Page 15 of Be My First

“He does yoga twice a week or something,” Eli says.

Juno arches her eyebrow. She opens her mouth to say something, but Brooklyn falls out of her pose and calls, “I’m out.”

“And then there were three,” Zadie says.

I smile at her. “I could do this all day.”

“Is that right?” Juno says.

“Maybe we should make it harder?” Kip says. “Close your eyes.”

Zadie groans. “I won’t last long this way.”

“On three, close your eyes,” Ethan says. “One, two, three.”

I snap my eyes shut and focus on centering myself and breathing. I do this twice a week. As long as I don’t get distracted, I should win.

“Oh shit,” Zadie says. “I’m out. Told you I couldn’t do it without seeing.”

Ethan says, “You’ve been at it for four minutes.”

“They are like statues,” Eli says. “I’m really impressed. Maybe I need to start taking yoga with you, Bode?”

“You should,” I say.

“My leg is falling asleep,” Juno says. “How long have we been doing this?”

Ethan says, “Right at five minutes.”

“I can’t feel my foot. How are you, Bode?”

“Just fine.”

She laughs. “I can’t.”

I hear everyone groan. I open my eyes. Juno is shaking out her leg. “You win.”

“You gave me a good run for my money,” I say.

“You should have bet us. You could have won some money,” Keene says, walking by me.

Kip laughs. “He doesn’t need money.”

Keene shrugs. “Still fun to win something.”

“Who wants breakfast?” Ethan says. “We’ve got a frittata coming out of the oven in five minutes.”

Juno is sitting on a towel, stretching.

“Do you do yoga often?” I ask. I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t ask. I shouldn’t talk to her. I’m just asking for trouble.

“I try once a week,” she says. “Even if it’s just ten minutes. I always feel so good when I finish.”

I smile at her, and her eyes warm just a little. I dart my eyes away quickly. .

“What are we doing today?” she calls as she hops up and picks up her towel.

“Uffizi,” Eli calls from inside the house.

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