Chapter 18
Brian
“It’ll be so much fun.” With a grin, Cal tucked his electric blue mat under his arm. He and Lo had really gotten into the yoga thing lately. So much so that they had matching mats. It was both sweet and a bit disturbing.
I had nothing against yoga, though I knew little about it and always assumed it wasn’t a good use of time for someone as busy as I was. Want exercise? I preferred to run or hit something.
Needed to chill out? Great. Sleep or watch TV.
Combining a workout with relaxation seemed contradictory.
Sully lumbered quietly beside me, smiling at his phone. Probably at a photo Sloane had texted of Tia. That baby got cuter every day.
I punched him in the shoulder. “Thanks for coming.”
He grunted. “I’m open to trying something new,” he said nonchalantly. As if it wasn’t the least Sully thing that had ever come from his mouth. He truly was a changed man.
“I hope you’re ready.” Lo smirked over her shoulder. “Jess doesn’t mess around. This isn’t nap time with candles. You’re gonna work.”
I gave her a nod. I could handle it. I ran miles and worked with a heavy bag until I dripped with sweat. How hard could yoga be?
Even if I hated it, I’d still finish the session having spent time with Jess. Since creeping on her that day on the sidewalk, I’d been curious about this part of her life. Now I’d get to see her in her natural element.
Though today might not have been the most ideal day to try this out. It had been brutally long and exhausting. So much so that I worried I might fall asleep and insult her.
Cal held the door open, his blue eyes playful but challenging. “You guys ready?”
The second I stepped into the studio, I was hit with heat.
A dozen people, each equipped with a massive water bottle, were laying mats out and chatting happily.
Cal and Lo took spots in the front row and covered their own mats with super-thin towels.
“Come up here.” Cal waved wildly. “It’ll be easier to see the moves.”
Already sweating, I frowned. Maybe it was the heat, but I was confused.
“Why’s it so hot?” I asked.
“This is a heated vinyasa flow,” Lo explained as if I should understand what the hell any of that meant.
“I thought we were gonna meditate.” Sully roughed a hand through his dark hair.
“Restorative is on Thursday nights,” Lo said, laying a mat out for him. “This is more athletic. I figured you boys would love it.”
Cal, who’d set me up, pointed, gesturing for me to sit, then nodded, beaming at his girlfriend. “Yes. Get ready. Jess puts us through one hell of a workout.”
As if on cue, she walked out of the back room, wearing light blue leggings and a matching sports bra with thin straps that crisscrossed in the back. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a headset.
I couldn’t help but drink in the sight of her. She was strong and curvy in all the right places. Her body had changed since college, but my reaction to her hadn’t. Just looking at her made my already warm blood heat.
“Namaste,” she said, putting her hands together and bowing her head. “And welcome, new friends.”
I shifted in my cross-legged position, my Metros T-shirt already sticking to my back.
She walked softly around the room as candles flickered and soft piano music played. “Just as a reminder,” she said in a calming tone, “yoga is an exploration of the self. I’ll be offering modifications and alternatives throughout the practice. Go at your own pace and ease into it.”
The breathing exercises felt great, and before long, my body adjusted to the heat of the room. Mostly, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jess.
She was glowing, focused and 100 percent in her element. “Now,” she said, her breath gusting over the microphone just a little, “shift into child’s pose.”
I followed Cal’s and Lo’s lead, reaching forward. This wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I could see how this could be relaxing after a hard day.
Jess moved us into some seated twists, and before long, my muscles were loose.
“Okay,” she said. “Now that we’ve finished our warmup, it’s time to move into sun salutations, some standing postures, and then arm balances. If you do not have some of these poses in your practice right now or you’d like a break, you can move into child’s pose at any time.”
Eyes darting from her to the mirror to Cal and Lo, I worked to keep pace with all the poses she called.
Warrior one, humble warrior, chair, swan dive, tabletop. What the hell was happening?
When we moved to a plank and then some kind of pushup, sweat dripped from my face onto the mat below me. Fuck.
Jess stepped onto her mat, which was bright pink, and brought her arms out and up. “Now reach to the sky.”
We followed. While her head was tilted back, I checked my watch and nearly scoffed. How had it only been eight minutes? Sweat still poured down my face and back and chest, and already, my mat was slippery. My heart thudded against my chest with so much force I worried I’d explode.
Jess started the grouping of poses over again, calling them out.
This time, though, she walked around the studio, correcting the posture of her students and giving gentle encouragement.
Here and there, she’d wander back to her mat and do the sequences, being sure to show us modifications, which, naturally, I refused to do.
To make things worse? Every minute or two, she’d focus on me, giving me encouraging looks.
God, this was embarrassing.
How many more times would she make us do that swoopy thing from a plank to upward dog and into a downward dog? The move had a name. Chatter-something…
“And Chaturanga,” she said, as if reading my mind.
The people around me moved smoothly through the postures. Beside me, Cal had stripped off his shirt. The fucker looked like a professional yogi, his body flowing gracefully as I attempted not to face-plant on the floor.
On my other side, Sully was contorted into an unnatural position, his face a mask of pure pain.
“You are all so locked in tonight,” Jess said, her voice full of delight. “Let’s take an extra set of breaths in downward dog.” While we all stood with our hands flat on the ground and our asses in the air, she said, “Now sway your hips and regulate your breathing.”
After a handful of breaths, she released us from the position and guided us to stand with our feet shoulder-width apart.
“Now I’d like to have some fun.”
I sighed in relief. This sounded promising.
“We’re going to do some arm balances.”
Cal let out a little cheer that made me want to knock him over. Cocky bastard.
But arms? I could do arms. Not to brag, but my upper body was pretty strong.
“Widen your stance and sink into a deep yogi squat. Use your elbows to push your knees wider and tuck your pelvis.”
Cal squatted deeply, his ass nearly grazing the floor.
Jesus, my hamstrings could not do that, so I settled for a traditional gym squat. Sully, likewise, bent his knees at a ninety-degree angle, glowering at me like he was not going lower.
“Now watch as I walk through the beginner progression for crow,” Jess said.
She flowed through a sequence, then pushed forward onto her arms and tucked her knees behind her elbows, balancing on her bent arms. She pointed her toes, her spine curving gracefully.
Holy fuck. I couldn’t stop staring at what her body could do.
Not only did she balance on her arms, all twisted up like a pretzel, but she stayed there, holding perfectly still, while we all stared. Her strength and control were mesmerizing, as well as the pure joy on her face, like sharing this insanity with a room full of people truly fulfilled her.
She rocked herself back, her feet gently hitting the floor, and pushed herself up to stand. When she was on her feet, she encouraged us to give it a try.
Several people around me eased themselves into the position, including Cal and Lo, managing to hold it for a few seconds.
“For more support, try a one-legged crow,” Jess said, walking around the room, wearing a relaxed smile.
How was it possible for her to look so pretty and relaxed when it was hotter than the ninth circle of hell in here?
My muscles were screaming at me, but I wouldn’t take the easy way out. I wouldn’t give up. I was strong. I lifted weights and had been boxing since I was fifteen. I could do the crow.
Several attempts in, I realized that I could not, in fact, do the crow. I lacked the flexibility to tuck my knees up close enough, and suddenly, I discovered I had no balance.
I’d get it, though. I swore I would. Like everything else in my life, I’d muscle through.
After several more tries, I contorted into a position that somewhat resembled it. My arms shook violently, and I had to use every muscle in my body for balance, but I’d done it.
Take that, you dumb crow.
Just as I silently cheered myself on, I lost it.
And instead of rocking back onto my feet as she’d shown us.
I went down, face-first, into the floor.
In an attempt to catch myself, I twisted, but that only caused my forehead to take the blow.
I landed with a loud thump, and as I scrambled to regain my dignity, I was certain every set of eyes in the room was on me.
Keeping my attention on the floor, I picked up my water bottle, and when I tipped it back, I tried my best not to die of shame. This was so fucking hard.
“You okay, Counselor?” Jess loomed over me, her expression compassionate. Maybe it was a dehydration-induced hallucination, or maybe it was the blow to the head, but the candles created a soft halo around her blond ponytail, making her look like a bendy, sporty angel sent to earth to save me.
“Good.” I grunted, shifting back into a seated position.
Lips quirking, she nodded. Then, without another word, she moved on, launching into an explanation of something called pigeon, which sounded just as painful as crow.