24. The Yoga

Hunter

Hunter waited outside of the yoga studio for Logan when his phone buzzed.

Sorry, can’t make it. Gotta help this guy cram for an exam tomorrow $$$.

“Fuck,” Hunter exclaimed, his voice carrying a bit too loudly. It was Logan’s dumb idea they’d go to yoga. He didn’t even like Maxine. Well, he didn’t mind her. He mostly wanted Logan to fuck her and get it out of the way. He’d lose interest, like he did with everyone else. Hunter was content being the one constant in his life, willing to occupy any space in Logan’s world. It was three weeks since they’d met her and her presence at their place became more and more pronounced.

“Hunter?” Maxine appeared beside him, her midriff exposed.

“Uh, hey.” Hunter slipped his phone into his pocket. “We can’t make it tonight. Logan has to work.”

“But you’re here, right?” she said with a warm smile and opened the door for him to step through. Watching a few women walk through the doors, he hesitated. What’s a few stretches? He released a deep sigh and nodded.

Sweat dripped from Hunter’s chin and onto the mat, the heat in the room so unbearable he thought he’d faint. One more of these crazy postures would kill him for sure. At least they were sitting now.

“Now,” Maxine’s voice echoed through the room, “get on your knees and sit on your feet for Supta Vajrasana Fixed Firm.” The underclothed women around him varied in age, colors, and sizes. He’d sometimes catch their glance at him in the mirror, but not for reasons he was used to. Wobbling his way through the standing series and now grunting and puffing uncontrollably, he felt lucky the scorching heat could explain his reddening face.

“Hunter,” Maxine said.

Oh, no, not again. Please, stop calling on me.

“Sit between your feet.”

“My feet can’t bend that way,” he said, stiff as ever.

Hunter glanced at Maxine’s glistening, near naked body coming toward him, wondering what part of it attracted Logan. She kneeled beside him and spread his feet apart, then pressed down on his hips so his butt touched the mat.

She whispered, as if not to disturb the entire class, “Lean back and elbows on the floor … Easy … Good … Now, look at the ceiling.” Hunter’s body gave a panicked jolt. “It’s okay, I got you,” she said in a soothing voice, while placing a delicate, but firm, hand on his chest as he eased his way backward. “Arms up over your head and grab your elbows.”

Something eased in Hunter as he let his mind go. He did as instructed, a little awkwardly, but better than he ever thought he could. Once in the position, Maxine got up and walked around the studio again.

“Make sure your knees don’t spread apart. Tuck your chin to chest. Feel that neck stretch on the ground. You all know the story … the Great Yogi shattered his knee and did Fixed Firm for twelve hours a day to heal it back again … and change.” She clapped.

The sense of accomplishment quickly faded once he watched everyone around him rise out of their poses while he remained fixed on the ground. Fixed. Fixed Firm. He understood now.

“Max?” his voice begged her over.

Like a true professional, Maxine made her way to Hunter while she continued to lead the class. “Now, get ready to lengthen that spine with a little forward bending, Ardha Kurmasana, Half-Tortoise pose.” After unwrapping his arms, she cradled his head in one hand while the other supported his back, his unsure eyes meeting her assuring ones. “Great job,” she whispered, lifting him up from the floor.

Logan

Logan walked through the apartment door that evening to find Hunter on his stomach on the floor and Maxine on his back, stretching his arms back while in the middle of a conversation.

“What’d you think of Pavanamuktasana, Wind-Removing pose?” she asked him.

“Which one is that?”

“The one where you’re on your back and you bring your knees to chest.”

“Oh, I ripped one for sure.” Hunter laughed and Maxine joined in, pretending to collapse on him from laughter.

A wave of jealousy washed over Logan, but then slowly drifted away. “Hey. How was yoga?”

“Hi! It was good. Hunter stayed in the room and that’s all we truly ask for,” she said, burying her elbow into his back. Hunter didn’t bother to look up at him from his massage.

“That’s awesome, I’ll have to go next time.”

“Anyway,” Maxine rose to her feet. “I should head out. Need to grab a shower before grading papers tonight.”

“Hey, you’ve got my paper in there don’t you?” Logan asked, eyes widening.

Maxine headed to the door and gathered her things. “Uh … I can’t say.”

“Just give me an ‘A’ and I’ll love you forever.” He watched her shake her head with a grin as she stepped forward. “Or, how about if it’s not an ‘A’ paper, you give it back to me with edits and I’ll make the changes.”

“Logan,” she nagged, removing a pin from her high bun that made her braids hang over her shoulders. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She stepped in to kiss his cheek, but Logan placed a kiss on her lips instead. “You’re so sneaky … Bye, Hunter,” she said before heading out the door.

Logan wondered why Hunter was still on the floor, not moving a muscle.

“Centering your chi?” Logan joked, hovering over Hunter’s face. Hunter opened his eyes and pulled him down into a kiss. “How was yoga?”

Hunter got up from the floor and stretched his arms to the sky. “It was actually pretty challenging. I didn’t know bodies could move like that. Max says I’m going to really feel it in the morning, so she was stretching me out.”

“Oh. But it was pretty boring, right?”

“I really liked it. You should come next time.”

Logan couldn’t decide what bothered him more—the feeling of being left out or Hunter’s sudden friendliness with someone who wasn’t him.

Maxine

“Idon’t know, they’re both seniors,” Maxine spoke into her phone, as she rummaged through her fridge for food about two weeks later in her studio apartment.

“Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker … There.”

“So, your gym hottie went to yoga with you?” her friend’s voice echoed through the phone.

Maxine pulled out the ice cream and scooped it into a bowl. “Well, he attended my class, yeah.”

“But his ugly friend is the one who seems to like you, not hottie.”

Maxine laughed. “Logan is the friend. He’s not ugly—like at all. He’s actually really cute, too. In like a—I dunno, boy next door kind of way.”

“But you want the man next door.”

“You’re so funny,” Maxine said, in a soft tone as she plopped down on the couch to eat her ice cream, legs tucked underneath her. “It’s like, how do I explain—Hunter has this deep, intense way about him. He’s silent and strong and oof, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him in class today. I felt like everyone could tell.”

“Could tell what? That he makes your pussy wet?”

Heat rushed to her face as she let out a smile. “Oh my god, stop.”

“Okay, so, go for hottie Hunter,” her friend said.

Maxine spread her legs across the couch and covered them with a blanket as she ate another spoonful, propped up on her side. “But Logan … He’s so much fun and he has this strong sexual energy that I think complements mine. He knows just where to touch me. The other night we were all watching a movie at their place and Logan fingered me, right next to Hunter. He’s so wild, it’s like—he doesn’t care about anything.”

“So, you’ve fucked him?!”

“No, no. I wouldn’t even know how to go about that. What am I going to say? Hey, I like you both and don’t know which one to pick.”

“Date Hunter while you fuck Logan.”

Laughter filled her apartment. “Imagine? I would definitely fuck Hunter. I’m not so sure he’s into me. But I feel like we’re connected somehow. A karmic bond. We can sit in silence for hours and not say a word and be totally comfortable with each other.”

“Okay, so date Logan and cheat on him with Hunter on the side.”

“Yeah, right. I shouldn’t be taking advice from you. You know, if Hunter made moves like Logan, I wouldn’t be debating this right now.”

“Who do you like more?”

Maxine stopped to think for a moment. Her mind took her to the last time she was at their place and she and Logan made out on the couch until Hunter came home and joined them for a movie. He had let her rest her feet on his lap while she laid on Logan’s lap and his fingers moved in and out of her pussy underneath the blanket. She could’ve sworn Hunter knew and stared at them the entire time. “It’s hard to say … Honestly? I like them both. It’s not just sex, there’s something more.”

“You greedy bitch.”

She joined her friend in laughter. “Stop, I feel like a terrible person. I don’t know what they’re doing to me. I’ve tried avoiding or not contacting them and one of them always manages to seek me out or run into me. It’s getting hard to concentrate on classes, or teaching or anything else. What am I going to do?”

“Bitch,” her friend almost shrieked, “you’ve got two hot men and you’re crying about it while I’m over here with my damn dog and no job prospects.”

“Shit, that’s right. I’m so sorry, I didn’t ask. How is the job hunt going?” Maxine’s guilt overtook her, but she was a bit distracted by an incoming text message from Logan.

Want some company tonight?

She bit her bottom lip, her cheeks went warm, and her clit throbbed at the thought of him.

“… what do you think?” her friend asked. Maxine had no idea what was just said. “Hello?”

Maxine blinked herself back to attention. “Uhm, maybe I can call my brother or ask Daddy if they know of anything.”

“Yes, please do … Are you texting?” Her friend caught on.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

“Is it them?”

“Yeah … I promise, whoever I don’t end up with, I’ll set you up with them.”

“Hard pass. You know I don’t do White boys.”

A silent chuckle left Maxine’s lips. “How do you know they’re Wh—”

“Don’t even try me. Hunter and Logan? Come on, now … Look, call me tomorrow. I love you. Bye.”