Page 78 of 10 Rings I Hate About You
Delaney darted in between participants and animals to help Goldie, and I began drafting an incident report in my head.
“I live here now,” Goldie replied in between doggie kisses. “I’m fine.”
“I’m okay, too. Thanks for asking,” Adam grumbled sarcastically as he picked himself up from the floor.
Realizing she wasn’t needed, Delaney stopped short.
The second she did, I knew something had gone wrong. Delaney sucked in a quick, surprised breath as her right foot didn’t stop along with the rest of her body. Time did that thing where it almost doesn’t exist. She shifted her body to find her equilibrium, and her arms swung erratically. Her eyes went wide. Her mouth dropped open in a quiet scream. She grabbed at nothing, and for a solid second her body was suspended in the air.
I was already moving.
I leapt over a puppy and caught her with one hand at her back and one on her arm, taking her weight the moment before she crashed down onto the floor. She grabbed my forearm with both hands, fingers gripped tight, and we held ourselves together, afraid to let go. Her breathing was unsteady, so I tightened my hands reflexively around her, firmer than necessary, as my pulse roared in my ears.
“I’ve got you,” I said, my voice rough.
She looked up at me. We were close enough that I saw her cheeks flush, and noticed that small scar above her eyebrow. How her pink, plump lips parted slightly. And how the urge to lean in and kiss her almost overtook me.
The bite of Delaney’s nails was enough to keep my head on straight. Yet even when her stranglehold on my arm didn’t loosen right away, I couldn’t stop the longing that welled up in me to tell her to stay within my embrace. To promise I’d protect her. Keep her safe.
Never leave her.
“Always trying to be the hero, huh, Kingsley?” she said, barely above a whisper.
I grinned, because this time she wasn’t yelling at me while rescuing her, and that felt like progress of some kind.
Behind us, a throat cleared.
I didn’t look. I didn’t care.
“Seemed like the better option,” I said to her.
Lines appeared across her brow. “Better than what?”
“Letting you hit the floor.” See? I could pretend having her pressed up against me wasn’t a problem.
She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. Her fingers loosened, slowly, one at a time.
I reluctantly revised my hold accordingly.
A volunteer appeared with towels, which was probably the most useful thing that had happened in the last four minutes. Mats were moved. The water was addressed. The cats were retrieved from their respective locations—one from inside Wyatt’s hoodie, where it had decided to take a nap, and one from the water station, where it observed the cleanup with complete disdain.
Goldie was lavishing attention on the golden retriever, who had no complaints. Logan had planted himself in the center of his mat, spine straight, arms at his sides—ready, apparently, to take beginner yoga very seriously. Adam grumbled his way back to his station, announcing to no one in particular that this was absolutely his last class.
Cheryl surveyed the room from the head of the class, her hands on her hips as she assessed what to do next.
Delaney gave her a curt nod. “Okay. If everyone is alright, then let’s keep going. If we get through Sun Salutation at the actual class, that’ll be a win.”
I swallowed. Theactual classwas next Friday. Theactual classhad paying customers, a wait list, and a grant site visit on the horizon.
“Okay,” Delaney called, and there was laughter in her voice even now, genuine and warm, not strained. “New plan. Let’s move to seated stretches before we attempt standing again.”
Everyone sat down on their mats and mimicked her position: back straight and legs out in front of her.
"Let's do child’s pose,” Cheryl suggested.
Delaney nodded, demonstrated the position, and then proceeded to help everyone find a comfortable way of executing it.
I finally exhaled—a full exhale—as everyone settled into child’s pose. Lower center of gravity. Smaller margin for disaster. The animals, responding to some collective relation frequency I couldn’t detect, all began to settle down.
