She nods. “I just saw him and Austin in the parking lot, and he said he’ll see me at yoga class.” She unzips her velour jacket and fans her armpits. “Sweet Jesus, I’m already sweating, and I haven’t moved a muscle yet. Sage, darling, go easy on us today. I cannot perspire in front of that man.” She whispers the last part, and I look at Mrs. Green to help me knock some sense into her, but she is applying lipstick with a compact mirror.
“Lyle said the mayor’s going to give him a key to the city,” continues Mrs. Gibbons. “Or they may increase taxes to build a statue in his honor.”
“He hasn’t saved any lives as far as I know,” I say under my breath, but Mrs. Gibbons hears.
“He is the most famous resident to ever come out of Cedar Brook Falls, and I dare say ever will.”
“I understand, but it’s not like he rescued someone from a burning shed. Mr. Robinson did that and he didn’t even get a medal.”
“He rescued his wife and then she left him for the farrier,” says Mrs. Gibbons.
“Should have left her in the barn.”
“Mrs. Green!” I say, but she just shrugs and presses her lips together. The deep shade of red lipstick is a little jarring for yoga class, but I keep the comment to myself as two more women walk into the classroom, followed by a third and fourth shortly behind them. Soon the small yoga space is nearly full and any anxiety about Casey joining us is gone, at least for me.
“Great, let’s get started,” I say when everyone is seated crossed legged on their mats.
“Please close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Inhaling deeply, feel the air fill your chest and then let it all out through your mouth.” The room is silent, except for the soft breaths around me.
I don’t see them walk in, but I sense the energy in the room shift. Opening one eye a sliver, I watch Casey and Austin set up their yoga mats. Austin’s wearing shorts with tights underneath, obviously having done yoga before, while Casey has baggy gray sweat shorts and a white T-shirt.
He's laying down a pink mat that I recognize to be Jane’s mat. “Let’s do two more breaths as we listen to our heart rate and try to tune out the noise around us.”
My eyes are fully open now and Casey looks up at me suspiciously. I often say this and mean the world outside but today I am confident that his noise is more distracting than the occasional car horn.
I give them a moment to settle in before moving onto the first exercise. “Slowly, and when you’re ready, we’re going to move into table pose.”
I move onto my hands and knees and look up at the mirror. Watching that everyone is with me, I lift my chin up into the air.“Good. Everyone take a deep breath here and prepare for the workout ahead.”
My gaze catches Casey’s chuckle and I narrow my eyes at him. He quickly fixes his face.
“Now let’s move our back into cat and cow pose and remember to breathe in when your back dips in cow and out when it arches in cat.”
Casey presses his lips together, smothering a laugh and I want to go over there and kick him. Instead, I ignore him and dip my back into cow pose, push my hips back, and exhale the tension in my shoulders. Casey’s eyes flicker to my body arched on all fours and the laugh dies on his lips.
6
Casey
I can’t believe Austin guilted me into coming to this yoga class. He called me rude, and Jane said I was being chauvinistic when I called yoga a girl’s workout. But aren’t Austin and I the only men in this class? It’s not like it’s a real workout, it’s just stretching. But to make my sister-in-law happy, I agreed to go with Austin. Besides, stretching my arm might be a good thing. Last night with Anthony, I didn’t feel any pain but mentally I kept favoring it. Michael, my physiotherapist, recommended light exercises to keep the muscle loose, so here I am.
But so far, it’s just been about breathing and listening to our bodies.Blah, blah, blah.
I was just about to close my eyes and take a nap when Sage pulled herself onto her hands and knees and stuck her ass up in the air.
Well, shit.
Her round cheeks form a perfect peach in those tight yoga pants. I imagine myself kneeling behind her, and my body responds immediately inside my loose gray shorts.
Fuck.
Quickly, I squash the thought away, avoiding any embarrassment.
I shouldn’t have laughed when I saw Austin in his tights. Those would have come in handy right now. Thankfully, we’re sitting at the back of the room and there’s no one behind me getting a free show of my balls. I didn’t think I would do much in this class, but everyone keeps looking back at me and I don’t want to come across as the creep watching everyone instead of doing the work.
“From here, bring your right leg between your arms, and lift your body into a lunge for Warrior One. Good. Now lift your arms and stare up at the ceiling, keeping your arms in line with your shoulders.”
The move causes my arm to tingle, so I drop it. Unfortunately, Sage notices, steps out of her pose and walks over to me.
