He pursed his lips, and I didn’t know whether it would be worse if we hadn’t been or if I didn’t remember we had been.
Eventually, he blew out a breath. “We were never exactly friends. I’m actually kind of glad you’ve forgotten me, honestly. I had a lot of growing up to do still.”
“I recall a guy who might have been you, but I might be imagining it. The guy I’m picturing wasn’t as together as you. Not nearly as cool.”
“You think I’m cool?”
“You do own a hip bar in a trendy neighborhood.”
We reached Highland Avenue, and I asked, “What did you mean about needing to grow up?”
He sighed. “I didn’t like myself much then, and as a result I sometimes behaved poorly. I’ve been working to be better.”
I had no answer to that, except “You’re awesome, Alfie. I’m glad we’ve become friends now.”
“Me, too.” He slowed in front of the YMCA.
“I may have failed to mention I’ll be teaching this class. So, get ready to work it.”
We arrived right on time, and most of the class had already begun setting up their mats. Mrs. Garrett was the first to notice I’d brought a guest. Her head tilted to one side before she leaned over to whisper to Mrs. Shih.
“Is this the guy?” she asked without the minimum of discretion.
I hoped to mitigate the disaster by simply introducing him. “Everyone, this is my friend Alfie. He’ll be joining us today.”
“She’s never brought a boy to class before,” said Mrs. Martinez.
“This is the boy you’ve been dating?” asked Mrs. Gupta, who examined Alfie like he were a slab of beef at the butcher. On sale. “You were right. He is very handsome.”
Oh, my God.
Alfie’s cheeks had flushed noticeably.
“I’m so sorry. I also failed to mention these are all my surrogate moms.” I warned them all with an imperial glance. “Like I said, Alfie’s a friend.”
I put on some quiet music, then began the opening meditation.
When all eyes had closed, I peeked over to scope out Alfie’s bare arms and legs while he wasn’t watching. His muscles were toned and defined. A movement caught my eye as the other ladies turned to stare, like a pack of wild animals. Mrs. Shih gave me the thumbs-up. I shook my head.
But he was definitely attractive. While Tristan radiated energy and demanded every eye turn to him, Alfie was more like a dark star—quiet, but profound. He came to yoga with the kind of calm the rest of us sought, fundamentally at peace with himself.
When class ended, Mr. Baxter packed up and left without a word—a nice reprieve. Maybe I’d ask Alfie to come with me every week if it bought me this additional buffer.
Alfie put his mat away, unaware of my well-meaning matchmakers tracking his every move. So was I. They smiled and nodded at me like I’d brought him out for inspection.
As we left, I handed him a bottle of water from my bag. He twisted the cap off and took a few swallows, then eyed me quizzically. “You talk about having performance anxiety, but you were anything but shy leading that class.”
“Well, anxious and shy are two different things. I’m not shy. It’s more that I worry about things that will embarrass me. Then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when my nerves make me incapable of performing without mishap. I’ve been dealing with this for a decade. Yoga class isn’t the same. Part of it is the structure of the class. I mean, everything is controlled.”
“I noticed that.”
“And part of it is knowing I can’t fail at yoga, but if I do, I’m only failing to improve myself.” I laughed, hearing myself. “It’s a cult. Plus, I know everyone. They’re old friends.”
“So, you’re trying to break your fear of presenting in front of total strangers in an uncontrolled environment?”
I hadn’t broken it down like that before. “I guess I’m trying to overcome the certainty I’m going to fall on my ass.” I blushed, recalling my worst presentation ever. “It’s not an idle fear.”
As he turned to face me, the sunlight hit him such that I finally saw the true color of his eyes, and my breath hitched. I’d thought they were dark brown, but they were an exploding microcosm of blues and gold specks, like a cloud nebula. I would have believed entire galaxies were created and destroyed in the blink of his eye.
“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just.” I took a breath. “You have beautiful eyes.”
He smiled. “Yeah?”
“I always wanted blue eyes.”
“I hear that a lot. But it’s not something I can control, so I’m not sure why it’s that big a deal. You never hear anyone gush over how cute my elbows are.”
I laughed. “You have cute elbows.”
“Have you noticed my neck?” He tilted his head to bare it.
It was a joke, but when I gazed at his neck something ignited inside me, like I was a latent vampire, needing to sink my teeth into him and suck his blood. I’d never fetishized anyone’s neck before, but when his muscle tightened, I wanted to feast on him. “You have a very pretty neck.”
“At last. She thinks I’m pretty.”
I rolled my eyes. “I told you. You’re better than pretty.”
When we arrived at my town house, I asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Taking Jasper to Piedmont Park. Want to come along?”
“Absolutely.”
He grinned. “I can pilfer some food from the bar. We’ll make it a picnic.”
“Sounds like fun!”
If we’d been on a date, it felt like the moment when I’d wait to see if a kiss would be forthcoming, but even if we were going out, what did one do after a morning yoga date? Kiss good afternoon?
Would this be what dating Alfie would be like? Morning dates followed by daytime sex? Afternoon delight? We were like the moon and the sun, only meeting up during the occasional eclipse.
I took one step back. “Well. See you tomorrow.”
He moved toward the street, and the bonds between us began to snap. “Can’t wait.”
When he was far enough away that even his long shadow had disappeared, Aida yelled down from the porch, “Nothing’s going on, eh?”
* * *
Late Sunday morning, as I sat on the porch with Aida, a vintage convertible Mustang pulled up. Alfie left the car running as he jogged up the walk. He’d shaved, which changed how he looked, but neither for better or worse. Just different. This was a cleaned-up Alfie, a going-on-a-date Alfie maybe. I half expected him to produce a bouquet of flowers.
Jasper barked from the backseat.
Aida whispered, “That boy’s awful cute.”
Alfie said hey to Aida as I descended the steps. He took my hand, and it gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling my smile threatened to stretch my face out. I waved back at Aida, and I could almost hear her thinking, “Mmm-hmm.”
His car was powder blue, but light-years sexier than a Vespa. As I climbed in, I patted Jasper on the head. “Who’s a good boy?”
Jasper turned around once, then dropped down on the seat with his head resting on his paws. The interior was like a time machine. The vinyl seats screamed nineteen-sixty-something. Alfie slid into the driver’s seat behind the hilariously dated steering wheel.