“It’ll either work or it won’t but we won’t know unless we try.”
“Right, okay.”
I start curled on top of his body with his hands on my shoulders and his legs in a ninety-degree angle.
“Push off and forward with your feet.”
Once I push myself forward, Rush straightens his arms and pushes up my shoulders until my entire body is straight in the air with my hands holding his ankles for support and his hands keeping me steady and in the air.
This one is definitely hard.
“Point your toes,” he orders.
I waver for a moment, but he holds me steady. The anchor in this pose needs to have amazing core and arm strength to pull it off and Rush is amazing on both of those fronts.
We breathe deeply and hold the pose for a few seconds more, and then he gently lowers me down until I am lying completely on top of him. I lie on top of him for just a moment longer than I probably should, but it just feels so good.
I love physical touch. I got little it from my mom growing up, so I think that’s why I look for it so desperately from other people. I like it best though when it comes from Rush.
“This kind of reminds me of the workouts we used to do at the beach back in Miami,” Rush says, and the delicious rumble of his words vibrates through his chest into mine.
My body sinks even further into his.
“Those were the good ole’ days,” I respond. “We didn’t know how lucky we were to have a school so close to the beach. A lot of us took it for granted.”
“You and those bonfires.”
“And all that drinking we did.”
“You definitely did.”
“Yeah, I was a bit of a lush in college. That’s because my Grandma was so strict with me in high school. I didn’t have my first drink until freshman week in Miami.”
“Not one drink in high school? Not even a cooler or a beer?”
“Not one drop.”
“I drank little in college, but I definitely experimented a little in high school. Back then we all thought we were so grown.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t much of an experiment.”
“A few beers now and then.”
“You have always been so dedicated to your clean diet and smart decisions and look at everything you have to show for it. I’m so proud of you, Rush. You’ve achieved everything you set out to do on those handmade vision boards we created our freshman year of college. You’ve got the career, the accolades, the big house, the fancy car, and you take care of your parents too. You have everything.”
“I don’t haveeverythingI want, Bird.”
“Well, then, you’re a greedy boy,” I jest, patting his chest with my hand.
I don’t want to move from this spot but I have to or I’m going to sweat all over his body and not in thegood-and-freaky waybut rather in ayuck-we-need-a-shower-right-now-way. It’s getting hot as hell in this room.
“Is there any water in here?” I ask.
“I’ll get it.”
Rush grabs us a couple of bottled waters and we sit back down cross-legged on our mats.
“Whatever happened to that girl from California? The pretty one from the School Of Business who you really liked senior year?”
