My mind goes right to the gutter, picturing Easton’s muscles flexing as he moves into different poses. The tips of my ears grow hot.
“And the three other yoga studios in the area were booked? If you want to have a session that’s more serious, goat yoga probably isn’t it.”
He rakes his teeth across his lip. “Yeah, but you don’t teach at those. We requested you specifically.”
Now my ears are on fire. He calls for the guys to circle up.
“This is Madden—we call him Graves—and our rookie, Elijah.” Easton messes up Elijah’s light brown hair and dodges when he tries to retaliate with a shove. “Then there’s some of our seniors, Jake Brody and Theo Boucher. You met Cam the other day, and?—”
“And I’m Noah,” says the tall beach blond guy with a gleaming smile. “The hot one.”
Easton elbows him in the side, nodding in satisfaction when the other teammates give Noah shit. “Can it, assholes.” Once the laughter and smack talk settles down, he gestures to me. “This is Maya. Don’t flirt with her.”
“Yes, captain,” Noah says in a jaunty tone. “We wouldn’t dream of making moves on your girl.”
“I’m not his girl.”
Easton opens his mouth and I silence him with a fierce look, holding up a finger in warning before he can utter his favorite word:yet. Smirking, he lifts his hands in surrender.
“Where are these goats?” Noah asks. “I’m ready to cuddle.”
“I’ll bring them in once Maya goes over some information about the session,” Hana says as she arrives. “Sorry I’m late, Marnie needed me.”
“Hana?” Elijah sputters.
Her steps falter. “Eli. Hey. I’ve barely seen you around so far this semester.”
“What are you doing here?” Elijah asks.
“I work here.”
He rubs at his forehead. “What are you doing in Heston Lake? I thought you were going to go to Stanford.”
She gives him a wobbly smile. “I applied here last minute. My grandparents weren’t happy with Dad for letting me pass on my acceptance to their science program, but he said I should follow my dreams no matter what they are.”
“Wow,” he says. “That’s awesome. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Hana shakes her head, waving him off. Noah looks between them with an intrigued smile. He nudges Elijah.
“Dude. You know a hot yoga instructor? You’re holding out on us.”
“She’s my sister’s best friend. We grew up together.” Elijah’s stare is caught on Hana as she puts her hair up. He gravitates toward her.
“Okay, you can all take a mat. I’ll go over everything to expect, and then we’ll get started,” I say.
Easton picks front and center, sprawling on the mat that faces mine. Once they’re all settled, I go over the rules for when the goats are in the room. We get started with some simple breathing techniques to help us dispel the energy we brought into the pavilion.
“Okay, incoming,” Hana says. “Let them approach you. Trust me, they’re obsessed with attention.”
She opens the door to the pen where we keep the goats on standby until yoga sessions begin. They all stream into the room and the guys get a kick out of it.
The smallest kid rubs against Noah’s hip and flops down when it loses its balance. He pets it.
“This one’s mine,” he says.
His teammates laugh, equally enthralled by the baby goats roaming the pavilion.
“Taking a deep breath in, let’s bring our hands overhead,” I direct. “Then we’re going to slowly curve our bodies to the side. It’s okay if you can’t reach far. Go at your own pace for everything.”
