Page 53 of The Yoga Teacher

She wasn’t a fantasy.

She was real.

And she wasn’t going to shrink herself down to make any man more comfortable.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Daniel

DR. ELLIS SETTLED into her chair, flipping open a notebook. “So. What brings you here?”

Daniel exhaled slowly, looking down at his hands. “I fucked up my marriage.”

A pause. “In what way?”

His jaw tensed. “I cheated on my wife.”

She didn’t react. No raised eyebrows, no shift in expression.

Daniel let out a breath that felt like it had been lodged in his chest for months. “She’s left me. I just—”He clenched his fists. “I don’t even know what the fuck I’m doing here.”

Dr. Ellis tilted her head slightly. “Why did you make this appointment?”

He licked his lips. They felt dry, cracked.

“Because…” He exhaled hard, ran a hand down his face. “Because I don’t want to be the kind of man who does this.”

“Does what?”

His stomach twisted. “Who throws away the best thing in his life and pretends it wasn’t his fault.”

Another beat of silence.

Then, quietly, “That’s a good place to start.”

Daniel let out a short, humorless laugh. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

Dr. Ellis leaned forward slightly. “Tell me something, Daniel. What do you want?”

His jaw locked.

I want Hannah.

The thought hit hard, sharp as glass in his throat.

But even if she miraculously forgave him, even if she somehow let him back into her life—he wasn’t the man she deserved. Not yet.

So instead, he swallowed, staring down at the floor.

“I don’t know how to be good enough for her,” he admitted, voice hoarse. “But I want to learn.”

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Daniel sat in his car, gripping the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.

His head was pounding.

His first therapy session had been…

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