You May Kiss the Bridesmaid - Camilla Isley Page 0,31
a bunch of you who have expressed an interest in trying out more Acro Yoga poses. Since we’re an even number again, I wanted to check if everyone would be okay with a slightly different class?”
I look at Summer. She shrugs, so I shrug right back.
“Everyone good with it?” Miranda asks, and when no one objects, she continues, “Great. We’re going to do a quick warm up and then work on some new poses.”
A few sun salutations later, Miranda asks us to divide up into pairs. The same couples from yesterday form, and we wait for the next instruction.
“Okay,” Miranda encourages, “for the next pose we’re going to start with a position you’re already familiar with, but take it to the next level. We start in Plank Press. Bases, please lie on your backs facing your flyers, knees bent.”
I get down on the mat and stare up at my partner. I love how Summer blushes whenever she meets my gaze and tries to hide it.
“Flyers, place your feet in between your partner’s. Perfect. Now bases,” Miranda continues. “Like yesterday, set your feet on your flyers hips.”
I never thought of yoga as foreplay, but this Acro thingy sure feels like it.
“Let’s practice a basic plank press a few times. Flyers, open up your arms in a T shape and keep your bodies straight and remember to keep a strong core. Bases, bend your knees toward your chest and receive your flyers’ weight and then push back slowly. Flyers keep your feet on the floor and trust your weight to the base.”
Take this move, I’m basically using Summer as a bench-press weight. It shouldn’t feel hot. But it does. It’s in the way she looks at me. In the way her ponytail swishes forward wherever I bend my knees, in the way her lips slightly part as if she was coming up for air.
“And now let’s move on to the next level,” Miranda says. “Flyers, reach forward and clasp hands with your bases, keeping your arms straight and creating a straight line from your shoulder to your bases. And now the hard part: flyers, you have to push off the ground. Bases, you have to lift your flyers, straightening your legs. Flyers, once you’re airborne, engage your core and straighten your legs. If and when you feel stable enough in your balance, you can let go of your bases’ hands and pull your arms back like bird wings in Front Bird pose.”
Okay, this pose and the next ones require enough strength and concentration that I don’t have much time left for dirty thoughts. Still, already compared to yesterday, Summer’s and my movements seem to be much more fluid. Like we already have that extra confidence in each other. Is that why she bailed this morning? Was spending the night in each other’s arms too much? And why? We agreed this thing between us was a week-only deal. So, is she afraid we’re getting too close? Is she getting too close? It wouldn’t be the first time a woman I’d agreed to have a casual relationship with wanted more.
And, then, out of nowhere, the scariest thought I’ve ever had pops into my head: what if I wanted more?
The idea distracts me, making me lose concentration and causing my legs to wobble. Which, in turn, causes Summer to tumble down on top of me, her face ridiculously close to my groin. She stares up at me, shocked at first. Then, when she realizes where her pretty head is, her expression turns to embarrassment.
“Are you all right over there?” I ask.
Summer blushes and scrambles back, sitting on her heels.
Miranda comes next to us. “Is everyone okay?” she asks, and when we both nod, she adds, “It’s perfectly normal to fall a few times when you’re trying out these new poses for the first time. Class, I think we’re done for today. How about a final stretch before I let you go have breakfast?”
Good, I think. A cool down is exactly what I need right now.
Once the class is over, I almost expect Summer to walk off, leaving me behind like she did yesterday. But she lingers instead, and we walk together toward the breakfast room. To an outsider, our attitudes would come across as completely innocent, but, again, the shift compared to yesterday morning, when all Summer wanted to do was to shake me off, is incredible. Now she doesn’t have a problem being at the croissants table at the same time as I am,