“Is this your first yoga session?” I asked Autumn quietly.
“No, I tried it once and thought it was stupid because my brain wouldn’t shut up.”
There was the Autumn I knew.
I wanted to ask her why she was here today, but I thought better of it. Who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
“I like to express my gratitude by giving thanks for this opportunity to be in this calming environment with such amazing people.” Sawyer’s tone calmed me, and I felt myself warm as they held their hand to their heart and smiled at all of us. “Let’s shift into child’s pose.”
Autumn nodded as if she was happy to do the simple pose. She bent over and rested her shins on the mat, emitting a relaxing sigh as she curved her back and put her arms beneath herself. A breeze blew her scent toward me, and I winced. God, even her sweat smelled like strawberries. Strawberries and sunblock.
Deep breaths sounded from all around me before Autumn broke the silence near us, groaning. “It’s far too early in the morning for tight yoga pants. I should be back in bed wearing just…”
“Just what?”
“Huh?” She acted as though she hadn’t given herself away. “Nothing.”
God, she meant her underwear. Or maybe tiny sleep shorts. Nothing at all? Fuck, I was picturing all of those things.
Autumn yawned. “I’m wondering about the likelihood that my arms would fall asleep if I did this all day.”
“Hmm…” I rested my chin on my hand and pondered. “What are the conditions?”
“Sixty-five degrees, overcast, and I’m covered in a blanket.”
“How heavy is the blanket?” I asked.
“It’s one of those fuzzy alpaca ones.”
Sawyer didn’t seem to notice our inability to remain silent, but I promised myself we wouldn’t find ourselves in a similar situation to the one at Paint and Sip. I didn’t want to annoy all the counselors and get kicked out of thisrelaxingretreat.
“Now we’re going to transition into warrior pose.”
I stood up and rolled my shoulders back. “I think the likelihood is high. Now if you had said it was a lightweightquilt…”
“I forgot you were a blanket expert.”
“Really? That’s literally how I introduce myself to people.”
Sawyer switched into tree pose, and everyone mimicked them. Autumn tried to finagle her way into putting one foot on her opposite knee, huffing as she failed to do so three times. Man, she was cute. But it was when she tried to raise her hands that it truly went to hell.
“Timber,” Jack whispered, loud enough for all of us to hear.
I had to do a double take as she snarled at him. I burst into the quietest fit of laughter I could, but we had definitely distracted the class. Sawyer was shaking their head at him, Autumn was glaring daggers at him, and I had both feet planted on the ground because there was no way I could keep the same pose when I was holding my sides.
I prepared to walk over to her mat, but Jack beat me to it.
“Here.” He offered his forearm for her to use to balance herself.
I moved back into the pose and looked away, but it was hard not to notice in my peripheral vision. She took a frustrated breath but went into the pose, adjusting her feet.
“Just like that, Gardner.” Jack nodded, last naming her.
I tried not to think about the fact that he had this rapport, and it gave me… Feelings. I couldn’t help it. My brain wentright to him saying “just like that” in a completely different way that made me cringe. Yet again, I told myself that there was no reason to have feelings of jealousy.
She had always been a bit of a klutz when we were younger. Once, we’d been in our speech and debate classroom, and she’d tripped on a metal desk leg, falling until I caught her, right on my lap. It’d been the first genuine smile she’d given me, and I’d felt privileged to have captured something so special. Feeling her on my legs hadn’t hurt matters either.
“There you go.” He left Autumn like that.
