Page 25 of Sharing Shadow Secrets (High Five Novella #6)
W alking to the yoga studio from my apartment, I’m so excited to see Brandon.
Am I wearing the yoga pants with the scrunch seam?
Yes. Am I wearing a plunging tank top with a sports bra built in?
Sure am. It’s more aggressive than my usual Saturday yoga look, but I want him to be staring at me the entire class.
After brunch, it’s happening. Butterflies fill my belly as I hear the TikTok audio from The Office .
Taylor
Be there in two minutes.
Brandon
Just parked. Standing outside.
I shouldn’t be so impressed that he is a punctual guy, but I like punctuality. Approaching the studio, I see him in shorts, a tank top, and a crossbody yoga bag.
“You love a bag,” I tease, going in for a hug. He hugs me back then grabs my chin as I step back.
“You’re cruel,” he whispers. I furrow my brows, and he raises his. “You look too sexy.” I smirk, and he leans down, kissing me deep. “This is a cool activity for us to do,” he says and grabs my hand.
Inside, I guide him to the cubbies for us to put our bags, then we step into the studio.
The large room has one mirrored wall, a wall full of equipment, and then the other two walls are floor-to-ceiling windows.
I point to the windowed corner where I like to lay my mat.
The diffuser above the speakers puffs out lavender smells into the warm room, which is quickly filling up.
We gather all our supplies then sit on our mats.
His hand reaches for mine. Our knotted hands rest on my thigh, and this feels like intense PDA.
I know we’re just holding hands, but it feels like more.
Maybe because this is feeling like boyfriend behavior and I’ve never experienced that.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
Is my face that transparent?
“So intimate.”
“I missed you.”
I smile like a silly schoolgirl. “I missed you too.”
The instructor turns down the lights and starts playing tranquil music. When she tells us to start in child’s pose, he releases my hand and gives my thigh a squeeze.
In the home stretch of the class, Brandon’s abandoned his tank top. He’s done the advanced variation of every single posture. Through the mirrors, I’m staring at his glistening body while daydreaming about later. He is going to make me a pretzel and rearrange my guts this afternoon.
He looks over at me, and I turn my head to him. “You have something right here,” he whispers, pointing to his lip. “Stop drooling,” he mouths, and I giggle.
Getting into the final posture, shavasana, I reflect on the great workout and how much I enjoyed Brandon being there. I’ve never worked out with a guy before. Well … like done a workout class with a guy.
The instructor’s voice encourages us to come to a seat, and I feel Brandon’s eyes on me. I look over, and he’s smiling at me, and I smile back. I like him. After we all bow, saying “namaste,” he crawls over, giving me a fast peck.
“That was great,” he says, happiness radiating from him. “Take as long as you need to get ready.” He picks up my blocks and his blocks, then returns them to their area. I check him out, considering this is what having a boyfriend is like. Doing things like this together. Regular day-to-day stuff.