What a nice guy!
“Actually, we’re just friends,” Riley said, and Josh finally caught up. Chase thought they weretogethertogether.
Cole swooped in and slung his arm around Chase’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Chase. Everyone makes that mistake,” he said. He then whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. “They haven’t had their awakening yet.”
“Cole, take your hands off the staff, please,” Tobias barked at Cole, forcing all their gazes to snap toward Tobias.
Cole carefully pulled his arm off Chase with a bright smile. He turned toward Chase and said in a stage whisper, “I’m so glad you’re here. This is going to be so much fun.”
Tobias shouted to everyone to gather in a circle and then introduced Chase to the group, again explaining the new yoga schedule.
“On yoga days, Chase will lead the warm-up and stretch as well as the workout, so he’s now got the floor. Show us what you got, Chase.”
“Thanks, Mr.— I mean, Tobias,” he said, his cheeks turning pink once again. “I’m going to take you all through a session I’ve created just for this group. If there’s a move you can’t do, it’s important not to force it. There are plenty of modified moves for everything, as well as some more advanced moves that we’ll try as you all get more comfortable with the practice. So, do what you can, but listen to your body and don’t forget to breathe. Now, everyone grab a yoga mat, a block and an ab mat, and spread out so you have plenty of room on all sides.”
Everyone scattered and grabbed the necessary equipment, following Chase through what he called a warmup. It started simple, but some of the moves became more difficult to hold. Josh stumbled twice and wanted to cry when he remembered this was only the warmup.
Once they got started with the real workout, Joshcouldn’t help but peer around the room to see how everyone else was doing. Hunter was the worst of the bunch, despite having the biggest muscles. Apparently, yoga took way more than just strength.
They were moving into what Chase called a cow stretch when Josh's gaze caught on Riley next to him. His back arched and his plump ass sat high in the air.
When did his ass get so plump?
That question managed to distract Josh through most of the workout, until the cooldown stretches left everyone comparing their flexibility. Chase and Tobias were the most flexible by far, reaching past their toes as they did a simple sit-and-reach.
Cole, of course, decided to make things more interesting.
“Okay, Chase, how do we see who is more flexible between you and Tobias?”
Chase smirked as he looked at Tobias, keeping his eyes on him as he responded. “We add the block.”
Tobias and Chase grabbed their blocks and sat on their mats, their legs straight out in front of them, and they placed the blocks against the bottom of their feet. Chase reached past his feet and wrapped his fingers around the block as it lay perpendicular to his legs, the wide side on the floor.
Everyone was impressed until Tobias did the same thing, except he turned it lengthwise so therectangular block lined up with his legs. He bent completely in half and his fingers crimped against the far edge of the block.
“Holy fuck,” Chase whisper-shouted, shaking himself and trying to sound professional again. “Impressive, Mr.— Tobias.”
“Chase, will we all be able to do that when you’re done with us?” Josh asked, peeking at Riley to see him equally impressed.
It took another second until Chase pulled his eyes away from Tobias. “Going that deep,” he said before choking on his own breath. Once he could speak, he said, “That would take daily yoga practice for a long time, but we’ll do our best.”
He tensed as he took them through the rest of the cooldown, ending with something Josh couldn’t pronounce that involved them lying down for two straight minutes. He was supposed to have his eyes closed, but he couldn’t help pulling out his phone from where it was hiding under his mat and sneaking a picture of Riley lying feet away from him, a serene smile on his face and his shirt dampened from sweat.
Josh was so lucky to have him in his life, even though he didn’t deserve him. If he ever told Riley the secret about the day he lost his parents, he might lose him, and he never wanted to face that.
Not able to help himself, he quietly rolled his bodyalong the floor until he was lying next to Riley to take a selfie.
Riley’s eyes fluttered open and he smirked as he saw Josh’s phone above them, and Josh managed a couple photos before he dropped it.
Right onto his face.
“Ow!”
“Josh, what the hell are you doing?” Tobias snapped.
“Sorry,” he said, rolling back to his own mat, causing everyone to stir and snap out of their calm poses. “My bad, guys.”
