TANTRIC (Book 3 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 15: Front Men Keep Old Pictures

So much happens in this chapter. Leed and Ash grow much closer...and then circumstances pull them back from the edge of romance and intimacy. Then a crisis erupts! 

The song is Picture by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow...it's featured in the chapter. It's kind of a good song for Leed and Ashlynn's past...both of them living hard and making alot of mistakes in recent years, but hanging on to their one good memory of their first meeting...

Leed

Ash and I give over the rest of the day to Ollie.

It's kinda crazy how the tour last year was the most unfun I ever had, and now I have a whole new definition of fun. But Ash and I, kickin it with my kid? The best kind of fun.

While he was fresh from his nap, we took him down to the yoga studio and Ash stretched out his little limbs that had been cramped in the car seat. She laid him over her legs for a little tummy time, and he squawked and protested but eventually babbled happily when I did a headstand in front of him and talked to him face-to-upside-down-face. Then Ash sat him up and tipped him back and forth. "Builds his core strength so he can sit up easily," she tells me. She does a few more very simple manipulations of his body—frogging his legs to stretch his hips, pulling him to his feet, making him bear weight, but all her moves with him are graceful and fluid, just like a real yoga practice. Then she rolls back and draws her knees up, settling Ollie on her legs in more tummy time, supporting his head until he rises up a little on his own, in baby cobra.

We laugh at his first independent yoga pose.

"He's a natural, like his daddy," she teases.

"How do you know all this baby yoga stuff?" I ask her, as I take Ollie from her and put him in his bouncy seat, so we can move a little. We face each other, and I pull her into a forward stretch.

"Oh, I've been going to mom and baby yoga classes at Gabe's place. I'm going to start teaching the class next month." She flips her hands around on my wrist, pulling me, reversing the stretch.

"That's awesome. You're doing it babe." I murmur, as we plant our feet, using each other's weight to bring us each to our feet. "Although I'm not sure how I feel about you spending time with Gabe," I murmur.

Her lips press together. I snort. "Spill it, Sunshine."

"What?" she says defensively, as I turn her and take her hands behind her back, and she bows out, expanding her chest.

I twirl her around, and pluck her lips like a duck bill. "I already told you, your poker face is terrible. Those pretty little lips tighten up when you are holding something back."

She stands in front of me and crosses her arms, as I take her hips and spot her for her preliminary backbend stretches. After three bends, she looks me in the eye. "Well, Gabe wants me to be a demonstrator for his new acroyoga class. He thinks the models being too accomplished might be intimidating for the students. He wants two advanced yogis with no acro experience."

"Mmmmmmmm," I pretend to grumble. "So you are gonna let some yogi at Gabe's studio put his hands all over you? I thought we were working up to exclusive here, baby. Not sure how to feel about that." I grip her hips tightly and squeeze. She blushes and presses her lips again.

It's all I can do to keep a straight face, but it's kind of fun to see her squirm. Just a little.

"He said I could choose a partner I'm comfortable with," she says shyly.

"Yeah?" I prompt, swaying her by the hips. She takes a deep breath and crosses her arms again, and dives into her back bend. After she's stable, she asks me to step back. She kicks over into a handstand, then splits her legs with her knees bent.