Page 79 of Body Check

Gavin smiled. “So, you met this guy in college?”

“Bryce Palmer, yeah. He, uh, he worked at this yoga studio I went to all the time. We flirted for a while and then he asked me out. Things got hot and heavy quickly and it wasn’t long before we moved in together. My family was happy for me, you know? They liked him. Violet especially. At first.”

“And then …”

“And then I graduated and I was looking into getting a Masters degree in Kinesiology. I wanted to work as a physical therapist for a pro sports team.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Yeah, but Bryce, he wanted to own a studio and he wanted me to join him there. At first it was him encouraging me to get my certification as a yoga instructor. He framed it like—like it was something he was doing tohelpme. Grad school’s expensive and Seattle’s crazy expensive to live in and—and it was extra income for me and it all made sense, you know?”

Gavin continued to sift his hand through Dakota’s hair, a little surprised but pleased he was being so talkative. “Yeah, I get that.”

“So, I was saving up for grad school, when Bryce opened his own studio. He kept pressuring me to join him there. And you know, I do love yoga. It’s been so beneficial to me, and I see how it helps others, so it was pretty easy for me to put my own plans on the backburner. Besides, we were a couple. I thought—I thought I was being a good, supportive boyfriend by helping him invest. But then I had no money for school and he was desperate for instructors at the studio and … it wasn’t long before I was working full-time there and my original dream kept getting further out of reach.”

“That sucks.”

“It does.” Dakota sighed. “And like, maybe I wasn’t always happy with our sex life either, because he absolutely refused to ever switch things up, but overall we had this great life together, youknow? We lived in a cute little place and we were running this successful studio, and we had all these great friends and …”

“And it wasn’t what you wanted?” Gavin guessed when Dakota fell silent.

“No, it wasn’t. He pushed me into the Pilates certification thing and we expanded the studio and then I was working even more hours and I was more miserable, and it was like I wasn’t even in control of my own life at all, anymore.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. By then, Violet had been pushing me for a while to end stuff with him and—” Dakota’s breath caught in his throat.

Gavin tugged gently at Dakota’s hair and his body softened a little. “And what?” he whispered.

“And I caught him kissing someone else.”

“Ahh fuck. All that and he was cheating on you?”

“He claimed he wasn’t. Said it was the first time it had happened. It had never gone further, all that bullshit.”

“You didn’t believe it?”

“I wanted to. But no. Not really. I got tested because I was scared shitless he’d exposed me to something, but thankfully everything came up negative.”

“Good.”

“So, I don’t know. I never really hadproofone way or the other, but I assume, yeah, he was probably screwing around with a lot of other people behind my back.”

“Damn.”

Dakota nodded. “But Bryce apologized. Said it had been a mistake, a big misunderstanding. Coaxed me into taking him back. And then—and then six months later, he was gone. He’d run off with some guy and left me in the lurch. I had this studio that was half in my name and all this debt I’d never wanted in the first place and Bryce was … in the wind.”

“Fuck,” Gavin whispered.

“Yeah, it was rough. He took the money from our joint accounts and everything so I had to default on the loans. My credit was trashed and I had a shitload of debt I had to try to consolidate and … he broke my heartandwrecked me financially.”

“What a bastard,” Gavin said fervently.

“Yeah. Yeah, he was.”

“So you decided to move out to Boston after?”

“Yeah, Violet found me the position here and it—it felt like a fresh start, you know? Like I’d be able to get my feet under me again.”

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