I couldn’t help my smile in return. It was silly how the butterflies in my belly swooped when he praised me.
“Release,” Linc said in that same calm tone.
I did the move again a couple more times, and each time he hummed his approval or outright complimented me. His words were making me giddy, and I was floating among the clouds with a mix of sereneness and fizzy excitement running through my veins.
“Right foot forward in a long lunge. Back leg straight.”
I stepped forward, and Linc touched my knee.
“Lower yourself down. Try to get your front leg bent ninety degrees.”
I lowered myself a little less than gracefully, and my hamstring screamed at me. My thighs downright quivered, and not in a good way. My calves all the way down to my Achilles tendons were pulled so tight that I expected them to snap at any second.
“Oh shit,” I gasped. “This bloody hurts.”
He was right there, grasping my elbows before I’d even finished my sentence.
“Lift up a little. You should still feel the stretch, but it shouldn’t hurt. We’re going for no injuries.”
I huffed out a laugh.It shouldn’t hurt.I’d doubled, even tripled, the amount of exercise I’d been doing. It wasn’t aimed at losing weight. I was having fun. I was experiencing life. I was doing all the things that I’d stopped myself from doing for so long. We’d gone line dancing and horse riding, I’d been on the back of the quad bike with Jacques, I’d done a gym session—if you can call a fifteen-minute warmup a session—laps of the pool, we’d gone bowling and to the beach. We’d taken Zeus for long walks too. Getting out and enjoying life, doing things rather than sitting behind a desk working, were everyday occurrences for me now. But this… this wasn’t exercise. It was torture.
“Lift a little more.”
I did and breathed a sigh of relief. The discomfort eased, and I looked at him wide-eyed. “It’s stopped,” I marveled, and he snorted out a laugh. “What?” I asked indignantly.
He pointed to my legs, and I looked down. My front leg was barely bent. “Oh,” I stuttered out. That was embarrassing. I was stronger than that. I was a big girl, not a weakling. I could do this.
I lowered myself down, and he grinned happily.
“Nice job,” he crooned and got into position next to me, leading me again. “Arms up slowly. Inhale. Palms together and hold your breath. Stretch your fingers toward the sky. Exhale and lower your arms.”
I followed his moves, admiring the way his lithe muscles flexed. He wasn’t bulky like Trav or even as tall and thick as Jacques, but Linc was objectively beautiful. His auburn hair shone in the light streaming into the sunroom. The pale skin of his shoulders was dotted with freckles that danced as he shifted.
And that tight, round butt.
It was a work of art.
I honestly wanted to bite it. But I couldn’t be thinking about Linc like that. We were friends. That was it, and it was fine. It was more than fine. Two men were more than enough for me. When I separated from David, I thought I’d be happily single for the rest of my life. I’d planned on it. I definitely didn’t see two gorgeous, younger men wanting me. Nor had I imagined I’d be so insatiable for them. I wasn’t sure how I was keeping up with them—or maybe it was them keeping up with me. I didn’t need a third man.
But was it bad that I wanted three?
“Repeat that move.”
I did, and on the exhale followed Linc, lowering my arms only to shoulder height. My legs were crying out, begging me to stop this insanity.
“We’re going into warrior pose. Watch how I turn my body, rotate my hips, and shift to my left.”
I did. The move he demonstrated looked easy enough, and I followed, trying to mimic him.
“Hold.”
I counted slowly to five.
“And release.”
He shot me a grin, and my smile dropped. I swallowed. The way he was looking at me screamed mischievousness. He was going to do something wickedly hard. I just knew it.
“Shake your arms and legs out.”
