Page 105 of The Love Playbook

Itry and wrap my head around the fact that I’m here, in a yoga studio with Chris for a private couple’s session on our first real date, because it’s somethingIenjoy when he could’ve chosen nearly anywhere else to take me. The forethought and insight sink inside my chest, stirring up my conflicting emotions. It’s the reason I’ve been avoiding Chris all week?not because I don’t want to see him or because I’m uninterested, but because I don’t know what to do with these feelings ballooning inside my chest. They seem to have a life of their own—shifting and growing and taking shape without my permission—and that scares me more than anything.

The second we step inside the studio room where our yoga instructor is waiting for us, a wall of heat hits me like a tsunami. The thick and humid air wraps around me, clinging to my skinand making it feel like every breath is both an inhale and a release. The dim lighting casts soft shadows on the walls and the rhythmic hum of soothing music blends with the gentle shuffling of mats being rolled out, creating a tranquil, almost meditative energy.

“Whooo!” Chris exhales loudly beside me, pinching his hoodie and shaking it out. “Fuck, it’s hot in here.” Then, turning to me, his expression is pinched as he says, “I think the thermostat is broken.”

I laugh at his fevered expression. “It’s hot yoga, genius.”

“What? Shit.” He shakes his hoodie out some more, before he tears it up and over his head, rewarding me with the sight of his biceps and chest in a tank top. “This isn’t just hot,” he says, slightly out of breath. “it’s straight up an inferno in here.”

“Chris,” the yogi, Vi, greets us, a smile tipping the corner of her lips as she extends a hand to him. “And this must be the lovely Charlotte,” she says, glancing at me next.

“Nice to meet you.” I smile accepting the hand she offers.

“Chris tells me you practice yoga?”

I lift a shoulder, fidgeting slightly because when I told Chris I like to do yoga, I wasn’t lying, but I’m no expert, and I hope she doesn’t expect me to be. “Some,” I say, sounding uncertain even to my own ears.

“Well, today we’re not going to be practicing your typical yoga. Instead, we’re going to do a couple’s session with a very specific form of yoga meant to enhance the connection between partners.”

I shift on my feet, glancing up at Chris warily as Vi continues, “So, this will be a little more impassioned than what you’re used to. How long have the two of you been intimate?”

“Intimate?” I choke out. “Uh . . . Er, actually?”

“It’s fairly recent,” Chris butts in while I gawk helplessly at him. “I mean, Charlotte’s been on my case for a while. She’s verypersistent like that. It didn’t matter what I said. At one point, I was even likeno, Charlotte, I’m not interested in a relationship right now, and I don’t want a casual fling. I’m just not that guy, you know? But she badgered me for the better part of the year, and here we are.” He shrugs, giving her a sheepish smile while I stare at him with a scowl.

Vi nods, her expression serious as he continues to spew his bullshit.

“Finally, I caved. I mean, look at her.” He motions up and down my body while I roll my eyes. “I’m only human.”

“We’re not intimate,” I cut in.

“Lettie, baby,” he says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, “you don’t have to deny it. It’s okay. This is a safe space.” Then to the instructor, he whispers behind his hand, “She has trouble admitting vulnerability.”

“Oh, yes.” Vi hums, her gaze bouncing between us with knowing eyes. “Well, this will be an excellent exercise for her.”

My stomach tightens. “I do not have trouble admitting vulnerability.”

Chris pulls a face, casting me some serious side-eye.

“Well, even if you do, there’s no harm in admitting it,” Vi says in a way that lets me know she believes everything coming out of Chris’s mouth and none of what’s come out of mine. “But we’ll see if we can work on it, shall we? Are you up for the challenge, Charlotte?” she asks, her questioning gaze taking me in.

“Yeah, Char, you up for the challenge?” Chris parrots, smiling like a loon behind Vi’s shoulder.

Great. So, if I say no, then Vi will really think I’m in denial about my inability to be vulnerable.

I grit my teeth, barely able to speak the words, “Of course.”

“Wonderful!” Vi claps her hands, then instructs us to get comfortable by taking a seat on the mats she’s laid out for us while she changes out the music.

Cutting Chris with one final dirty look, I pick a mat and lower myself down as another blast of heat hits me.

I hiss out a breath, inhaling the sticky air. It’s hot in here, even for me, and when I glance over at Chris, he’s fanning his face.

“You okay, there?” I ask with a smirk.

“Not even a little.” He leans closer and whispers, “Is this normal? Maybe she wants to kill us? You know, I never did have time to check her Google reviews,” he says, pinning her with a stare.

“You’re such a baby,” I say before I reach for the hem of my hoodie and take it off, revealing a tiny tank top the same blue shade as my leggings.