Page 32 of Plot Twist

Teacher’s pet.

‘I might have agreed to take part but I don’t need everyone watching my fat ass while I downward dog, thank you very much,’ I called.

Riley laughed, his green eyes sparkling. ‘Have it your way.’

He turned to face the front and I watched him lie down on his mat and start stretching. He laughed easily with Eimear and the other members of the class–all women, and all of whom wanted to chat with Riley before class started. I felt like charging for tickets and telling them to form an orderly queue.

‘Riley! How’s Ivy doing?’

‘Great to see you, Riley! How’s the book coming along?’

‘Riley, you’re looking super trim,’ one woman winked. Actually winked.

I tried to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Mr Bloody Popularity. I tried to ignore the pang of jealousy threatening to rear its ugly head. How pathetic that I wanted to shout about the fact that I was living with him at the top of my lungs. As though he were mine, which he absolutely was not. I sat down on my mat instead and took a sip of water, wondering where I would pee if I needed to. We really were at one with nature. I guessed I would need to hide behind a rock or something. I made a mental note to limit my water intake.

‘Are we still on for our date?’

My head flew up so quickly, I almost got whiplash. Riley was going on a date with someone? He hadn’t mentioned it. I mean, of course, I would be totally fine with him going on a date. He was allowed, after all. I was only his writing partner. And friend. It was nothing more than that.

‘Sure thing.’ He grinned.

Of course he was talking to the gorgeous Eimear, with her washboard stomach, perky boobs and the Irish eyes that were most certainly smiling. Damn her.

It stung a little. He might not have shared any details about his relationship with Ivy’s mum, but I thought he was confiding in me. I was the only one he’d told about his writer’s dysfunction, after all. But he hadn’t mentioned dating. Maybe it was for his novel, I realised. Maybe it was all part of his plan to feel inspired again. Research, you could call it.

I held on tightly to the straws I was metaphorically clutching.

‘Looking forward to it,’ she smiled. ‘OK, class, if everyone wants to sit on their mats, we’ll get started.’

I felt a lot more tense than I had when I’d bloody arrived, thanks to the instructor. I watched Eimear moving her bendy body into impossible positions, with Riley just one move behind. They would make the perfect couple, I groaned.

I rolled my eyes at the girl next to me as I struggled to keep up with the ups and downs and breathing and warrior poses. She smiled politely back at me, but I knew I was distracting her.

I hated the bloody downward dog. Everyone else seemed to take it in their stride, but I felt my whole body shaking beneath my pathetic pale arms. They’d never had any strength in them; even when I carried shopping bags for too long, my arms felt like jelly for ages afterwards.

But being reminded to breathe what felt like every sixty seconds– that was good. That’s what I needed. Someone to remind me to breathe in and out. To clear all the thoughts from my mind.

Breathe. Stretch. Breathe. Downward dog (oh fuck off). Stretch it out. Breathe in and out. Stretch. As we progressed towards the end of the class, I did feel slightly better. My arms were reaching places they couldn’t when the class first started.

I watched Riley from the back of the class. As did the rest of the women. I spotted a black tattoo peeking out from under his T-shirt as he stretched towards the sky. He bent forward in one smooth motion and struck another ‘warrior’ pose with such ease. I’d never seen someone of his build move so flexibly before and, despite my lack of skills and interest in yoga, I was impressed.

The woman next to me gazed at him, too, while the class winker was practically drooling at the sight of his tanned thighs flipping expertly between the moves. I inwardly tutted like a petulant child. I was used to having Riley all to myself. I knew women would want him, but seeing it in front of my eyes was a different matter. His mere presence seemed to dominate the whole class. Or at least, it certainly felt that way.

I would not be one of these women. I was Riley’s friend, after all. I wasn’t looking for romance when I came here, and I certainly wasn’t chasing Rathcliffe’s most eligible bachelor. And with Eimear around, I clearly wouldn’t get very far anyway. As she called for the ‘shavasana’ at the end of the session, I lay down and hugged my legs into my body.

When I came to Ireland, I’d been expecting to find a woman who enjoyed stretching it out at yoga, loved her adorable daughter and was an accomplished writer but, most of all, made me laugh and feel calm.

And just because Riley had a penis didn’t mean that I couldn’t have all that. It just meant that I needed to reset my expectations back to what they’d been at the start.

I couldn’t get carried away with it all.

Note to self: stop thinking about Riley’s penis.

14

‘It’s for me, it’s for me!! Daaaaadddy!! Daaaddddyyy!’

Ivy shrieked at the top of her lungs. I was barely awake, despite the whole still-not-sleeping-well thing, but flung back my duvet and bolted to see where the screams were coming from. I quickly located her, bouncing up and down at the front door, clutching an envelope. She beamed up at me, her tiny white teeth poking out from under her lips. She wore her pink dressing gown over her mermaid nightdress and small fluffy unicorn slippers.