Compromise Me (Book Two of the Kirkland Family)

Compromise Me: Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Apparently, guys wear sweatpants and t-shirts to yoga classes.  That seemed to be the standard issue uniform for the other men in the room, Travis noted with relief, seeing that about a third of the students were male.  At least, he wouldn’t be the only dummy here, he thought.

Then, about ten minutes into the class, he realized that maybe he was the only dummy.  The instructor, Rita, was a short little woman, not much taller than Livie, and as thin as a rail, but she had that sweet voice, and Travis could hear pleasure and excitement mixed with the patience she directed at him.  Somewhere around the fifth sun salutation--or he hoped that’s what they were doing, because Rita kept calling out these weird words that all sounded the same--Travis’ arms were pure jelly.

Damn...this stuff is hard!

He couldn’t quite get his feet in the right position, and his hips--the direction of the hips seemed very important to Rita--and control his breathing all at the same time.  Jesus, if I have to hold this plank position any longer…

It didn’t help that he kept looking over at Josie, watching what she did, and seeing her beautiful body all lined out in every perfect pose.  Sweatpants may not have been the best choice.  Everytime he saw her arch up into cobra pose, breathing steadily, his brain got a little dizzy.  His other brain got a little happy.  If Josie ever did that while lying on top of him…

Crap, control yourself, man...we’re standing up again. 

Thankfully, his and Josie’s mats were in the back of the room.  The only people who would notice his building erection was Josie--who peeked once and blushed brightly--and Rita, who grinned and winked at him.  By the time, Rita called out something called savasana and the class laid down on their mats like dead men, Travis had just given up breathing through his nose.  It was pointless.  He couldn’t get enough oxygen into his brain, not with the lower half of his body stealing most of his blood flow.

Then Rita started talking softly, supposedly guiding her students to focus on certain body parts to sink into the floor, Travis’ mind drifted off, and not long after, Josie nudged him to wake up.  Rita chuckled as she sat in front of the class, ending the session with that ohm word.  People hopped up, invigorated and chatting happily, and Travis dropped backward to cover his eyes with his arm.

“Was it that bad?” Josie whispered in his ear.

“God...I’m exhausted,” he moaned.  “Everything is numb.  Why do you do this to yourself?”

Josie laughed softly.  “Just wait until tomorrow morning,” she said cheerfully, dragging on his arm to sit him up.  “You’ll think you’ve been run over by a truck.  I remember my very first class.  I never wanted to see another yoga mat for the rest of my life.”

“And yet, you keep doing it,” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“After you start moving around a bit, you’ll feel great,” Josie told him.  “Your limbs will be more mobile, your muscles will be more flexible...just wait.”

Travis glared and stayed right where he was.

Rita came over and squatted in front of them.  “I see you survived,” she said, smiling.

Travis said, “I hate you.”

Rita chuckled again.  “I hear that a lot.”  She turned to Josie.  “You should come back for the power class.  You have great form and stamina.”

“Thank you,” Josie said politely.  “I just might do that.  And I think Livie will enjoy learning from you.  I’ll try to get her here later this week.”