The Stacks

Chapter 27: Hot Yoga

"Damn you, Harry," I playfully grumbled as my body trembled. He was doing this yoga thing called the tree pose and try as I might, I couldn't stand still like he was. He had his hands pushed together in front of his torso and his left leg bent with the foot pressing sideways against his right knee. After that, he pushed his hands towards the ceiling, keeping them pressed palm to palm. I kept losing my balance and falling over. Besides that, it was only eight on a Saturday morning, a time which usually found me very sound asleep under my fluffy comforter.

"Come on," he laughed. "Yoga is the easiest exercise there is. And you promised you'd give it a chance."

It's true. He once asked if I would exercise with him if he proposed a "fun" way to exercise. Bending is not fun, if you ask me; balancing is not fun. But I couldn't argue that watching him do it was kind of entertaining. After all, he had a terrific body and he was wearing rather snug shorts. I had made the mistake of calling them yoga shorts and he had corrected me saying, "Excuse me, they're bike shorts. Sheesh. Do I have to teach you everything?" Of course, it was all in jest, but I did agree to let him show me some beginner's yoga. How hard could it be, right? Ha! The man was evil.

"I could think of other fun ways to exercise," I quipped while attempting to bend my body sideways, "like a willow tree," Harry had told me. He glanced at me for further explanation so I raised my eyebrows at the same time that I stuck out my tongue in a silly gesture. He got my meaning.

"I've turned you into a little vixen, haven't I?"

I scoffed as he did a backbend stretch. What the hell? Was he made of rubber? "Oh, I think she was there all along. Maybe you just unleashed her." 

Without warning, he came to me and grabbed me out of mockery of his backbend. "Well then, Ms. Flannery, I think I need to make an honest woman out of you. Shameful the way you lust after me when we're not properly married."

A giggle crept up my throat at his unexpected gesture. "Whose fault is that? Hmm?" I waited a moment for his answer. "I guess we can share the blame," I said, kissing him fully on the lips. 

We reveled in the kiss for longer than we should have, considering our workout was barely started. Finally, he leaned his head against mine and whispered. "Still, you know I want to marry you, right?"

He hadn't been so blunt about it before now, but I knew. Of course I knew. "Yes," I whispered back. "I want that, too."

Then, keeping his arms around my waist, he lifted me a little and then wiggled me a little like a rag doll. Laughter burst out of my already-tired body as I exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

He set me down a few moments later, laughing and out of breath. "Just loosening you up. Now quit complaining and let's get to work."

All in all, yoga wasn't that bad. Of course, he hadn't attempted to turn me into a pretzel yet, which was a very real fear that I had. But it was somewhat fun, especially considering my workout companion. Harry promised to find a fun cardio exercise for us as well, but I just wiggled my eyebrows at him again.

Later in the afternoon, while Harry went to his house to get a few things and to run some errands, I called Ginger. I was excited to tell her about our mutual friend.

"Hey girl," I said upon hearing her southern-tinted accent.

"Regan!? What's up? Haven't heard from you in forever!"

"I'm seeing someone!" It burst out of me before I could even work up to it. "And you'll never guess who it is."

"Philip," she deadpanned.