Chapter 37
Katie
Whose idea was this?
I watched the very slender, very bendy instructor go through the movements of the pose like it was no big thing. All I saw was me with my head down and arse up to the room. Going to the gym with Mandie was nerve-racking enough. Suddenly I was questioning her assertion that these tights would not reveal all when I bent over.
“Everything OK?” Garrett came and stood beside me, and the sceptical way he was watching the movement lightened my heart. “I admit, I didn’t think this through. Rhett has been standing in all of these weird poses all week.”
“He has?”
The idea that the burly firefighter did homework in preparation for this date had me staring at Garrett all misty eyed.
“Yeah, and I’m starting to wish I’d joined him. I lift heavy things.” He tapped his chest. “Not do… that.”
“Now, if you are struggling to get down on all fours—” the instructor said.
“Yes, yes I am,” Garrett muttered.
I tried to hold back a snort but failed entirely. He shot me a conspiratorial smile that had me flushing for an entirely different reason. Those dark brown eyes were like a vat of coffee, ready for me to sink into, transporting me out of this room to somewhere else entirely.
“At home, you can use a chair or the edge of your bed instead.”
Oh, that created a mental image that was completely at odds with the tranquil vibe the instructor was trying to create. In my mind’s eye I saw not my bedroom, but his, and as I bent over slowly, as he… Garrett’s eyebrow cocked up, a dimple popping as he made clear he saw the exact same thing.
“While it’s important to keep your back and knees straight, take your time to work up to the proper form. Listen to your body.”
I couldn’t help but do that. My heart was pounding fast, loud, in my ears, competing with the woman’s instruction as it urged me to do something else entirely. His smile faded, something darker and more intent rising to replace it. My fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and touch Garrett. To drag him closer, our breath mingling, right before his lips grazed mine and then?—
“Right!” I jumped at the sound of the instructor’s voice, forced to turn around now. “Move into pairs.” An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back and anchoring me against his body. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it, but it felt different. Was it because his breath shifted the little baby hairs on my neck? Or because I could feel the warmth radiating from his body.? “Help each other move into the correct form and then use the belts to anchor the other person’s hips, help them lengthen their spines…”
“I’ll get the belt.”
Was there a gruff edge to Garrett’s voice? When I watched him walk off, I was treated to a searing look, right before he grabbed a belt from where they hung on the wall. A lick at my foot had me turning around, seeing a puppy had returned and was intent on gnawing at my toes.
“No…” I said in a low growl. The pup looked up and then barked a couple of times, making clear what he thought of that, but my reprieve was a short one.
“So who’s doing it doggy style first?” Garrett asked me, leaning in so only I would hear him.
I fought the urge to laugh, shaking my head and then saying, “You, obviously.”
“Want to see my arse?” He flipped his shirt up to reveal two perfectly shaped glutes outlined by the compression tights he wore. His hip popped, a sassy move if ever there was one. “Just had to ask.”
I couldn't say a damn thing. The puppies near us sat down abruptly, panting to catch their breath, and I understood why. My tongue would’ve lolled from my head if I had the chance. Instead, I surreptitiously wiped saliva away as he went down on all fours, the muscles in his legs clearly defined by the leggings.
“How’s my back?”
Back? I blinked and then moved to the side, dutifully checking his form, but that just made everything worse. Turned out he was hiding a whole lot under those scrubs. Massive lats, biceps and forearms popping, strong fingers splayed across the ground.
“Um… good. Good.”
My choked reply earned me a sidelong look and another sly smile. The bastard, he flexed his whole damn body, the muscles standing proud.
And that wasn’t all.
My eyebrow popped this time, catching the moment when not-so-little Garrett twitched in his pants.
“Right. Might be belt time then.”
His smile faded, his eyes widening as he realised what was happening. Huh. So I wasn’t the only one responding.
“You want the belt?” I slapped the canvas in my hand a few times, forcing him to watch him as I went around the back of him and fed the belt under his hips, the same way the instructor was demonstrating.
I didn’t mean to grope him. I wanted to, but I actually did try not to. It’s just that feeding a belt around someone’s hips means at some point you’re going to touch them and that meant?—
Whoa.
“Not sure if that’s where the belt is supposed to go.” He choked that out. “Not that I mind, but there’s…” His ribs worked as he sucked in one breath, then another. “Puppies watching.”
“Puppies, right.”
I got the belt situated and then slowly, carefully, anchored his hips back, allowing him to push his heels harder into the ground.
“Very good!” the instructor said with a clap of her hands. Yeah, it was. Puppies and cute boy butt. There were worse ways to spend a Saturday morning. “Now swap over and do the same for your partner.”
Garrett sprung up, yanking down his shirt and shooting me a dark look when I giggled. Of course, I looked down, and the laughter died in my throat.
“Do you…?”
I waved a hand vaguely.
“Want to bend you over my bed and practise our own version of downward dog for at least an hour,” he muttered. “Yes, yes, I do. Trouble is, if I pick you up and drag you bodily from the yoga studio, that will probably ruin the Feng Shui or something.”
“That’s a whole other thing that has nothing to do with yoga.”
“Don’t care.” He stepped in closer, earning the two of us a look from the instructor. “I’m both wishing like hell I wore a pair of shorts over these compression pants and that this class was over.”
“Got somewhere you need to be?” I asked.
“In you, if I play my cards right.” My eyebrows shot up, but he just shot me a cocky smile. “Now bend over like a good girl. Did you need a block?”
No, I did not. I pitched forward, slapping my hands on the ground. Position them a bit further than shoulder width apart. Ground myself on the spots between my finger and thumb and?—
Lick!
The pup was back, dancing away, mischief shining in his eyes as if he knew exactly what he was doing. I spluttered, but right when I went to stand back up, a hand landed on my back.
“Can’t blame him for going in for a kiss,” Garrett said in a low voice. “I’m barely holding back myself. Now, form’s looking good. You’re quite flexible.”
“Hypermobile, Mandie tells me,” I told him.
“Well, that could lead to some interesting possibilities.” He ran his hand up my back. “Spine flat, though you need to let your head hang free.”
“And let this little guy come in for another lick?” I protested.
“I promise all licks going forward will be consensual things. Uh!” His sharp correction had the puppy plonking himself on his butt and looking up at Garrett. “Now, I’m going to put the belt around your waist.”
This was when all the fun went out of the morning.
Not all plus size women are sensitive about their stomachs. Some are shaped like Natasha and carry their weight more on their hips and thighs. Some are completely comfortable with their bodies, a state I wanted to achieve some day, but right now? I did not want the sexy, sexy man to come face to face with the fupa. He paused the moment I tensed and then drew closer.
“Katie?”
The question was clear. Did I want him to stop? Did I want to make a big deal out of this and ruin what was a fun morning? New year, new me, and that meant I needed to fake it until I made it and pretend I was all body positive and shit.
“I’m good. Belt me.” His snort had me flushing even redder. “I mean… You know what I meant.”
“I got you.”
Were there any three words sexier than those? His hands were gentle, almost impersonal, as if I was a patient rather than his date. Right then, I could see how Garrett would be on the ward. A comforting, confident presence, he had the belt around my hips and then used it to pull me back slowly but surely.
It worked. My spine lengthened and with the belt to anchor me, I could push my hips back further than I managed to before. I was doing it, really doing it, achieving the same form as the instructor. Right then I rode a small wave of exhilaration, until Garrett’s guttural groan cut through it.
“Fuck…”
Not loud enough for anyone else to hear him, but I felt it all the way down to my toes.
“What?” I asked, trying to look back over my shoulder. “Garrett? What?—?”
“You look so damn hot right now.” Thumbs pulled away from the belt and grazed the side of my hips. “Like I knew you would, but knowing and seeing is not the same thing. Katie…”
There was nothing that dispelled a feeling of insecurity like a man’s growled compliment. I shook my head and then forced myself up, turning almost shyly towards him. Garrett looked like a naughty boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar right then and was completely unapologetic. The belt fell to the floor, no longer needed, but that’s when one of the puppies jumped on it, grabbing it and running off with it.
“Shit!”
I strode after the dog, sure the whole class was watching us carry on, but it appeared everyone was dealing with the same level of chaos. Little jaws gnawed mats, belts, even hair. Little tongues licked faces. Little tails wagged furiously as people laughingly brushed them away, the dogs thinking this was a grand game to be played. I hung the belt up, hoping we were done with that section of the class, only to find Garrett dealing with a whole other issue.
Deprived of the belt, the pup looked for new prey and found it in the form of his tights. The man had a death grip on his waistband, forced to haul them up lest he be bare arse naked in front of the whole class.
And that would be a major problem.
“You little…!” he hissed, looking back at me when I returned, then down, following my gaze. Yeah, Garrett didn’t care one little bit about my fupa. Christ, maybe that’s what had him sporting a huge boner right now. The black Lycra caressed the thick form, almost picking out every vein. I was never as jealous of a piece of fabric than I was now.
“Well done, everyone.” The instructor’s voice cut through the air, dissipating the tension, or was it just holding it at bay? Garrett didn’t watch the next demonstration, as his focus was trained on me. “Alright, now we’ll try?—”
“How long is this damn class?” Garett whispered hoarsely as I moved closer. “Tell me it’s over soon, then…” He drew me closer. “Then tell me you’ll come back to my place and do a little practise with me?”
My mouth contorted, trying to keep the grin from my face.
“I’d love to.”