Page 109 of The Sidekick

I cross my arms again to keep my body from obeying. Shade slaps my arm on his way into position, and my head snaps around to glare at him.

“You jerk!” I hiss as quietly as I can.

“Hands off.” The voice is not calm this time. Or soothing. It throws off the entire vibe of the room. “If you want a contact class, go sign up for one. Phalakasana.”

I stare at the hot guy with wide eyes as he shifts into plank position seamlessly while glaring at Shade. I want to crow in triumph until his eyes snap to me and narrow.

“I won’t say it again,” his tone is full of displeasure that only an idiot would ignore.

I drop down into the pose so fast that I get lightheaded.

For the rest of the class, I follow every single one of his instructions, but I don’t feel like it’s good enough. I’m imagining everyone staring and judging me. It doesn’t help that I catch a few women looking at me. I want to mess up the moves so they get disgusted enough to stop.

I can’t get out of my head, and it seems pointless to be here. I hate the feeling because this is something that I’ve loved for a long time. It’s ruined because I had to do it in front of other people instead of at home alone.

Even watching Shade try to get the moves right doesn’t bring me out of my funk. I don’t help him at all as a punishment. I’m starting to like the passive-aggressive approach. Is that healthy?

When he says Namaste, I continue sitting in lotus pose. I don’t want to get up and have to put on a fake smile to get out of here. Shade can drag me out while I’m on the mat. It would be easier for him anyway, and I won’t have as far to fall.

“Was that so hard?” Shade asks flatly.

It feels like he’s rubbing salt in the wound. My shoulders drop, as well as my head. He crouches at my side with a sigh.

“I don’t want to see you give up something that’s special to you because a bunch of jealous horny skanks can’t keep their mouths shut.”

My head slowly rises as I face him, totally horrified at his words. My cheeks flame with embarrassment because he made no effort to be quiet.

“That was so mean!”

“Who gives a shit?” He shrugs casually.

“I do! Why would you say that? Who cares if they want to get laid? Huh? They have eyeballs, and the guy is hot!”

Shade rocks back on his heels with a victorious smirk. He loves to make me angry for some reason, but he’s really done it this time.

“You don’t have to be a jerk to get your point across,” I glare, my jaw sliding into the stubborn mode. “You could have said, ‘Get over it, Tera.’”

“You would have nodded and still not come back.”

“Because I don’t want to! Can’t you see that?” I gesture around wildly. “I don’t feel safe here! Everybody is mean, and I hate it! I just want to live my life without people being mean all the time. Why is it so hard to do that?”

He doesn’t break stride as he ignores my dramatics. “I want you to stop giving a shit what anyone says or does because it doesn’t matter. They don’t matter. Nothing they say means anything because they are nothing. The next time someone says something mean to you, you punch them in the face.”

“I can’t do that!” I gasp in dismay at the thought. That would be a lot of punching. Do we have enough ice in the freezer for that?

“Then spit on them.”

“That’s gross! Ladies do not spit!”

His lips twitch up, but he’s fighting the smile as hard as he can. “Do a hair flip thing? I see chicks do it all the time. I don’t get it, but it seems effective.”

“No. My hair isn’t long enough,” I glare at him as hard as I can. “You’re being ridiculous. This whole thing is ridiculous. You’re not even listening to me. I should start my punching with you.”

“Do you even know how?” He taunts.

“I might learn!” I insist defensively. I’m lying. Me and physical violence aren’t friends. That’s South’s job, and she’s awesome at it.

“You’re practically allergic to violence,” he scoffs.

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