“What? Was I not fearsome as a lion?” I arch a brow.
She turns to me. “You’re as fearsome as the king of the lion frogs, Harlan!”
“See if I ever entertain you with animal sounds again,” I say, but I’m laughing too.
Especially since we’re definitely not in the naughty zone anymore. That has to be good for our brand-new working relationship.
“Moo,” she says, quickly zipping out of the frog pose and into a bovine one, bowing her back. Seconds later, she’s arching like a cat. “Meow.”
I whimper.
Katie is a very sexy yoga cat.
“Meow-zers,” I say.
Hopping out of the position, she moves behind me, dropping her hands to my hips and wiggling them. Her tone is teacherlyagain, the yoga instructor who believes in what she does. “If you can hold the frog pose for at least a few minutes every day, that’ll help release the groin and inner thigh. Those are locations for a lot of injuries. You want to keep the groin nice and soft.”
“No, I don’t want my groin soft,” I blurt. Because I can’t not go there.
She laughs, giving another slight adjustment. “There. Just hold.” But her soft voice and her gentle hands are having the opposite effect on me.
This one-on-one isnothelping my dirty brain. I can’t stop thinking about the one-on-ones I crave with her.
Yup, hands-on is leading to hard-on. I cast about for neutral topics. “So, is it true yoga is cheaper than therapy?”
Her blue eyes twinkle. “Guess it depends on what I charge the Renegades,” she says with a wink.
“I like your capitalist side.”
“Nothing wrong with wanting to make a good living,” she says, lady boss and owning it. Damn, that’s hot too.
“I couldn’t agree more.” I cycle to another of her yoga sayings from her clothing line. “Is yoga your favorite way to pretend to work out?”
She’s quiet for a beat, then sits next to me, meeting my gaze. “Are you just quoting me back to me now?”
I flash a grin. “Seems I am. I researched more about your business before these sessions. Still love the cute sayings.”
Her smile is magnetic. “Thank you. I’m flattered you did that.”
“I like your style. I like what you’ve built.”
Her eyes shimmer with happiness. I love that I put that look there. “That means a lot to me. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I like watching you play. I’m having a big ol’ watch party this weekend with my girlfriends. We’re talking charcuterie boards, wine, nachos, and Jillian’s special guacamole mix. And we’ll be rooting for you.”
Pride suffuses my whole being.
There is something fulfilling about playing a game you’re good at for a woman you like.
Even if you can’t have her.
I wish this could work. I wish we could move forward, earning first down after first down. But it seems the universe’s defensive line is tougher than us right now, and we’re punting rather than picking up where we left off.
Not now, and not for the foreseeable future.
But maybe at the end of the season? Coach said we’d be doing yoga for that long, but when we’re done, maybe our timing will finally line up.
