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Chapter Eight: Yoga

It didn't make any sense how hot it was. There was no earthly reason for it to be that hot, and yet it was. The air was sticky and thick, thick enough to swim in and making it hard to breathe. The sun was relentless, it's beams coming down and whipping at her skin like a vengeful mistress.

If it wasn't so bright, Raven would've glared at it and told it to fuck off.

Raven huffed, taking off her sun hat and fanning herself lazily as she walked closer to her apartment building, tempted to run but too hot and tired from the overdosage of vitamin D she was receiving to even attempt. Sweat from her brow trickled down towards her eyes before she wiped it away, the liquid flinging off from her fingertips before reaching for the door and entering inside.

She took a breath once in, enjoying the shade away from the evil sun. It wasn't quite as cool as she would've like it to be but at least the air wasn't stale and muggy as it was outside. Taking another breath, she continued her way to her apartment, catching the elevator and pressing the button for her floor. She slumped against the cool back wall of the elevator, pulling the bobby pins out of her pulled back hair and tossing them in her purse, uncaringly. She sighed in relief, her fingers running through the dark tresses and letting them relax her.

She really had to get a car. Or start taking the late shift if this heatwave was going to persist so she didn't have to walk during peak sun hours. At the very least, demand that the old stuffy non-air conditioned part of the library closes down till it was safe to go back working in there.

She huffed again as the doors for the elevator rang for her floor and opened. That would have to wait for another day. Right now, she was going to go inside her place, strip down to her skivvies and meditate.

"Maybe make some kind of iced tea…" she wondered out loud as she unlocked the door to her apartment.

"What kind of tea?" She heard a masculine voice say from her living room.

She blinked and turned around to see Jason- yes, Jason with sweat glistening in the sunlight off his naked and glorious body with his legs straight and up in the air while he stood on his head. She gaped, trying to blink the image of his anatomy between his legs being at eye level away but it wouldn't go away.

Not that she was entirely sure that she wanted it to.

"Jason, what the hell?" She finally said, trying to calm her speeding heart.

"Well, that's a way to say hello," he sighed out, extending his arms out into a handstand.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She clarified, dropping her things by the door and trying to keep eye contact with him and not the length hanging down on his stomach.

"The air conditioning on my side of the complex is broken, so I came here where it works," he answered simply, bending his legs back over his head.

Dear God!

Feeling an inappropriate comment rise in her throat, she folded her lips and closed her eyes, willing herself to not find the odd position attractive. "How the hell did you get in here?"

She could practically hear his grin. "You'll come to find that I am very resourceful, Little Bird."

She stared at him blankly, dropping her keys on the small table by the door. "Breaking and entering is resourceful?"

"Yes. A skill you'll thank me for having when the zombie apocalypse comes," he breathed out going back into his handstand position. She tried her best not to notice how his abs constricted with every breath. "Nice hair nest, by the way," he commented, his eyes flicking up to her tousled up hair.

She paused for a moment, the feeling of attraction ebbing away from her at his little comment. He came into her house, in her living room, sucking up all her air conditioning in his naked glory and he had the audacity to comment on her sweat sodden, messed up locks? Oh no… that would not stand! She glared at him and pressed her lips in fight, her eyes traveling the length of him for one sensitive flaw she knew he had. Sinding it, she licked her lips and smirked.

"Nice gray hair," she replied, her eyes locking on the gray hair on top of his head before dragging them down to the anatomy between his legs before meeting his eyes again.

Jason stopped doing his yoga, narrowing his eyes and blushing, and Raven felt a hint of victory in her chest.

"Low blow…" He spoke slowly.

She smirked, walking passed him to her room.. "You're naked. And vulnerable. After breaking into my apartment. You brought this on yourself."

"Still low," he muttered before restarting his yoga.

She hummed. "Why must you be naked while doing yoga, anyway?"

"Clothes are restrictive and thus defeating the whole purpose of yoga which is supposed to be freeing," he answered simply as if it was common knowledge.

Unzipping her dress and letting it fall to the floor, she sighed distantly wondering how in the world she became friends with this ridiculous, sly, nudist enthusiast, resourceful, yogi of a man. And more importantly, why hadn't she thrown him out of her life yet? Letting go of the thought with a shake of her head, she sighed. "There are colonies you can join, you know? They have neighborhoods you can live in and be naked all the time."

"And miss out on your lovely face? Never, Little Bird," he replied back, his smirk audible in his voice. "And now that we've had our mandatory 'why don't you wear clothes' conversation, how was the library?"

She groaned at the thought of it, whipping her bra off and tossing it harshly on her bed.

"Ooo… that bad?" He responded to the noises she made. "Should I get started on the sangria?"

"Later," she groaned, reaching for a white tank top and throwing it on. "Right now, I just want to cool down, relax. I was thinking about meditating…"

"What's stopping you?"

"You're naked in my living room, doing yoga," she said in a dull tone, pulling up her pair of shorts on her hips before walking out to her kitchen. "Even when you do have clothes on, you're distracting, and therefore, would make meditating today a pointless practice."

He chuckled as he rolled his up his spine and stood. "Are you saying that you like seeing me naked?"

"No," she blushed, opening her fridge and dipping inside for her pint of ice cream. "Stop digging for an admittance. It's not going to happen."

"You say that now, Little Bird," he spoke with an upward twitch of his lips.

"And I will continue on saying it, thank you very much," she replied, grabbing a spoon and opening her ice cream, getting a big dollop of mint chocolate ice cream.

He hummed in amusement, quirking his eyebrow at her when she scooped a large piece of ice cream into her mouth. "Is that your substitute for meditating? Shoving ice cream in your face?"

She furrowed her brows at him, leaning against the side of the counter and looking down at her ice cream. "What's wrong with eating ice cream?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, tilting his head. "I just thought that maybe if you weren't up for relaxing via meditating, the equivalent of that would be doing yoga with me."

She blinked her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "No, no. I am not doing yoga with you."

"Why not?" He smirked, taking a step towards her.

"Because," she trailed, noticing the glisten of sweat clinging to his skin. She felt her cheeks grow hot again, and she knew it wasn't from the heat.

"Just 'because'?" He teased with a chuckle. "How articulate."

"I'm not doing yoga with you," she repeated, trying to keep her eyes glued to his.

"That's still not telling me why not," he took another step towards her. "Come on, Little Bird."

"No."

"It'll be fun."

"I am not doing naked yoga with you."

"You don't have to be naked," he shrugged before a slow grin climbed on his lips and he stepped closer to her. His scent filled her nose, a winning combination of wood, cologne, and the sweet smell sweat, tingling her senses and dizzying her mind. "Unless you want to, of course."

She blushed, furiously. "No."

"Come on, Little Bird," his hands took the ice cream out of her hands, placing it on the counter and wrapping his fingers around her wrists gently. "Just a little yoga? I promise it will make you feel better than the ice cream will."

"But the ice cream was cooling me down," she resisted, weakly, the idea of trying yoga with him slowly appealing to her as he drew closer.

How bad could it be, after all?

"Do this little bit of yoga with me and I promise you will have all the booze and ice cream you want?" He swore.

She bit her lip as the walls inside her began to cave. "All the booze and ice cream?"

"All the booze and ice cream," he offered with a charming smile.

She pressed her lips in thought before she finally sighed in resignation. "Alright…For the booze and ice cream. But no funny business, alright?"

"But of course," he gave a one shouldered before smirking coyly at her. "Just two friends stretching in precarious positions while in various stages of undress."

"Speaking of which-"

"No, I am not putting clothes on."