“I’m aware of all of those things. I tried to stop feeling this way about her and it didn’t work. We might crash and burn next week, but for right now? It’s good. I’m good. She and I are good together.”
I was under no delusions that things would not always be sunshine and matcha lattes with Piper. She did have a child and an ex-husband and those weren’t things I was going to ignore. If we stayed together in the long term, I was taking on the responsibility of a child, and a young one at that.
“Isn’t Ellie dating a guy with a kid?” I asked.
“They’re not technically dating,” Hollis clarified. “They’re friends who go on dates and hang out a lot. And I think they’re both waiting to make things official before she meets his son.” That made sense.
“Well, I already met Preston, so I can’t really go back and undo that.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. I’m just your sister and I worry,” Julia said, turning around in the seat to look at me.
“I know. But, as my big sister, I would ask you to remember that I’m an adult and my mistakes are mine to make.”
Julia gave me a smile, but there was still worry in her eyes. Not a whole lot I could do about that. I didn’t live my life to make other people comfortable.
Besides, dating a beautiful, successful woman wasn’t the worst thing I could do. I could be hooking up with guys like Paige’s ex, Wyatt. That would be way worse.
Julia and Hollis were true to their word and didn’t bring up anything at family dinner. Rob and Tony announced that they had found a surrogate to carry their second child, so that was kind of the main event so people weren’t prying much into my personal life. Sometimes, being able to fade into a big family was a blessing.
I did send Piper some pictures and video so she could get the Williams family dinner experience.
My eardrums are ringing she sent when I shared a video of all my niblings singing along to the movie they’d picked.
I think mine are genetically stronger or something I replied.
Or maybe I was just used to the noise.
Piper and I texted all through dinner, and when I got back to the farmhouse.
Julia and Hollis teased me a little about being glued to my phone, but I reminded them that they were just as bad.
I wasn’t surprised to see her at sunset yoga.
“Hey,” she said, coming over to me and glancing around at the other people setting up their mats.
“I just wanted to let you know how much I seriously want to kiss you right now, but I’m not going to since you’re in yoga teacher mode, but just know that I’m thinking about,” she said in a low voice that no one else could hear.
“Good to know,” I said at a normal volume. Piper gave me a wink and went to set up her mat near the back of the group.
I tried not to be distracted by Piper, but I was distracted by Piper. I told myself that the rest of my students deserved my attention, and they had paid money for me to teach them yoga, not ogle Piper.
“Teacher mode,” I said to myself before I started and then took one deep breath before putting on a smile and starting class.
I put them through their paces tonight, throwing some new transitions and poses they weren’t used to. A few of my regulars gave me “what the hell?” looks, but they did their best and that was all that mattered. Yoga wasn’t a competitive sport.
“You were really mean to us tonight,” said Charlene as everyone packed up their mats and shook the sand off them.
“Oh, I know you can handle it,” I said, and she just laughed.
A few other people gave me similar sentiments, and I thanked them for going along with me.
The crowd thinned and I could tell Piper was hanging around.
She put her mat over her shoulder and then came over to me.
“I’m going to go take a walk. Come find me when everyone else is gone.” She left with a light brush of my arm that had me tingling from head to toe.
I packed up my things slowly and told Julia and Hollis that I was going to take a walk.
They both looked in the direction that Piper had walked.
“Enjoy your ‘walk,’” Hollis said with a snicker.
“Don’t forget you have to teach tomorrow morning,” Julia reminded me. “And let me know if you’re not coming home tonight.”
She gave me a quick hug and Hollis gave me a raised eyebrow look and then they were gone, and the rest of the class filtered out.
At last, it was just me and Piper on the beach. She hadn’t gone far, so I set my things down at the edge of the sand near the walkway and walked out to meet her shape in the dark.
The only sound was the gentle lap of the waves and the pounding of my own heart.
“Hey,” I said.
“Good class tonight,” she told me and then pulled me in for a kiss. “I hope this is allowed, since we’re not on yoga time.”
“Thanks,” I said, kissing her back. “We’re definitely not on yoga time.”
She actually did take my hand and we walked through the sand, the ocean pulling at our toes.
When the waves frothed at the shore, you could see tiny glowing lights.
Phosphorescence.
“My parents are coming next weekend,” Piper reminded me. “They’re staying for a week. Not with me, though, so you don’t have to worry about that. They’re going to rent their own cottage.” I wasn’t sure where this was leading to.
“I know we are still really figuring things out, but would you want to meet them?”
I looked down at the sand, stepping over a patch of seaweed.
“And how would you introduce me?” I asked.
“Well, that’s up to you,” she said, squeezing my hand. “Are you comfortable with being referred to as my girlfriend?”
That word from her lips made my blood race and smile so hard that my cheeks hurt.
“So, you’re calling me your girlfriend now?” I raised our hands to my mouth and kissed the back of hers.
“Can I?” she asked.
“Only if I can call you my girlfriend.”
“Deal.”
I wanted to run around and scream, I was so giddy.
“I’m going to talk to them beforehand, obviously, so they’ll be prepared. I know they’ll be fine with everything, but I’m still a little nervous.”
I knew exactly how she felt. I told her about the times that I’d talked to my parents about not being heterosexual and how stressful that had been, even though I’d had two siblings come out before me, and then they had two nonbinary grandchildren. My family was just about as progressive as it was possible to get, and still I’d been terrified.
“I’ll let you know how it goes. I was thinking a lunch at my house with them would be good. And Preston will be there, so things will be relaxed.”
Her grip tightened on my hand.
“It’ll be good,” I said, reaching across with my other hand and rubbing her arm.
“As long as I’m with you,” she said, stopping and leaning down to kiss me.
I melted into the sand and wondered if anyone else had ever been this happy.
We decided that since I had to teach early in the morning that an overnight wasn’t the best idea, so I went back to the farmhouse, but with plans for me to stay over on Wednesday night. She even offered that I could film a class at her house if I wanted to, which was great. Then I’d already be at her place for Thursday yoga.