Page 106 of The Yoga Teacher

Loose, bohemian pants. Backless top. Beads jangling against her collarbones. She was barefoot. Of course she was barefoot.

He didn’t realize she had been invited. But he wasn’t surprised she was here. Her yoga channel had too many followers for his agency not to take notice.

Apparently, Sienna was now a brand.

She spotted him and beamed. That wide, open-lipped, zero-boundaries smile that used to make him feel young and hot and wanted.

“Daniel,” she said, walking over like she was an old friend, not the biggest regret of his life. “Wow. Your aura is heavy tonight.”

He blinked. “Excuse me?”

She touched his forearm with too much familiarity. Daniel jerked back, out of her reach. “You’re carrying so much. I could feel it the moment I walked in.”

“I’m fine,” Daniel said flatly, stepping back further.

She didn’t notice. Or didn’t care.

“I had a feeling you’d be here,” she continued, sipping her drink. “The universe’s timing is never wrong. You’ve been on my mind lately. Especially during happy baby.”

Daniel blinked. He had no idea what that was and didn’t care enough to ask. Whatever it was, it sounded ridiculous coming from her mouth.

Of course.

She gave him a gentle look. “You seem tense. You should come to my sunrise chakra alignment class. We’re focusing on the heart center this week.”

Daniel raised his glass slightly. “No.”

Sienna tilted her head. “You’re mad at me.”

“I’m not anything,” he said, his voice clipped.

She smiled, like she knew better. “I just think it’s beautiful how our energies found each other when they did. You were vibrating at my frequency. I could feel it.”

Daniel stared at her, stunned by how sincerely she believed it.

Then he was speaking, words spilling out of his mouth. “Ihatemyself for what we did. And if I thought about you at all,which I don’t, I would hate you, too.”

Sienna blinked slowly, absorbing it. But instead of being hurt, she just smiled again—beatific and unfazed.

“Well,” she said brightly, “then that was the path. Nothing’s ever really lost. Just… transformed.”

And with that, she drifted away. Leaving Daniel alone with his self-disgust.

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Daniel turned too fast and nearly collided with someone.

“Shit—sorry—” he started, then froze.

It was his boss. Jenna Monroe, Creative Director. Sharp, no-nonsense, younger than him by a few years. She was looking at him like he was something she’d stepped in.

“Daniel,” she said coolly.

He opened his mouth to say something. Anything. But nothing came.

Jenna stared at him a beat longer, then shook her head—subtle, disappointed.

And then she walked away.

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