Afternoon Delight

Hannah

“What are you doing here?” I walked through the front door of the gym and headed straight for the desk.

“Did you miss me, Hannah?” Javi grinned from his seat.

“Oh boy.” I sighed as I laughed a little at his cocky grin.

“Fishing for compliments and attention from taken ladies, Javi?” Tatum smirked from her seat beside him. Jordan had his hands full with those two manning the desk.

“Well, I wouldn’t argue if the beautiful Hannah had been thinking about me.” Javi smiled over at Tatum.

“You wish, bud.” Jordan laughed as he came down the hallway from the office.

“Feeling a little threatened old man? Isn’t your birthday soon?” Javi teased. “You’re that much closer to forty. Do you dye the grays or are they just hiding?”

“This is my natural hair color, thank you very much.” Jordan smirked. He did have a few lighter hairs around his temples, but I’d never tell.

“I don’t need to spend a hundred dollars to have a stylist create perfectly faded tips like someone I know.”

“Ouch.” Javi held his hands over his heart and then shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with a little self-care.”

“Or self-love. Right, Javi?” Tatum laughed as she checked the iPad for her class roster.

“You never did answer what you were doing here…” I pointed out.

“Can’t you tell?” Javi smirked.

Tatum rolled her eyes as she looked from the tablet to a proud-looking Javi. I laughed as I motioned for him to elaborate. “Obviously not.”

“I’m helping.” He smiled proudly.

“Sure.” Jordan laughed. “That’s what we’re calling it.”

“You called... I came. Would you prefer if I left?” he asked as he looked back at Jordan.

“Yes,” Tatum nodded, and Javi gave her a dirty look.

“No. I appreciate the help, Jav,” Jordan sighed dramatically.

I held up the bag with our lunch, and Jordan motioned me back toward the office.

“Hannah and I are going to eat lunch before she needs to get to her afternoon appointment. We’ll be in the office if you need me.”

“Make sure to lock the door this time,” Tatum teased.

“Try not to break the chair,” Javi outright laughed as he gave us both an exaggerated wink.

“Haha, guys, you’re so funny,” I said dryly as I rolled my eyes.

“Wrap it before you tap it, Jordan,” Tatum giggled.

“Shut up, Tatum,” I growled, and Jordan laughed louder, grabbing my hand and tugging me down the hallway.

“Sorry. The two of them together are like sarcasm overload,” he apologized.

“I didn’t realize you’d asked Javi to help out at the desk.”

“Yeah, just temporarily until the new trainer can start.” Javi was very friendly, so it suited him.

“Did you finally decide on a candidate?”

He nodded, and I saw the tension relax from his eyes. “She’ll be on the schedule in a few weeks. She’s shadowing Ty and me for a while after she starts.”

Jordan sat down in the computer chair and put out a folding chair for me to sit. We’ve been spending my lunch hour together most days, but today I have the afternoon off.

“Are you still coming for class tonight?” he asked as he opened the bag and handed over my lunch.

I nodded. “Yeah, I think Linc is coming too.”

“Please call me or text after your appointment?” Jordan asked seriously. My follow-up with Dr. Isaacs is this afternoon.

“They’ll just do the same tests they did last time. I probably won’t have any results until tomorrow.”

“Still,” he insisted, “I feel bad I can’t go.”

“You’d just be sitting in a waiting room the whole time.” I dug into my salad as he checked a few things on the computer and then pulled out his sandwich.

“Why don’t you ride in with Parker and Linc tonight,” he suggested between bites.

“I was planning on it. I already have an overnight bag packed at home.”

“Good. I don’t like spending the night apart.” I loved that he was so honest about wanting to see me.

“You were with your family yesterday; it was fine,” I assured him. He didn’t need to know that I hated being away from him just as much.

“I still have a hard time falling asleep.”

“I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, I didn’t sleep well either,” I told him with a sympathetic smile.

We ate quietly, and then I brought up the subject that had seemed to hang over us for the last few weeks.

“How is she?” I asked quietly.

“Yesterday was better. She wasn’t in a good place last week, but I think she realized the longer she fights it, the longer she’ll stay in there.”

“The paperwork come through for your dad?”

“Yeah…she wasn’t happy, but at least we know now that she’s not coming home until she’s ready.”

More details had come out about the night Mallory fell off the wagon, and it seemed she was threatening another bar patron.

Somehow Max had convinced a judge to give him medical power of attorney and custodianship of Mallory. She’d tried to check herself out of rehab about forty-eight hours after she’d sufficiently sobered up.

This had been an ongoing pattern, her bouncing back and forth, so they decided as a family that tough love was the best option. She was staying in rehab until she’d gotten to the root of her problems and dealt with them.

“How’s Mollie?” I asked as I picked at the remaining lettuce in my container.

“She still goes up there every day, but she’s gone back to work full-time,” Jordan said quietly. “She’ll go back to helping with Saturday training sessions next week.”

“No... how is she doing? This has to be hard on her,” I clarified. I was worried about the mental stress this was giving everyone in his family.

He scrubbed his hand over his face. “She looked tired. I wish I could shoulder some of this for her, but I’ve never been as close to Mal as she has.

“Even as little kids, Mal was the serious and closed-off one. Mollie was the friendly one who talked to everyone, and everything came easily to her.”

“Maybe she needs to take a break before she goes back to training,” I suggested. “We don’t need her burning herself out either.”

“I know. It’s just gonna be Saturday mornings so I can shift clientele to the afternoon with Tate or me.” He sighed heavily. “Once Tasha starts, I think it’ll help everyone.”

I reached up and ran my hand down the side of his scruffy cheek. “And how are you?”

“Just tired,” he replied honestly. He rarely hid things from me. He knew I could see through the tough-guy exterior he struggled to put up lately.

“You can delegate more if you need to,” I told him. He was still taking on a lot of the burden himself.

“I know. But I think it’s more just because the future is all too uncertain. Mallory isn’t going to take it well when she finds out I hired another full-time trainer.”

“She needs to focus on herself.”

“I know.” He nodded. “We’ve all been telling her that. But I don’t want her to feel like this is another thing we took from her. She did the work and got all her certifications to earn her spot here.”

“But we don’t even know how long it will be until she can handle working full-time again.”

He closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. “I don’t want her to feel like we all just picked up and moved on without her, but this current schedule is burning everyone out.”

“I’m worried about you too.”

He leaned forward and kissed me softly, cupping my jaw and running his hand through the hair at the base of my neck. “I know. I’m trying to find a balance. Thank you for handling the paperwork when you can.”

I smiled when I thought of my super minor contributions over the last several weeks. Jordan had shown me how to program the animations for the workout schedules, and I’d been filing all the membership paperwork.

It was totally menial work, but it kept someone else who actually had training from having to do it.

“You know I’d help more if you let me.” I raised an eyebrow at him. He was a notorious micromanager.

“I know. But you’ve got a job too.” He leaned back and took a couple of large bites of his sandwich.

“What time is your appointment?” he asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“At two.”

“I can try to cut out for a little bit,” he offered.

“No... it’s fine. As I said, you’d just be bored.” I shook my head. “Why don’t you try to go home for a few hours and take a nap.”

He winced, but I was serious.

“No... really. Take some time for yourself before you come back tonight.”

“I might. We’ll see how Javi does with check-in for the next class.”

“Is there anything I can help with while I’m here?” I offered.

“No, I think we’re good.” He shook his head, glancing up to make eye contact with me. “You can just keep me company before you need to take off.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

He wiped his hands on his napkin and stood up, flipping the lock on the door and turning off the light.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” I laughed as I took in the naughty smirk that had spread across his face.

“Resting. You told me I needed to.”

“I meant for you to go home, to where you have a bed.” I smiled.

“We can do that later,” he said softly.

“Do you want me to go?” I asked curiously. I had a feeling I knew where this was headed, but I wanted him to fill me in.

“I just locked you in here with me, do you think I want you to leave?” He sat back down in the office chair and held his hand out.

I placed my palm in his, and he pulled me forward, urging me to stand in front of him.

I placed my hands on his shoulders while his hands came down on my hips. He just looked up at me for a few moments, the dim light of the computer illuminating his tired but still handsome features.

“Come here.” His voice was low but commanding as he pulled me forward to sit astride his lap on the desk chair.

“I feel like we’ve been here before.” I smiled as I toyed with the hair at the back of his neck.

“You had much more accommodating pants last time.” He laughed as he tugged my blouse from the back of my dress pants.

“Are you trying to undress me in here?” I teased.

“No…” he whispered as he slipped his hands under the fabric and pulled me forward, so our chests were touching. “I just like the feel of your skin. You’re too covered up today.”

I placed my hands on the sides of his neck and leaned my forehead against his. “You feel me uncovered all the time.”

“Doesn’t seem like enough lately.” He sighed, and I nodded. Sometimes the only time we got together was spent sleeping, tightly wrapped up in each other.

“We can make up for lost time this weekend,” I assured him.

“Or you can just kiss me now,” he breathed out as he leaned in closer.

“Or that,” I giggled as I leaned forward and slowly slipped my lips around his, lightly sucking on his lower lip, and then parting them with my tongue.

His grip on my back tightened as he pulled me even closer and deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue into my mouth as he rocked up against me from the chair.

“Let me make you feel better,” I whispered as I kissed across his cheek and down to his neck, sucking lightly on the skin and earning a quiet growl.

“You don’t have to... Ohhhh…” he moaned as I rubbed my palm against his clothed, semi-hard erection. “Fuck, Hannah.”

He panted as I pushed my hips back a little and reached inside the waistband of his athletic shorts.

His breath was coming out in harsh pants against my face as I encircled his cock with my hand. A little whimper escaped his lips as I gripped him firmly and began to stroke.

“Ohhh,” he moaned quietly, obviously trying to keep the volume down so our sarcastic friends wouldn’t know what we were actually doing in here.

“Just relax.” I cupped his cheek and continued placing wet kisses along his neck and collarbone as my hand picked up the pace.

His fingers dug into the skin of my back as he grunted and moaned with every plunge and twist of my wrist.

“Shit… hold on.” His voice was rough as he pulled away slightly. I leaned back, and he held me to his chest as he grabbed a towel from the desk. “Hop up for a second.”

I stood as he pulled his shorts down to his thighs and then pulled me back to straddle his lap once more. My thighs were perched on his knees as I reached for him again and started to move.

His fingers flexed on my hips, and I looked down to watch the movements of my hand. I could feel him getting harder with each stroke and knew that he was close.

“Just let go,” I whispered as I leaned forward slightly and took his earlobe between my lips, biting down just a little.

“Oh God,” he moaned as he let go of my hip and covered where I was stroking with the towel.

I felt him start to pulse, and he held the towel tightly over his tip as his hips flexed beneath me.

Watching him come undone had to be one of the hottest things I’d ever seen. I could watch him cum all day.

“That was... fuck.” He panted as he wiped up the mess and reached over to shove the dirty towel into his bag.

I leaned forward to kiss him lightly, and his lips lazily parted mine.

“You’re welcome.” My voice was teasing as I sat back.

“I think I am going to need to go home for that nap.” He laughed as he tried to catch his breath.

“Good.”

My phone beeped with an alert, and I tapped my watch to stop it.

“You need to go.” He pouted.

“I do.”

“Call me when you’re done.”

I nodded and kissed him lightly. “I’ll text in case you’re asleep.”

“I love you, Hannah,” he leaned forward and kissed along the side of my jaw.

“I love you, too. I’ll see you later,” I assured him.

“Give me a minute, and I’ll walk you out.”

“No, it’s okay. They’ll just tease you if they see that face.” I stood up, tucked my shirt back into my pants, and straightened my blouse.

My fingers combed through the back of my hair quickly, and I wiped the sides of my mouth. “Wait five minutes and then you go home to rest.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he laughed as he pulled his shorts back up.

I kissed him on the cheek, then turned on the light and unlocked the door.

“Bye,” I whispered, opening the door and quietly closing it behind me.

As I walked past the desk, Javi and Tatum were sitting in the chairs with entirely too innocent looks on their faces.

The overhead speakers flicked on, and I heard a familiar instrumental play. My eyes widened, and I looked to the benches in the entryway, which were luckily empty.

When I looked back at the desk, the assholes broke into song as I made eye contact.

“Skyrockets in flight…”

“Afternoon delight…”

They sang and then burst into raucous laughter.

“Bye, jackasses!” My voice rose over the music, and I flipped them off as I backed into the door. I loved them, but our friends were jerks.