Trinity chuckles. “I want to say hi before we hang up, but let’s get our yoga on.”
“How are we doing this?” Swan’s pretty face fills the screen again.
“Maybe set your camera back a bit so we can get an idea of what you’re doing?” Heidi suggests.
“If I was doing this from Furious I’d have better equipment set up. Sorry, girls.”
“It’s fine,” Trinity assures her. “I’m just happy to see your faces.”
“I’m excited to practice with other people,” I add. “I can follow along from your cues, Swan.”
We make some adjustments, find our places, and settle down. Swan starts us off with five minutes of easy pose and meditation. I have trouble settling my mind and have to focus hard to anchor my breath.
ROOSTER
“That shit’s harder than it looks.” I lift my chin toward the girls who are quickly moving from a straight plank, down to their stomachs, then back to plank and into downward dog. Trinity and Shelby seem to be at about the same level. Although Trinity’s longer legs seem to help her transition easier. Heidi struggles with a few advanced poses but never quits. “I don’t know how they make it look so graceful.”
“Damn right,” Wrath agrees. “Takes a lot of upper body strength.” He slaps Murphy’s back. “I gave him a hard time about adding yoga classes but it’s one of the best things we’ve done at Furious.”
Murphy whistles “Holy shit. Never thought I’d hear you admit it.”
“You have a good idea once in a while.” He pokes the side of Murphy’s head.
I shift my gaze to Wrath. “You must be such a joy to work for.”
He grins at my sarcasm.
“Dex hasn’t stopped bitching about how we stole his best dancer.” Murphy takes a quick look around as if he’s waiting for Dex to pop out from behind a tree at the mention of his name.
“Come on. Swan had to have been at Crystal Ball for years.” Shit, she’s been around as long as I’ve been in New York. “Strippers don’t usually last that long.”
“No shit,” Wrath agrees. “She’s a hard worker, so I get why he’s so bent. Everyone loves her. The other dancers were so upset about her leaving, they’re all coming to Furious to take classes now.” He rubs his money-making hands together. “Helped pull us out of our slump. All the college boys are coming in to gawk at the strippers now.”
While Wrath and I discuss gym business, Murphy keeps an eye on the girls. They’re on their backs in something Shelby’s called ‘dead pigeon’ when Murphy undoes his belt.
“The fuck you doing?” I ask, slapping his arm.
He scowls at me, doesn’t answer, walks over and drops the belt down next to Heidi. She smiles up at him and scoops it up, wrapping it in her hands and using it around her foot for leverage.
“You better hope your pants don’t fall down, bro,” Wrath’s voice booms halfway across the parking lot. “Ain’t nobody here wantin’ to see that pasty ass.”
Murphy flips Wrath off and shrugs at me. “She doesn’t have a strap with her. Trying to improvise.”
Wrath rolls his eyes my way. “They improvise a lot.” He adds air quotes around improvise in case I can’t grasp his meaning.
I slap Murphy’s chest. “Can’t you control yourself, ya fuck beast?”
Wrath’s not finished busting on Murphy this morning. “Do you have any idea how much Jack Daniels it takes to erase the vision of a Ginger Yeti violating the innocent little girl you’ve known since she was a toddler?”
“I’m not that innocent, Uncle Wrath!” Heidi shouts.
“We’re all aware, Heidi-girl.”
Murphy punches his arm and Wrath laughs harder.
“I feel like I’m missing out on all the fun being downstate,” I joke.
They stop fucking around and stare at me.
“What? I’m not thinking of leaving Z or anything. Just saying.” I paint a circle in the air with my fingers. “You guys are all tight. Even the girls.”
“Where are you planning to land when she’s off tour?” Murphy asks.
“Don’t know yet. She’s open to spending time in New York.” I shrug, uncomfortable since I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about this too much.
Murphy slaps my chest. “You want me to drive your rig today so you can ride with Shelby? We got a good five hours ahead of us.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.” He waves his hand somewhere in the direction of north. “We got a long ride ahead of us when we head home. It’ll give Heidi and me some time to talk.”
“Yeah, brother. Thanks. I appreciate that.”
SHELBY
As we’re finishing in corpse pose, what sounds like hundreds of bikes thunder into the parking lot. Heidi jumps up to grab her tablet. She points toward their tent. “I’m going to talk to Alexa for a minute.”
Trinity watches her for a few seconds before turning her attention on me. “How do you feel?”