Page 10 of The Games We Play

“Anything to do with the Hawaiian princess of a neighbor?” he asks nonchalantly, because I know he knows, but he wouldn’t dare call me out on it, directly,

I remain quiet for a moment as I step out of the truck and pull out my phone to schedule an Uber.

“She’s Japanese. And yes,” which is all I can seem to say.

Without looking my way, he tips up his chin in a languid, slow nod.

“So, who is she?”

Normally, he wouldn’t inquire so much, knowing I don’t talk about that kind of shit. But he knows something is off.

I glance up at him and back down at my phone, then open my mouth to reply. But I have no idea how to respond to that.

Someone who stood up for me as an awkward teenager.

The girl whose virginity I took.

Someone I’ve pined over for the last decade.

The girl who made me believe in love.

The one that got away.

I know he would understand my actions. Of all people, he would—especially after his behavior the moment he met Ember—but I still can’t seem to bring those words forward.

“Someone from my past,” I simply say, which does her no justice, but I’m not ready to share everything she did for me—to me. How she changed me.

Hudson just gives me another slow, hefty nod, knowing me well enough to know I’m not ready to talk about it, then pats me on the back, hard. I hide my wince.

Dick.

“I will get you back for locking me in a truck,” I tell him without even looking at him.

“I know. I’m looking forward to it.”

4

NAOMI

“Inhale, circle your arms up.”

“Exhale, forward fold.”

“Inhale, place your hands to your mat, lengthen—halfway up.

“Exhale, forward fold.”

“Inhale. Right leg steps back, left leg steps back. Exhale, chaturanga.”

“Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog.”

I repeat my class’s sun salutations five times before going into chest and hip openers today. I teach this class at one of the local tech companies three times a week, and try to incorporate this specific flow at least one time out of those three sessions.

Most of the students who take my class aren’t active yogis by any means. This is just a reason for them to get away from their desk for an hour, but it’s a good reason. They need it more than most. Especially for people who work on a computer all day long and hardly get up from their desk.

Slouching in today’s society is the biggest problem when it comes to posture and body health. Their shouldersare slumped forward, necks are dipped down, and legs are in the same position for a majority of the day. Opening up the chest and hips is what they need most. Oh, and those painful neck and forearm stretches that everyone always whines over.

It’s a pleasurable pain, at least in my opinion. Either way, they need it more than anyone.

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