Page 27 of Unclench Me Softly

One man is missing. One more chaos variable. And my opening ritual is already being spiritually pantsed by a human himbo, a meditation app, a marble statue of control, and an emotionally haunted log cabin.

I exhale slowly.

I inhale intention.

I exhale sanity.

Let the healing begin.

The energy was almost right.

There was a moment, a fleeting second, when all four men had their eyes closed. Their breathing synced. Their auras stopped punching each other.

I could feel it. A flicker of alignment.

And then Asher exhaled with so much force it sounded like he was giving birth to a ghost.

I open one eye and look at him.

His face is scrunched in spiritual intensity. He’s gripping the river rock I gave him like it holds the password to his self-worth.

“Asher,” I say softly, “Relax your forehead.”

“I’m surrendering,” he says, voice cracking. “Really hard.”

“Don’t try so hard to let go,” I say.

He whimpers. “But what if I let go wrong?”

“You can’t let go wrong…” I start.

“I need a checklist,” he interrupts.

“You don’t need a…” I start.

“Is this part of the surrender?” Jax asks, one eye open. “Because it feels like a group panic attack.”

I inhale through my teeth. “No,” I say calmly. “This is the part where we sit in stillness. And open to the possibility of unclenching.”

Asher lets out another heroic breath and shifts his hips. His mat squeaks like it’s experiencing trauma.

Then Jax shifts too, louder this time, the squeak is unmistakable.

There’s a sacred pause in the tension, and then he grins, wide and utterly unrepentant.

“You guys,” Jax says, eyes sparkling like someone who’s just committed a holy crime. “I think the ego just squeaked.”

Seb, who has been silently meditating like a brooding mountain monk, finally opens one eye and stares at Jax with the slow judgment of a man who has chopped wood to avoid conflict for years.

Jax shrugs. “What? It was a funny squeak.”

I smack my own forehead lightly with my palm.

“Okay,” I say through clenched teeth, “Let’s re-center. Everyone, touch your stone. Take a deep breath in. Visualize yourself releasing control, softening the mind, the jaw, the…”

“Fist?” Jax adds helpfully.

“Ego,” I snap.

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