get my mind off it.
I unrolled my yoga mat in the middle of the living room and settled into my morning routine. The familiar movements helped calm the thoughts that rampaged through my mind like the bulls in Pamplona.
Settling into my practice, I performed three sun salutations, then pushed myself as I fought to stretch my body to its limits.
In upward dog, I found my eyes only a couple feet away from where Chris sat the night before while Tyra straddled him. Just like that, the memories and thoughts came flooding back.
I collapsed on the floor.
“I shouldn’t fucking care this much about him!” I shouted to no one. “He’s my goddamn stepbrother! It can’t happen!”
A ringing beside me broke into my moroseness and the phone was almost flung across the room before I restrained myself. I took a look at the display.
Tyra.
Calling to compare notes? She had no compunction about sharing all the dirty details. I usually told her to can it, but secretly enjoyed hearing about all the guys she screwed and the positions they liked, kinks they had. It was funny hearing about the guys who were all macho in the club but craved her taking control in bed.
Did I want to hear all the gory details from her hooking up with Chris? Could I put myself through that?
“Hey, Tyra. How was it?” I told myself that I answered only to make sure she made it home, not because I had a morbid fascination and wanted to relive my experience through her. Even if it meant that Chris has screwed someone else.
I pushed them together, I reminded myself. It might not have happened if I hadn’t.
“How was what?” she asked.
“You know, the sex. I know you left with Chris last night. Good, right?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said. “We left together, but no matter how I tried or what I said, he wouldn’t take me home with him. That fucker left me with the biggest case of blue balls I’ve ever had.”
“He what? You didn’t sleep with him?” I almost dropped the phone from my hands and got off the floor to sit in a more natural position on the couch.
“I wish. No, he squirmed away from me, and after he’d gotten me so riled up, too. I had to resort to using Dudley for about an hour last night to get over it.”
I laughed. “Have I told you that you share way too much information? The fact that I already know Dudley is your vibrator is just sick.”
It felt good to laugh. It hadn’t felt like a day where I would be doing too much of that. Everything seemed a lot brighter now, like clouds had rolled back from the sun.
“Yeah, well, I won’t change now. You up for coffee after class? I’m still a little hungover.”
“You and me both, I was just trying a little yoga to get over it, but I’m down to grab a cup in a bit.”
“Perfect. Text me later.”
“Bye.”
I tossed my phone on the couch and bounced up to my feet. A sudden burst of energy rushed through me, and I threw myself back into the yoga with more enthusiasm than before.
He didn’t sleep with her. It should have worried me that the thought was so uplifting, but I didn’t care. Happiness flooded my system, and that was enough for now.
Each pose grew more and more difficult as I pushed my body to its limits, stretching and holding beyond what was normally possible. Sweat gathered on my skin in little dots, shimmering in the diffuse sunlight that filtered in through the windows.
As I came out of sirsa padasana, someone knocked on the door. I looked down to check myself. Short yoga shorts and a sports bra weren’t that bad, and I was too warm to throw something else on.
When I opened the door, I froze.
This needs to stop happening.
“You weren’t answering my texts,” Chris said. “So I thought I would just drop in.”
He dressed simply in a white shirt and jeans, but his muscles were visible through the clothes, and he made it look good. Manly.
“Um, come in.” Why was I never able to think around him? Not that my mind slowed down, more like
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