Page 100 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

Back on my feet, I stood near Robyn, not wanting to move away, though I knew I should.

“Are you okay?” Robyn asked.

What a loaded question. “I don’t know how I should answer that.”

Surprise flashed in her eyes. It gave me a sense of satisfaction to see her reaction. I doubted she’d expected me to be so forthright.

“Uh, I mean, did Millie hurt you?”

“No. It wasn’t Millie that hurt me.”Damn.I was on fire with my double meanings.

“Are you here for the class?” Robyn asked.

“You mean there’s a class going on here?” I asked with a smile.

Robyn finally smiled. “Okay, I deserved that. Pretty stupid question.”

“Nah, I’m just messing with you.” I smiled. “I was hoping to see you today.”

Her eyes widened. “You were?”

“I seem to have surprised you.”

“Yeah, I guess you did. I wasn’t sure how things would be between us after, uh, after Tuesday.”

“I missed... I mean, you missed an epic battle.”

“Vera told me. Second place, huh?” Robyn scrunched up her face. “I’d have thought you’d do better.”

I stared at her and let my mouth fall open before I responded. “Hey, didn’t she tell you about Emma?”

Robyn laughed. “I knew it would get me back on firmer ground.” She winked at me. “You had me back on my heels there for a second.”

I moved closer to her, so we were only inches apart. “Do you think I might throw you off your game again?”

Her face reddened, and she glanced around. When she did, I realized the others were gone, and Robyn and I were alone. By her reaction, I suspected she’d not noticed they’d left, either.

“I guess they wanted to leave us alone,” I said.

“Apparently.”

I reached for her hand, but she backed up.

“Blake, we can’t do this here.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to facilitate the class in ten minutes.”

“Yeah.” I knew she was right, but disappointment coursed through me.

“We’ll talk later. Clear the air.”

I stiffened, not liking the words she’d chosen. Clear the air wasn’t a ringing endorsement of how she felt about me. My first reaction was to save face and pretend I didn’t care, either. Instead, I took a deep breath and said, “I don’t want to clear the air. I want to talk about how I feel about you.”

Robyn took in an audible breath. “Please, we can’t do this here or now.”

I smirked, even though I felt like vomiting. It was time I stopped playing it safe. “I know you’re scared, so am I, but it doesn’t change how I feel.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Robyn put her hand against her chest. “I’m supposed to be the emotionally mature one here.”

“I had an excellent teacher.” I winked at her and held out my arm. “Can I walk you to class?”