Page 74 of Hello Tease

“You’re a natural,” he said, smiling back at me.

I smiled then redirected my attention to the teacher. She said, “We’re going to start in a comfortable seated position, taking easy breaths in and out, while we let in the goats.”

Goat bleating filled the air as they got closer, and I craned my neck to see them through the fence as an older man in jeans and a T-shirt herded the goats to the yoga pen. Then the gate opened, and at least ten tiny goats came rushing into the place, prancing about.

Forget steady breathing, everyone was just sitting, hoping a goat would run by. A tiny black and white one pranced over, and Knox reached out, rubbing it between the ears.

“Jealous!” I said. “I want to pet it.”

He easily picked it up, the animal looking even smaller in his hands, and held it between us.

I rubbed its belly, and it preened like a show dog. Laughter burst through me, and Knox chuckled with me. Our gaze met, and we were all smiles.

“This was such a great idea,” I said to him.

Penny, the instructor, spoke up to draw everyone’s attention back to her. “Now let’s get on our hands and knees to do a few cat cows.”

We followed her instructions, and I had to laugh when Knox got to the cow position and let out a moo.

I usually took yoga so seriously, just moving through the poses and trying to steady my mind. He broughtfunto it as well.

We went through a warmup flow, following Penny’s instructions as goats pranced around us and climbed over us. And I was thinking I had to bring goat yoga to the retirement home, until Knox was in a tabletop position, on his hands and knees, and a goat jumped onto his back.

The photographer came by, snapping photos of Knox while he held still to help it stay in place.

And as the shutter sounded, the goat let loose a sound of its own.

Yellow liquid splattered down from the goat, staining his shirt, and he let out a strangled cry, shimmying his body like he’d been electrocuted so the goat would stop. But it took its sweet time, finishing the job before jumping off and prancing elsewhere.

Knox stayed frozen in tabletop position, staring at me in abject horror as the liquid kept spreading.

And I burst out laughing.

“Larkin!” he said. “There’s pee all over me and all you can do is laugh!?”

I laughed even harder, gasping for breath. The problem? I wasn’t as young as I once was. Two pregnancies had done a number on me.

“Oh no!” I cried, squeezing my legs together. I so could not pee my pants on my first date alone with Knox. “Oh no!”

“Now you’re getting it!” he cried. “I can’t take off my shirt! I’ll get pee on my head!”

“Stop!” I cried, laughing even harder.

“It peed on me!” he yelled.

“Oh shit,” I said, covering myself as I peed my own damn pants.

“What?” he said.

Now my expression matched Knox’s while I widened my eyes and yelled at the instructor. “Penny? Tell me you have a shower somewhere.”

* * *

They only hadone shower stall, and there wasn’t room for much in here other than a shower and a small bench to keep your things. And I wasmortifiedas I took off my pee-soaked yoga pants. Knox had the decency to turn the other way and took off his shorts and underwear.

Without speaking to him and wishing I could just disappear down the shower drain, I turned on the water. Knox came over, wrapping his arms around me from behind. His skin was warm, chest firm against my back.

“Are you sure you want to touch me?” I only half joked.

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