AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brett snorted, shaking his head and grinning as he resumed to his next pose, following with the class.
I’d given up as soon as we laid out on our mats and they released the goats. Once that happened, there was no pretense here. I was only about the goats.
The owner chuckled, her eyes warmed. “Latice usually lets each class have fun with the goats a little bit at the end before she starts herding everyone out of here, but if you stay, I can give you a tour? Show you the rest of the animals? We have some horses, a couple donkeys. And a mini-donkey.”
“A mini-donkey?” I was becoming annoying, but I couldn’t help it. I asked, breathless, “Do you have chickens?”
“Oh yeah. And geese. And ducks.”
Literal drool was falling out of my mouth.
The owner noticed and laughed again before leaning in, lowering her voice, “You know, you’re drooling about my animals the same way most of the women in here are drooling over your date.” She eyed me, the end of her mouth folding down. “You’re okay with that?”
I swallowed and grabbed the end of my tank to wipe off my mouth.
Brett groaned quietly from next to me, flipping into the next pose and shooting me a heated look, one smoldering with promises of what we’d be doing after this.
A zing traveled through me, all the way between my legs, and while I was giddy in the heart for the animals, my body was still throbbing for Brett. After we left Vicky and Howard’s farm, it’d been there, brewing, building the whole time. A good decent simmer.
“Oh.” The owner readjusted her legs. Her voice was a little hoarse. “I see how it is. Yeah, you’re good. You don’t have to be worried about the other women.”
I bent forward, half-heartedly joining the class, and I started to raise my leg up as my head went down. I sent her a furtive grin but didn’t comment. Most of the class was buzzing that Brett was here. Earlier, I’d noticed that the owner herself had started to head back to her house at the end of the introduction talk, but she caught sight of Brett, paused and went with us inside. Latice, the instructor, shot her a brief quizzical look at that time but hadn’t said anything.
We got through one more pose before the same three kiddies raced back inside, and one ran past me. I reached out, scooping it up, but it didn’t want to climb on me. It wanted to play, balking. I let it go, smiling so happily and knowing I looked silly. I didn’t care, but I gave up on the class totally and left my mat to go and sit next between two of the mama goats, a Nubian and Ruby, the Saanen. Both mamas swung their heads my way, tilting them so I’d give them all the pets as they stayed in place. Both were chewing their cud, as the owner already explained before the class.
Cud was some food that the goats kept tucked away to chew and rechew later on, or that’s how the owner explained it. I was thinking there was more involved, but it made sense to me. Little cheek pockets where they stored their food, like squirrels. They were efficient snackers.
When the class was done, I was resting against a stall door behind me, and was so relaxed that I jerked up, but I hadn’t fallen asleep. That would’ve been rude. Snoozing during a yoga class.
Brett stood over me, a crooked smirk on his face. The class was obviously done, with the people standing in groups. Some were talking. Some were petting the goats. A few mats were left on the ground, but most had already rolled theirs up and were tucked under their arms.
“Hi.” I blanched. My voice was crusty. I swallowed, clearing it and tried again, “Hey. Hi. I was just…” The Nubian was still by me and so was Ruby. I needed to find out the Nubian’s name. Both swung their heads my way and my hands went to petting them, as if they’d conditioned me to do this.
I was happy and curled my hands, scratching under their jaws.
They loved that, stretching out their necks and heads, their mouths moving and their tongues started coming out. Oh my word. My heart flipped over. That was so cute. Their little pink tongues.
Brett coughed, clearing his throat.
My gaze lifted to his, and my body warmed, as if I’d been caught doing something wrong.
His eyes were laughing as he knelt in front of me. He reached over, his hand circling one of my ankles. “You, uh, have some drool.” He motioned to the side of his mouth. “Right there, if you want to wipe it away.”
Shit.
I jerked my shoulder up, ducking down to erase that.
My face flooded again. “I told you I like animals.”
“Yes, you did,” he noted, softly, his face growing somber, studying me quietly. “I need to remember this for future dates. If I want your attention, don’t take you near animals. There’s no competition.”
Well, that was embarrassing.
He caught my train of thought and tugged on my ankle, scooting me closer to him. His head lowered even more, his eyes so dark and intense, taking in everything about me. “Don’t be embarrassed about that. I like that about you.” He cleared his throat again and readjusted on his feet. “I really like that about you. It’s you. It’s genuine.” And his gaze fell to my lips. “While I’m glad we didn’t skip, I’m remembering a certain promise I made you before we came here.”
“Hey, man.” A guy came over, standing. He’d been one of the guys eyeing up all the women, or most of the women. He and his friends. He wasn’t adhering to the unspoken dynamics going on between Brett and me, that this was a Brett and me moment, with Ruby and Joy.
I’d just named the Nubian mama until I knew her real name.
