KICK IT | JENLISA

33

Jennie

"Draw your knees to one side." I shifted and palmed my mat. "Push up to seated."

With a side-to-side shift, I rocked on my butt. "Settle on your sitting bones. Draw a deep breath in..." I pinched my middle finger and thumb and lifted my hand, pulling an invisible posture string. "Sit nice and tall through the spine."

My favourite part of beginning breathing was synchronisation. One by one, minds quieten into focus. Bodies settled still. Lavender filled my nose with each loud inhale, flaring my nostrils. Harmonised breaths filled the space with rhythmic inhales and exhales. Its simplicity was beautiful... except Lisa squirmed like a kid that needed a bathroom break two blocks into a car trip. I locked eyes with her. "Deep breath."

A relaxed sensation drew down my shoulders as I took an exaggerated breath. Lisa's broad chest expanded. Her abs crunched into definition as she exhaled, but a flash showed behind her. Lisa's fucking phone screen illuminated shadows over her jack-o-lantern jawline, chin, and cheekbones. I pointed my eyes at the exit door.

"Good."

Lisa shut it off, but she deserved to feel the guilt in her eyes. What were her distracted thoughts? The mental image of a hamster falling off its wheel made me smile. Maybe I should let her drop to her face again...

Through warm-ups, she was twitchy. Her hips shifted, and fingers tapped her knees, so I clutched mine. The fuck was she thinking about? She needed a reminder of grounding humility. Since my pettiness wasn't about to melt away overnight, I swapped in two particularly ball-busting poses: seated twist and eagle.

"Bend your knees, cross right ankle over left." I demonstrated, smiling at Lisa's immediate frown. "Option cross your thighs, squeeze tight. Wrap elbows, right under left."

I shouldn't have enjoyed her discomfort... but I did. Eagle pose offered a nice shoulder opener for Lisa, with a side of smashing meatballs into the breadstick. Talk about major discomfort for her... she totally deserve it.

When I wasn't squeezing Lisa's pride, at the expense of my class, today was her assessment. Her core and upper body strength were professional athlete level. With the right adjustments, her tree stump legs were a solid foundation. Flexibility wasn't Lisa's friend and her stabilisers were weak. While she was in good shape – fine, and great. She needed a more balanced approach to smooth the hard pounding her body endured. That was physical though. Lisa's mental challenges, leaving her ego at the door and muting her mind, brought on a headache.

Pose-wise, she liked the warrior ones. Spiritually based on an ancient warrior story of Virabhadra, son of the Hindu god Shiva, their modern-day symbolisation was overcoming ego and ignorance. Despite the irony that tickled me from the crown of my head to in between my toes, I gave Lisa the credit she deserved. Her warrior poses were strong.

With a stone-serious expression, she breathed through Warrior II. She stiffened, holding her breath, on my approach, but all she needed was a small adjustment, so I nudged her back heel with my toe. Her long, sculpted thigh muscles popped out with the veins on her biceps and forearms. Ok, definitely she's not a person who skipped leg day.

The redness creeping up her neck prompted my cue. "Breathe."

She exhaled, a glimmer shining in her eyes. Before I turned, her smile curved up into a smirk.

"You did better." I offered as Lisa cleaned up her space. "Good work, Yuh-jung."

"Thank you, Jennie." She tucked her mat into a shoulder bag. "Lisa, it's nice to see you again."

Lisa nodded at her, her eyes tracking my movements. I leaned over and picked up Yuh-jung's strap. When my eyes met Lisa's, she threw me a charming smile. "Thanks for the half-compliment. Yuh-jung got..."

"It's not a competition." I murmured. Coiling the long, purple belt-like cords in my palms, the woven texture brushed over the pads of my fingers. "If you have a praise kink, then..."

"You did fantastic, Lisa." Diana chirped, squeezing Lisa's bicep like a blood pressure cuff. Of course, she hadn't left. After slipping her mat to the other side of Lisa's, the girl focused more on Lisa than on herself. By the lusty looks oozing out of her eyes, her mouth and vagina drooled over Lisa. As with any class distraction, the obvious display of attraction irritated me.

This could turn awkward as fuck quickly. Oh, wait, it was already there. Adjusting people's positions meant touching, but I never initiated contact outside of class. Lisa's body was her space, and if she liked Diana's produce-selection gropes, then that was Lisa's business.

"You never called me." Diana huffed.

"Nope."

"So?" Diana purred. "Maybe I should call you."

Someone... should call her desperate. She was one eye fuck away from asking to hold Lisa's dick. I caught my eyes before they rolled, focusing on a teetering stack of blocks in the supply cabinet. It was like animals put this shit back. Six recoiled straps and the blocks tucked away, I locked the cabinet and ran smack into a massive chest.

"Ugh." I grunted, stumbling back and bumping the cabinet. Steadying my feet, a dark look hung in Lisa's eyes. "I wasn't eavesdropping..." I tucked one corner of my mouth into my cheek. "But if you intend to hit on people, do it outside so I don't puke in my studio."

Two hands slammed around me, rattling my back into the hard surface. Two tensed arms squeezed around my shoulders, and broad, sweaty chest muscles filled my vision. A natural, musky perspiration scent infiltrated my nose.

"Hit me." Lisa murmured, prompting my eyebrows to rise.

"Huh?" My tongue dried at her proximity. Lisa Manoban was too close, her testosterone killing my brain cells. I couldn't think straight. And breathing? The struggle was real. "Contrary to my..."

"You watched me the entire class."

She blinked as if waiting for... oh. She wanted feedback. I ducked under her stinky armpit for some much-needed airspace. "My job involves keeping an eye on people, in particular newbies. Safety first."

"I know when I'm being evaluated. So, what's your assessment?"

By the stubborn look in her eyes, she wouldn't let this go. "Fine. Obviously, this..." I waved at her stacked wall of muscles. "... gets you strength and power results. But it's not enough. You need to work on subtle refinements, small tweaks, and adjustments. Flexibility is a solid C-minus, and your stabilisers are weak. You wobble like your mat's in an earthquake."

I patted her damp chest before it swelled with resistance. Such a sensitive ego, and so easily pricked. The contact warmed my palm, and the steady beats quickened mine. "Relax, I'll help you with that. After..."

"After what?"

I smashed the tip of my index finger into her forehead. Her skull was like poking a boulder. "After we tackle this."

Lisa's lips parted, the tip of her tongue parting the seam. "What?"

"Jennie?"

Tyler's tall, muscular figure stood in the doorway. His hair hung over his forehead, and his eyes hid behind his glasses. Retraining Tyler's mind wouldn't happen in a finger snap, and he would need to continue practicing, but none of that was Lisa's business.

"See you on Wednesday, Lisa."