Page 69 of Take My Love

“Don’t make me bring Teddy in here to wake you.”

“Your rat? Hell no.”

“Then get up. Mila’s out sick, so we gotta teach the yoga class today.”

“Huh?We?”

He tries reaching for the lamp on his nightstand to turn it off, but I smack his hand away.

“My alarm hasn’t gone off yet. Go away.”

“We gotta get the goats on the trailer and out there by seven. It’s too last minute to cancel. Plus, it’s a packed class.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

The corner of my lips tilts up. Most of the women are there to watch him, but he’s too oblivious to notice or maybe he doesn’t care.

“You get to help me do the poses and once the goats are released, I’ll walk ’round with treats while you keep showin’ ’em what to do.”

“If I dunno how to do ’em, how am I gonna help?”

“It’s a good thing I have cheat cards. So, c’mon, little Silas. Wakey wakey.” I give his lower stomach a pat.

He quickly covers his morning wood but not before I see it.

I stare at his slutty thigh tattoo, wondering how badly it’d drive him crazy if I touched or licked it.

Oh God, who said that?

“I’m so gettin’ you back for this,” he mumbles, reaching for the blankets.

“Yeah, yeah. C’mon, I’ll even make your coffee for ya.”

“Okay, deal.”

I smirk when he finally gets up.

After we hurry out of the house and load up the goats, we drive to the Branch Haven.

“Why’re you so grumpy?” I ask, noticing the deep wrinkle lines on his forehead when he opens the gate for me.

“I didn’t have time to stretch and everythin’ already hurts.” He moves his neck from side to side. “My thighs still hurt from ridin’ yesterday.”

“And this is why you didn’t get to wear a cowboy hat,” I quip. “You’re too city boy.”

“I still work blue collar, doesn’t that count for anythin’?”

“You get brownie points for not being a total amateur. But let’s see how you manage today.”

I pat his chest before moving past him to set up our yoga mats. Since we don’t need the goats right away, we keep them in the crates until it’s time.

“Here.” I hand him notecards of yoga poses. “Just follow me for the first part of class. Most of ’em will be distracted by the goats to pay attention to you anyway, so don’t worry.”

“I can’t even pronounce half of these…” He flips through them. “And definitely cannot get my body to move like that.”

I snort at how dramatic he sounds. “If you’re vanilla, just say that.”

He frowns. “I am not.”