Mr. Helpful

Hannah

“So what did you want to talk about?” I asked as I followed him into the woods. I usually wouldn't be following a strange man I just met off by myself, but I was curious.

“Let's sit. I don't want you avoiding eye contact with me,” he gestured to a secluded bench, tucked under a tree. I had to admit, I was ready to sit for a moment. My legs were starting to get sore.

“Okay... we're sitting.” I gestured for him to begin. I sat at one end, and he sat in the middle, putting his arm across the back of the bench and bringing a knee up on the seat to face me.

“First off, I'd like to apologize,” he said as he looked down at me.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“I should have tried harder to talk to you on Monday after you bolted out of the studio,” Jordan told me.

I turned to face him, and his fingers brushed my shoulder, startling me.

“What Mallory said was way out of line. I'm sorry if she offended you.”

My lips pursed as I raised an eyebrow at him.

“So, I’m not allowed to say I’m sorry all the time, but you’re allowed to apologize for someone else?”

“I... uh.” His fingers scratched the back of his neck, and his head tilted forward.

“Well... since when are you responsible for telling me sorry for her actions?” I asked, a little irritated. “I told you she didn’t like me.”

His head shook back and forth a little as he let out a heavy breath.

“She doesn’t hate you; she just has a hard time with people. She doesn’t like to be overly friendly with clients.” It just sounded like he was making excuses for his girlfriend.

“A little bit of friendliness would be nice,” I told him honestly. If it weren’t for him and Ty, I probably would have stopped going rather than be subjected to Mallory all the time.

“Okay. I’m not going to take no for an answer this time,” he said expectantly. “What did she do?”

“I…”

“No, no excuses, no avoiding things, just tell me. I can decide if it’s something I need to address with her.” I had to admit that his authoritative tone was kind of hot.

“You saw my scan, right?”

He nodded. I felt something brush my hair and looked back. His fingers were rubbing a lock of hair between them. I don’t think he even realized he was doing it; his eyes never left my face.

“I saw everyone’s scan,” he said evenly.

“So you know that my body fat percentage isn’t exactly low.”

“Hannah, you can’t let that number define you,” he pleaded passionately. “I know it’s kind of shocking to get results from a machine like that, but we’re using it to show progress over time.”

“I know,” I responded quietly. “I’ve had this conversation with Parker. I’m trying to keep pushing myself each class because I never want to see that number again.”

He nodded, still absentmindedly playing with the ends of my hair.

“You’re still not telling me everything, Hannah,” he scolded. “I promise if you tell me something, it won’t get back to her.”

“She was the person who gave me the scan,” I said, averting my eyes.

“So you’re worried about her knowing your stats?”

My head shook, and the skin between his eyebrows furrowed.

“Please, just tell me. You don’t need to draw it out.”

“I wasn’t trying to.” I poked him in the thigh. His very firm, athletic shorts-covered thigh. “But someone keeps interrupting me.”

“Sorry. I’ll keep my mouth shut,” he apologized. “Go on.”

“You sure you can resist?” I teased as he narrowed his eyes and then nodded at me.

“So she was there giving me the scan, and when the final results screen popped up, she made a face.”

“What kind of face?” he asked cautiously, but I could tell from his tense posture that he was not pleased with the information.

“A ‘yikes, that’s a really high number’ face.”

“She didn’t say anything, did she?” he asked quickly, ire in his tone.

“No... I turned around and didn’t say anything to her.” I shook my head. “Then, when I tried to leave the office, I plowed into you lurking in the doorway.”

“I wasn’t lurking,” he insisted, but the twinkle in his eye let me know he’d enjoyed our interaction.

“Sure, you weren’t,” I teased.

He leaned forward, and his knee brushed against mine. My eyes met his, and I felt my body react to the look in his eyes.

“It’s not my fault beautiful women like to run into me.”

My mouth dropped open, and the grin on his face grew.

“Yeah, okay... I’m sorry you have women falling all over you.” I rolled my eyes. “That must be so difficult for you.”

“Not women...” He shook his head. “Just one likes to fall all over me, or bump into me, or drop things for me to pick up.”

I wasn’t sure where this was going. Was he flirting with me?

“Uh…”

He straightened up, his fingers tugging the end of my hair lightly. I winced, and his eyes darted to where his hand was.

“Sorry. I didn’t even realize I’d been doing that.”

My face flushed as I gazed up at him. Even sitting down, he was so much taller than me.

“I didn’t mind,” I told him honestly.

His tongue wet his lips, and he nodded. His arm slowly moved back, and he dropped both hands into his lap.

“I also told Ty that he needs to be more professional with you,” Jordan confessed as he straightened his posture.

“You what?” I bit back with more force than I’d intended to.

“The flirting,” he explained. “It wasn’t appropriate. I don’t want him to make clients uncomfortable. He was a little worse than normal with you, but hopefully, he stops now.”

“So him calling me gorgeous and beautiful is inappropriate?”

“Yes,” he replied evenly.

My head moved back as I scoffed. “I don’t need you to defend my honor. If it bothered me, I’d say something.”

“I wasn’t trying to defend you. I was telling a staff member he could be making clients uncomfortable with his provocative language,” Jordan replied, irritated.

“Maybe I liked the way he talked to me.”

Now it was time for his mouth to catch flies. One of the hands in his lap clenched into a fist, and I knew I’d struck a nerve.

“Well then, maybe we didn’t even need to have this conversation. My efforts obviously aren’t appreciated.”

“Maybe it isn’t about you. If I wanted to address my issues with Mallory, I would have. If I had a problem with Ty’s behavior, I would tell him,” I argued, and I saw a flash of anger in those expressive eyes.

“I don’t need someone to protect and defend me. I’m a big girl.”

“You’re so empowered, yet you refer to yourself as a girl,” he scoffed.

“Okay... I’m a grown-ass woman... is that better?” I snarked back.

“I’m well aware you’re a woman,” he grumbled under his breath. This obviously wasn’t how he imagined this conversation going.

Was I supposed to fall all over him? Was that the goal?

I may not have been interested in Ty, but it wasn’t Jordan’s place to try to defend me.

“Was there anything else?”

“I guess I should tell you that the staff was instructed that there is to be no fraternization outside of the studio with the challenge participants until the final results are announced.”

His eyes drifted over my shoulder, avoiding my gaze.

“We want the studio staff to stay impartial. We don’t need anyone thinking that the coaches are playing favorites to give certain people an advantage.”

“Makes sense.” I was still mad. “Are we done here? We wouldn’t want anyone to get the impression you’re playing favorites.”

“Just one more thing,” he responded. “I left a slot in my Saturday schedule open for you.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought you might want to get some personalized recommendations on what you can do to get the most out of your workouts.”

“I’ll think about it,” I told him. And I would... but I probably wouldn’t go.

“Hannah, please? I’m trying to help you,” he pleaded.

“I think you’ve done enough of that for the week,” I told him. “I guess I’ll see you next week.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable for me to take the same classes as you, I can…” he trailed off.

I stood up from the bench and held my palm up toward him.

“Working out in the same class as you isn’t going to make me uncomfortable. I’m a big... grown-ass adult.” I caught myself before I repeated girl again.

He smirked, and I arched an eyebrow at him.

“Goodbye, Jordan. Don’t worry; I’ll let you know when you offend me too.”

“Hannah.” He stood and pulled his backpack on.

I winced as I stepped away from the bench. My muscles had tightened up.

“Are you alright?” His hand scorched where he placed it on my shoulder.

“I’m fine.”

“Take a warm bath and then a cool shower when you get home. It’ll help with the soreness,” he recommended.

“Gotcha, Mr. Helpful.”

I stepped away from him and started walking toward my car. I hated that I still found him attractive.

For a second there, I thought he’d been flirting with me. But that would break his rules, so it was probably just my imagination.

Maybe I should have taken Ty up on his offer to coach me. Things had gotten awkward today.

I’d just have to make sure that I started on the other side of the rotation than him during class. I didn’t want to get stuck next to him on the treadmills again.

“Drive safe, Hannah,” he called out from behind me when I opened my car door.

I saluted him and slammed my door. Avoiding eye contact as he watched me pull away.

~Damn frustratingly attractive coaches.~

***

My frustration levels had dropped by the time I got home. Now I was just tired. I dragged my sweaty mess into the bathroom and took a quick, warm shower.

My face was still pink when I got out, but I didn’t care. I’d turned into a tomato every time I worked out or exercised my entire life; nothing was going to change it.

After I threw on some leggings and a loose sweatshirt, I opened up Facebook to see if anyone had posted new recipes to the challenge group. I’d gotten some pretty good ones so far.

I also had a friend request from Tatum. I quickly clicked accept and looked through her timeline for a few minutes.

While I was scrolling, a friend request from Mollie popped up.

“What the hell?”

I had spoken like five words to her today, and she wanted to be Facebook friends?

My finger hovered over the button.

I sighed as I clicked on her picture, and it took me to her profile. Her profile picture was of her, Mallory, and Jordan. He was standing in the middle of the two of them with his arms around their shoulders.

They all had racing bibs pinned to their shirts and were wearing medals around their necks. It looked like they had run a half marathon earlier in the year together.

Seeing him standing between the two of them clicked something in my head.

They were his type. Tall, willowy, gorgeous... ridiculously fit. Mallory actually had a baby six-pack going on. That was never going to be me.

I exited back to the friend request screen and clicked delete. She may have been sweeter than her sister, but I wasn’t opening myself up to that.

Right now, I just needed to focus on me.

Hannah

Alright Mister DeMille. I’m ready for my close-up

It took a few moments, but his response made me laugh.

Parker

yaaasssss Queen! Go put on your red lipstick

Hannah

hurry up before I lose my nerve.

Parker

sports bra, running tights, and a smile

Hannah

I can promise the first two.

Parker

I’ll take it. Be there in fifteen.

I sat up in bed and took a few deep breaths. I was really doing this.

~Game on.~

~

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