping he’ll see the same vision I do, but Clark shakes his head at the paper.

“I appreciate it,” he says, “but I doubt they’re interested.”

He makes to give the paper back to me, but I set my hands over his. “Why don’t you keep it anyway?” I say. “Just in case. I have plenty more copies.”

Clark looks down at our hands where we touch. His gaze skips up my arms and skims over my bare chest. I’d forgotten until this moment that I was still shirtless. Normally, that’s no issue for me. I prefer to be as close to my natural state as I can, especially while practicing, but Clark’s gaze leaves me feeling dissected and scrutinized … not entirely in a bad way. There’s such an intensity in those eyes, such a depth of intellect, such a well of focus. Clark could conquer anything he pursued, yet he walks around with this pall hanging over him. God, he’d be stunning if he let it down for even a moment. He’s already stunning.

He frees himself from my grasp and folds up the paper, stuffing it in his pocket.

“I guess I can think about it,” he says.

I can’t help it. I beam at the mere suggestion of a chance to work with him more, to get deeper into whatever’s weighing him down. I want to start right now. I want to spend the rest of the day exploring every corner of him. I’m sure he wouldn’t allow that, and I don’t dare suggest it, but even the possibility I’ll get another chance is enough to leave my aura bright and light.

“I … I need to go,” Clark says.

He backs away, but he doesn’t bolt, even when he could. When he meets up with Megan back in the café, he glances one last time over his shoulder, and our eyes meet for a brief moment before he turns and heads out the doors.

I could float back to the café side. Most people have cleared out by now, and Cameron is playing on his phone behind the coffee bar, probably writing another song for his band. When I lean against the counter and watch Clark and Megan walking away out on the street, Cameron snorts a laugh.

“Can’t believe you actually talked to that guy,” Cameron says. “He looks like he hated every second of your class.”

“He just doesn’t know yet,” I say. “He felt the energy though. He’ll come back. I saw it all over him.”

“Right. Sure. Whatever. You know, most people aren’t into this wacky aura stuff. That doesn’t mean anything to them.”

“It doesn’t matter if it means anything to them. There’s still a truth to it.”

“If you say so, man.”

Cameron goes back to his phone, and I push myself away from the coffee bar, heading to the staff room to collect my stuff. Hope lingers around me like a shining, shimmering cloak. Cameron might doubt, but I saw his aura change. I saw his whole demeanor brighten when the right person came along and helped lift the burden he didn’t realize he was carrying. If I’m lucky, I’ll get a chance to do that for Clark. If it can work for Cameron, it can work for my beautiful stranger too.