Page 21 of Cross Check Hearts

“It has a lot of purposes, but it’s really up to the person practicing it what they want to get out of it. For some people, it’s about range of motion. For others, it’s about balance and core strength. And then for some people it’s just a way to get quiet and be in their bodies every now and then.”

I suppress the flirtatious comment that immediately springs to mind. “Wow. You sound passionate about this.”

Hannah looks me in the eye for the first time since I got here. “Because I am. Yoga is a huge part of my life.” She clears her throat, pointing toward the back of the studio. “You can get changed in the locker room. It’s over there.”

I give an easy nod and head in the direction she pointed, lingering a little to take in the studio’s decor on my way. I’ve never been in a yoga studio before, but it looks exactly like I’d expect it to, with pictures hanging on the walls of people standing in poses facing the sun with their palms clasped.

There are two small locker rooms, and I step into the men’s, which has enough space for a few people and a small shower stall in the far corner.

I change into my workout clothes—I don’t own any yoga pants yet, but hopefully what I brought will work—and throw the rest of my stuff in one of the little lockers. There aren’t built-in locks, but no one else is here, so I’m not worried about my stuff going missing.

“This place is really nice,” I tell Hannah when I emerge from the locker room and join her back in the main area.

She glances around the room with a critical eye and nods. “There are a few things I’d change if it was my studio,” she says but doesn’t elaborate, her face taking on a distant expression as if picturing those changes. Then she turns to face me with her arms crossed over her chest and raises her brows at me. “Are you ready to get started?”

I shrug. “Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. But how does this work? Do I just imitate you or something?”

“You’ve never done yoga before, have you?”

“I mean, I’ve stretched my body into some crazy positions before, but not like this,” I say, and although she glares at me, I don’t miss the hint of blush that appears on her cheeks. I’d give anything to know what memories are playing through her mind right now, but I bite my tongue. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

“Let’s just start with some demonstrations of basic poses,” she says, her tone turning professional. “I’ll show you a few of them, then have you try them out. Think you can handle that?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“We’ll start super basic with mountain pose,” she says, as though it should mean something to me. She spreads her feet apart a bit and rolls her shoulders in circles, letting her hands dangle at her sides.

“That’s it?”

“I told you we were starting super basic.”

“I can handle this,” I say and mimic what she’s doing. She stops to evaluate me, walking in a circle around me, and I feel like I’m under a microscope. Facing down opposing teams and coaches has never made me nervous, but something about Hannah’s appraising gaze makes my skin prickle with awareness.

“Not bad, but spread your feet a little more,” she says, pushing my feet apart with one of hers before she steps around to my back. “And stand straight.”

She grabs my waist gently as she speaks, rolling my hips into alignment. Every point of contact between her delicate hands and my body feels electric. I focus on my breathing, trying to keep my shit together despite the rush of memories her touch evokes.

“Good,” she says. “Now roll your shoulders.”

I do as I’m told, and Hannah nods approvingly.

“That feels good, honestly,” I admit. “I should do this more often.”

“I’m not surprised. A lot of people carry tension in their shoulders,” she says, moving her hands up to my tense muscles in that area and squeezing them to make her point. “And with the sport you play, that tracks. Try to breathe into it while you roll your shoulders, nice and deep.” She sucks in a deep breath beside me, so I do the same. “Now exhale slowly.”

Our breaths hiss out together as Hannah steps in front of me and gets back into the pose herself. “Good. From here, we’ll move into a forward fold. Watch me first, then I’ll break it down.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” I say, the corner of my mouth lifting, but Hannah pretends not to notice.

She spreads her feet apart evenly and stands straight, then throws her arms out to either side and swings them up and above her head.

She bends over until her hands find the floor, then moves them up to her knees and uses that grip to hold herself at a ninety-degree angle. She arches her back slightly in a stretch, and for a moment, I’m transported back to our night together, to her body arched beneath mine, to her breathless sighs in my ear?—

I drag myself back to the present as she slowly stands back up and smiles at the look of bewilderment on my face.

“Think you can handle that, hotshot?” she teases, and for a second, I’m speechless both because of the incredible way her body moves with such control and precision, and because I don’t think I have a prayer of doing the pose half as gracefully as she did.

“I can handle way more than you think.” I smirk at the way the redness on her cheeks intensifies, but she smirks right back at me.

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