A possessive feeling ricochets through me. “What the fuck does that mean?”
He leans against the counter as he takes a drink. “You think I don’t know you’ve always had a thing for Hartley? She might be having fun with you now,” he lets the last word linger, “but I had her first.” His smile turns cruel and cold, and rage bleeds through me as he shrugs. “Hazel and I aren’t done yet.”
“McKinnon, this is just sad.” My tone is condescending, but my heart pounds with protective anger.
“We’ll see.”
We stare each other down, but my phone alarm goes off, interrupting. I hit the button to silence it and send him an apologetic look that’s clearly fake.
“Now that I know you’re pining after my girlfriend, this is going to be awkward.” I wake my laptop up, pop my earbuds in, and join the Zoom call.
A moment later, Hartley’s face fills my screen.
“Hi,” she says into my earbuds, giving me a welcoming smile until it falls abruptly. “You’re Bert Randy? I knew that name sounded fake.”
I chuckle, leaning back in the desk chair, aware that McKinnon is watching over my shoulder. “I miss you, too. Send me more nudes like that one you sent last night.”
“Miller,” she says, horrified. “I’m working. Go away.”
“I’m going to be so good for you, baby.” I nudge my laptop so she can see McKinnon behind me. “And I’ll keep my shirt on so you don’t get distracted.”
Understanding passes over her features. “Can he hear me?”
“Nope.” I point at the earbuds.
“Good. Don’t call me baby.” Her nostrils flare, and I smile wider at her irritation. It’s like a drug to me. I love playing with her, firing her up. “I get that we need to pretend in front of him, but—oh my god. Is that a photo of me on your nightstand?”
Behind me, McKinnon starts moving around the room, making noise. “You know I miss you like crazy when I’m on the road.”
She flattens her palm over her mouth like she’s trying to hide a laugh. “Did he see it?”
“Yep.” I grin at her, and she snorts.
“Go into the hall if you’re going to talk all night,” McKinnon says.
Over my shoulder, I give him a disinterested, distracted look and point at my earbuds. “I can’t hear you. I’m doing Hartley’s yoga class.”
“No, you’re not,” Hartley says in my ear.
I ignore her, shrugging at McKinnon. “You’re welcome to join,” I lie. He’s not fucking welcome. “If you want to work on your flexibility.”
“I’m good,” he says, scowling as he picks up his phone and wallet.
I swivel my chair back to my laptop, smiling at Hartley as the hotel room door closes behind McKinnon. “That was fun.”
The corner of her mouth lifts.
“Admit it.”
Her smile lifts higher, and my knee bounces. “Okay. It was fun. Good night.”
“I’m staying for the class.”
“Miller. This is my job. We fucked with Connor, and now I actually need to teach a class.”
Something unpleasant stabs me in the gut. I’m not like McKinnon. I’m not going to make things difficult for her when she’s trying to work.
“Hey.” My voice turns sincere and coaxing, and I dampen my amusement. “I just want to get a good stretch in, okay? I’m not here to cause problems.”
She doesn’t seem convinced. “You cause problems whether you’re trying or not.”
I laugh. “You’re not wrong, but I’m going to mute myself. You won’t even know I’m here.” My brows lift. “Your website says everyone is welcome. You can’t kick me out just because I have a perfect physique.”
I swear she’s blushing. “You’re never going to drop that, are you?”
“Nope.” She’s definitely blushing.
“You can stay on one condition.” Her expression turns serious. “These students are not professional athletes. They’re normal people. They have normal bodies. My job is to make everyone feel welcome, regardless of what they look like or what their abilities are.” She gives me a long look, no trace of irritation or frustration on her face. “I teach fat people, skinny people, young people, old people, differently abled people… everyone. Everyone deserves to enjoy movement and feel good in their bodies.”
An ugly feeling whips through me. Does she really think I’m such an asshole that I would make fun of people for not being professional athletes?
“If you make anyone feel uncomfortable,” she says, and her voice is firm, “I’ll remove you from the class.”
I blink at her. “I wouldn’t, Hartley. I would never do that.”
She looks down, nodding. “Okay. Good.”
My eyebrows pinch as I study her. I just found an interesting part of Hartley, and I want to know so much more. And at the same time, I don’t like that she felt the need to lay out these rules for me. Treating people with respect is just common sense. I would never—
I think about last year, how Streicher and I fought. How I antagonized people on the ice. How everyone compares me to my dad.
A moment later, six more video squares pop up.
“Oh, good, we got new meat!” a woman in her sixties says as soon as she spots me. She has short, spiky platinum blond hair, big eyes, and is sitting on her yoga mat in her living room, bouncing with energy like a kid.
I grin wide. “Hi. I’m Rory.”
“I’m Elaine,” the woman says, and an orange cat walks by in the background. “That’s Archie.”
The others introduce themselves: Clarence, a man in his eighties who informs me he just got a new hip; Laura, a quiet, bigger-bodied woman about my age; Vatsi, who looks to be in the later stages of pregnancy; and Hyung, who looks about twenty and appears to be in a dorm room.
“What brings you to the class, Rory?” Clarence asks.
I glance at Hartley’s screen, where she’s setting up her mat and props. “I’m Hartley’s boyfriend.”
Elaine gasps in delight. “Hazel, you didn’t tell us you had a boyfriend.”
“She’s overwhelmed by her feelings for me.” Amusement dances up and down my spine as Hartley slowly turns to the camera, staring daggers at me. “It’s been a while since she’s fallen so hard for someone.”
Hartley stares at her camera, and I can just feel her attention on me, moving over my face.
Elaine raises her hand. “I have a thousand questions.”
“You were supposed to mute yourself,” Hartley says to me, arching a brow.
I click the mute button and throw my hands up with a grin, signaling that I’ll be quiet.
“Let’s begin,” she says, and I adjust the meeting settings so her video takes up my entire screen. “Take a seat however’s comfortable for you.”
I move to the floor, tilting my laptop screen so I can see her, watching as she moves into a cross-legged position on her mat.
“Take a few deep, slow breaths through your nose. Expand into your lungs, expand into your stomach, feel the floor or the prop beneath you. If you want, close your eyes.”
I suck a few breaths in and out, keeping my eyes on her.