“As long as that’s okay. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Gabriel scoffed. “Yeah, no, it’s just I’m already acting like such an idiot, so fair warning, I’m probably going to stop speaking in full sentences from here on out.”
I laughed. “You’re not as bad as you think you are.”
Things were a bit awkward at first. Gabriel was not flexible.
More than that, my attempts to get him to do what I needed him to were made even harder by the fact that he’d committed himself to keeping his eyes on me at all times. He was often knocking himself off balance by looking to the side or backward to look at me when I needed him looking forward or down. Eventually, though, he settled into it. His body seemed to be relaxing a bit, allowing it to shift and mold, and I could feel the tightness in his back and shoulders releasing bit by bit.
“You know, you’ve got a lot of tension all over your body. Yoga is a great way to release the tension, but you should look into getting a massage, too. And keeping up yoga if you can,” I suggested.
“Do you offer massages, too?” Gabriel asked, and there was a playful smile on his face that made me hot.
I’d give him a massage.
“No. That’s not a service we offer here, but I have some affiliates I could recommend.”
Gabriel looked disappointed. “Okay.” It was like a child pouting.
“I can get you discounts if you want to sign up for a multi-session yoga plan,” I explained. “I swear I’m not just trying to sell you on something. I think it could really help you.”
Gabriel groaned as I twisted his body to the side in a warrior pose. “I’d love to do that, actually, but I don’t know that my…job would allow it. It’s lucky I got these few hours as it is.”
“What do you do?” I asked, and despite it being an innocent enough question, Gabriel’s whole body seized up under my hands, and the aura hanging about him went dark and cloudy.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Was that not an okay question?”
He side-glanced me. “What?”
“It’s just, you got all dark when I asked about your job. I’m sorry if that wasn’t an okay question. You don’t have to answer.”
Gabriel shook his head. I was used to the confusion some people experienced when I was able to read their moods with signals they didn’t even realize they were giving off. “I, uh, own a business with my brother. Well, all of my brothers, but two of them recently moved to California, so I guess it’s been a little more stressful lately.”
“Ah, that makes sense. I recently moved here from a small town in New York to run my business. I had my parents’ support back in my hometown, but when I moved here all alone, it was stressful.”
Gabriel tilted his head to the side. “Did you drive all the way here from New York?”
I recoiled a bit. “What?”
“Earlier. You said you came straight here from your parents’ place. You drove here from New York?” He was looking at me with quizzical innocence.
I was shocked. I’d never had someone listen to me that closely before. “Oh. No. They moved here. They actually just got here today. I was just finishing up helping them unpack when your sister-in-law called. I came here from there.”
“Oh.” Gabriel nodded with understanding. “Will they help you more now that they’re here?”
He shot straight for the heart, asking a question I’d barely considered myself. I loved my parents, but they did things differently than I did. It was nice having their help back in Woodstock, but I’d been on my own for six months and had found that I liked not having them lording over my decisions.
“Sorry,” Gabriel cut into my thoughts. “Seems like it’s me asking the bad questions now.”
I was skilled in reading body language and auras. What had he picked up on in me? “No, it’s okay. I don’t think I will, actually. I love my parents so much, and they were great back in my hometown, but I’ve liked doing it on my own.”
“Haven’t found a way to break it to them yet?” Gabriel asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to hurt them.”
“Well, you should tell them soon.” I looked at him, and his eyes were less open than they were when I first entered the studio. Steely and full of some experience he wasn’t sharing. “I know better than most how bad things can get when you stand on the sidelines.”
I didn’t ask about his relationship that had prompted the advice he was giving me. I got the sense he didn’t want to share. Whatever had happened to beautiful Gabriel Varasso had left a long-standing scar. Not on his physical, tan and freckled skin but on the flesh that most people don’t see—that of his spirit. It wasn’t my place to delve, but as Gabriel turned his eyes away from me and his mind drifted off to a place I couldn’t get to, I was curious at just how serious the truth really was.