Page 37 of Hell and High Water

“What are you going to do with this ass?”

“Everything. All the things. So many things.”

“Hmm. I like the sound of that.”

“But only if you show me how to meditate first.”

Because I am curious. And I want to make him work for it.

Tell’s off the couch and across the room in a heartbeat, sweeping his hands around my waist. “Oh, I’ll show you some things.”

His lips find my neck, my collar bone, pulling and licking as he works his way down, taking one nipple into his mouth.

“If this is meditation, I want to do it all the time.”

“I can oblige that…”

I can barely make words, but I force my mind to focus. “Tell me what to do next. How do I find my core, my center?” My hands graze down his front, cupping him through his pants, dragging up and down through the fabric.

“You, uh, I?—”

“How are you going to teach me if you can’t keep your cool?” I nearly yelp as he spins me around, cupping one hand under my breast, the other slipping down over my belly.

I slap his hand away.

“Not until you show me show me what I'm supposed to do.”

“Fine!” He all but shouts, and I have to stifle a laugh. “Okay.”

After a long, deep breath, he stills.

“Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing first.”

I inhale deeply, my chest swelling.

All the while, I can feel his eyes watching my peaked nipples rise and fall. I feel the flush of blood rush through me, blushing into my chest, my cheeks.

“Once you've calmed yourself, found a steady rhythm, you count down from ten, twenty, a hundred. Whatever. Finding your center is like creating a dome or a cube deep inside yourself, the place where you think thoughts that nobody else knows, that nobody else hears. The deepest part of your heart and mind.”

“I think I can see it…”

“Now imagine yourself there, in that space. It can be a forest, or a field, or whatever you want to imagine.”

“What is it for you?”

“For me? It's a blank slate. It's the place where I'm me. Nothing else exists. Total calm. Total quiet. I float like I'm in a sensory deprivation chamber. But it’s different for everyone.”

“So I need to find my happy place?” I chuckle.

“Yes, but seriously…”

I turn as I close my eyes, pressing my head against his chest, breathing deeply. Several breaths pass between us. I still feel him, but the room goes quiet. Everything around us disappears. The sounds of the birds outside, the wind in the trees, the hum of the refrigerator.

Silence envelops me.

Then I see the dance studio, but it’s how I would make it.

Endless mirrors. Sleek black floors.

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