Heating Up the Place

Hannah

Hannah

Are you still going tonight?

Tatum

…

Hannah

oh, come on, Tatum. I need moral support

Tatum

you’ll be fine. I’m sure there will be other people there.

Hannah

oh my god…what if there are no other people there?

Tatum

then you and J get a little alone time

Hannah

no, no alone time

Tatum

you literally have three days till weigh-in.

Hannah

so I should be able to make it a few more days.

Tatum

why are you both resisting this so hard? You like each other, enjoy it. No one is going to say anything.

Hannah

except Ty or Mal if their teams lose again

Tatum

if they don’t like it, fuck em

Tatum

they’re losing anyways. That steak dinner is mine.

I burst out laughing and looked around the office sheepishly. A few people glared at me over their cubicle walls, but most weren’t paying attention.

Hannah

ew. I don’t think I could.

Tatum

…

Tatum

but Park & I are the dirty ones.

Hannah

you are…

Tatum

it’s true.

It was two in the afternoon on Tuesday. I hadn’t seen Jordan since we stopped for sandwiches at the deli across the street from the rock-climbing gym on Saturday.

Javi had joined us, and besides a few innocently flirty quips, he had been fun to have around. Jordan relaxed, and I think I saw him smile more in that hour than I had the whole time I had known him.

Tatum

seriously, if the people from our team don’t show, then just go with it. Never hurts to spend alone time together outside of the studio.

Tatum

you’ve lasted this long acting like middle schoolers, next week you can go at it like bunnies.

A thrill shot up my spine as I read her text.

What was going to happen when we didn’t have his ridiculous rule in the way?

Neither of us had come out and expressed a blatant interest in something more than friendship. We had spent weeks dancing around each other with loaded looks and innocent touches that felt like something more.

Was this flirtation bound to just fizzle out? Or would it turn into something so intense I would never recover?

Okay... that might have been a little dramatic, but the more time I spent with him, the stronger my feelings grew.

Tatum

you imagining it?

Hannah

no

Lies, lies, lies.

After watching him scale that wall using only his own body strength, I had imagined being encased in those strong arms. Pressed against that hard chest I had only seen glimpses of…

Being on the receiving end of powerful thrusts driven by those insanely sculpted legs…

“Stop it, Hannah,” I murmured as I fanned my pink cheeks. Thinking dirty thoughts about the man was just going to crumble my resolve even further.

Tatum

try not to heat the place up too much.

Hannah

it’s a cooking class, Tatum. We’re bound to turn up the heat a little.

Tatum

then try not to get burned

That was going to be the problem. I had been burning for Jordan since the beginning.

***

As soon as I signed out of the computer for the day, I turned my phone into a wireless hotspot and logged into Instagram. My followers had grown from around eighty a few months ago to over a thousand.

Parker said it was because of the hot nudes, but I’d only posted a few pictures of myself that I wouldn’t want my parents to see.

I opened my DMs and saw that I had a few messages.

Parker

you ready for the after shots?

Parker

think you can pry yourself off of tall, dark, and studly sometime early next week?

Hannah

ha ha. I’m sure I can manage

Parker

sexy boudoir shoot?

I felt my face heat up as I thought of Parker taking racy pictures of me to post.

Parker

I’ll rope Tatum into helping if you don’t agree

He probably would anyway.

After my non-response, my suspicions were confirmed as my text alert chimed.

Tatum

what’s your cup size?

I pulled open our last group text, typed in a response, and waited for their response to the meme about pancakes I’d attached to my message.

Parker

ok, I know you gave up carbs… but that’s just weird

Tatum

so D cup?

Parker

dafuq. How do you know that? Is this some weird information that women know?

Parker

you two are freaks

Tatum

you coming with me, Hannah? Or do I have free rein?

Parker

I never thought I’d say this… but I wanna go lingerie shopping!

Hannah

I don’t think I trust you two finding something that doesn’t show an unhealthy amount of nipple

Tatum

no such thing

Hannah

you’re gonna get my IG account shut down

Parker

that’s what post-editing is for. A little blur, and you’ll be fine.

Tatum

Friday after work?

Parker and I were supposed to attend the seven o’clock class at the studio. That wasn’t enough time to make it work.

Hannah

after weigh-ins on Saturday?

Tatum

mine is at noon

Parker

12:30

Hannah

I can ride in with Parker, and we can go together.

Parker

yaassss!

Tatum

so excited!

Hannah

who’s the freaks now?

By the time we finished up, it was time for me to leave for the cooking class. I had contemplated changing into something more exciting than my work clothes, but this was who I was.

My mind was racing on the drive over, simultaneously hoping that it was only Jordan and that it wasn't.

There had been several people posting on the Facebook page that they hated missing it, but it was midweek and a lot of people had kids.

The parking lot down the street from the gourmet food shop where the class was being held wasn't empty, but it wasn't full either.

I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking as I quickly checked the page to see if it looked like anyone was going.

“You gonna stand me up?”

My head shot up as I passed a storefront, and my eyes widened at Jordan leaning against a wall.

Holy shit, did he clean up well. I’d never seen him out of athletic gear. He definitely filled out a button-up shirt nicely.

“Hey. Sorry,” I apologized quickly. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”

“You really shouldn’t be on your phone if you’re walking alone at night,” he frowned.

“I know. It's a nervous habit.”

“What’s making you so nervous, Hannah?” he asked as he pushed off the wall and took a few steps toward me. I had to look up to make eye contact with him.

“Isn’t a girl allowed to have some secrets?” My voice was breathy as he reached forward and fingered one of the curls at the side of my face.

“I guess I’ll let it slide,” he teased. “As long as you let me walk you back to your car later.”

“That could be arranged.”

“You look lovely,” he murmured as he dropped my hair and placed his hand on the small of my back. His touch ignited the same excitement it always did in my body, and my breath caught.

“Thank you. You look nice too,” I responded quietly.

Nice didn't really cover it. But I didn't think he'd respond well to me expressing an interest in wanting to lick him.

“Shall we?” He nodded toward the door to the shop.

“Aren't we going to wait for anyone else?”

He turned his wrist to read his watch.

“It's already time for the class to start. It might just be us, Hannah.”

“Oh…”

“Is that a problem?” he asked as he opened the door and gave me a gentle nudge with his palm.

“No, but if there’s something else you’d rather be doing…” I trailed off nervously. This was exactly what I was afraid of. I couldn’t hide my reactions to him if no one else was here as a distraction.

“Hannah, relax,” he whispered in my ear as the door closed behind us.

“I am…”

“Hannah…” he warned with a laugh as I bit my bottom lip. His eyes were soft as I looked over my shoulder at him.

“If being around me makes you nervous, I can always text Mallory and Mollie to join us.”

“No!” I practically shouted.

His rich laughter filled the air around us, and I could feel my cheeks heating up.

“Then it appears to be just the two of us.”

Before I could respond, an older woman wearing an apron came through a doorway in the back of the shop.

“Jordan?” she asked as she dusted her hands off on a towel.

“Hello, Mrs. Matthews. How are you?” He stepped around me and kissed the lady on the cheek, and she gazed up at him adoringly.

“I’m just great. Any change of plans this evening?” She raised an eyebrow as she looked around him to where I was standing awkwardly.

“I know my original numbers were for eight, but we had a few last-minute cancellations,” he apologized.

“Oh, we’ll make it work, dear. I do private classes for couples all the time.” She winked at me, and I felt the flush return to my face.

“Oh…we’re not…” I sputtered.

Jordan reached back and grabbed my hand, squeezing lightly.

“That sounds great, Nina.”

“Well, let’s get started then.” She smiled. “Follow me to the back, and we’ll get some aprons.”

I tugged on Jordan’s hand as she went into the back room.

“Why did you let her think we’re a couple?”

“Just go with it,” he pleaded quietly. His eyes searched mine as he ran his thumb over the back of my hand. “Relax, Hannah.”

“But…”

His fingers reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear, his fingertips lingering along the back of my jaw.

“No buts—” he whispered but cut off as he was interrupted.

“You two coming?” Nina peeked her head through the door and smiled as Jordan dropped his hand.

“We’ll be right there,” he told her. As she disappeared out of view, he tugged me toward him.

“What’s going on? I thought you said that…” I rushed out, confused by his behavior.

“I know I’ve said a lot of things over the past two months, most of them involving me saying the wrong thing.”

“Well, not all the time.” I smiled shyly.

“Please, just give me tonight,” he pleaded.

“And then what?”

“We’ll figure it out as we go. Please?”

I had a hard time concentrating with the way he was looking at me. All the walls were finally down.

“Okay.” I nodded quietly, and he returned it with a smile.