Make Him Sweat

Hannah

^THE PREVIOUS SUNDAY^

“I’m not sure I can do this,” I whimpered as I looked at the pictures on the screen of Parker’s laptop.

“Sure, wait until I’ve got all the images edited to chicken out,” he scoffed.

“Isn’t this a little much?” I asked, my anxiety rising. “Posting half-naked pictures of myself on the internet?”

“Isn’t that what most of Instagram is? People posting half-naked pictures of themselves?”

He had me there. The only difference was a lot of the half-naked people already on there were fitness trainers and models. I was neither.

“You afraid studly is going to see you in a bra?” he teased.

It had crossed my mind. These would be out in the public domain. Jordan could see them, and I’d never know.

“I don’t even know if he has Instagram.”

Parker’s face lit up, and he clapped his hands.

“Oh, he does. He put a few numbers in Coach Jordan... but I found him.”

“So you internet stalked the trainer?” I shook my head. Of course, he did.

“Fuck yes, I did!” he exclaimed. “Check this out.”

He turned his phone in my direction, and my eyes widened. There were so many pictures of him, and half of them were shirtless.

“Holy...” I breathed as I looked at all the firm abs on display.

“You might wanna”—Parker gestured toward my face—“just wipe up the drool a little.”

“Oh, screw you, like you haven’t drooled over these... you’re the one taking screenshots.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that I screenshot some pictures of him in his underwear.

He smirked.

“There are pictures of him in his underwear?!”

Parker started laughing at my exclamation. “A little thirsty, aren’t we?”

I narrowed my eyes and pulled out my phone. Typing in the number-filled name, I found Jordan. He had ten thousand followers, so hopefully, I could get in under the radar by following him. At least his page wasn’t private.

“I don’t see any underwear photos.”

Parker burst into laughter and turned his phone toward me.

There it was... in black and white.

“How on earth did you find that?” I breathed, my eyes transfixed on the masculine form on the screen in my hand.

“Looks like your boy did some modeling a few years back.”

Oh my God, it’s even better than I imagined.

“It’s too bad he’s a jerk,” I sighed.

He laughed as he handed me his phone, and I noticed he had a folder named “hot jocks.”

“Ew. Did you just hand me your phone to look through your wanking folder?” I scrunched up my nose as I looked over at him.

“What exactly happened yesterday?” he asked. He knew that I was mad at Jordan, but I hadn’t told him why.

“He told me that he informed Ty that he was to stop ‘sexually harassing’ me.”

Parker’s eyes widened, and his mouth comically dropped open.

“Say what now?”

“And the staff has been instructed not to ‘fraternize’ with the clients,” I continued. I understood the rule, but I was getting majorly mixed signals.

“Damn…” He laughed. “He’s got some balls.”

“Yeah, some fucking tiny ones,” I growled.

“I thought you liked him,” Parker asked, clearly confused by my change in attitude.

“I did.” My head shook, and I let out a deep sigh. “Until yesterday. I was so pissed.”

“I can imagine.” He nodded and asked, “And does he still have balls attached to his body?”

I pinched his chest, and he yelped.

“Damn, woman, lay off the nipples.”

“You make me sound like some kind of ball crusher.” I frowned.

“Well…” He winked as he poked at my side.

“Do you still want yours to be intact?” I asked him, and he threw up his hands.

“So hostile. I didn’t even do anything…” he said, and my eyebrow arched. “Today. I didn’t do anything today.”

“I don’t even want to go to class tomorrow,” I whined, and Parker shook his head.

“Han, you can’t let him get to you.”

“I know, it’s just. Why would he feel like he needed to do that?” I asked, disappointed.

“Uh, really?”

“What?” I asked with a furrowed brow as Parker shook his head.

“The guy likes you.”

“He has a weird way of showing it.” I sighed.

“He’s trying to mark his territory,” he replied, and I sighed. “If he gets Ty to back off, then he doesn’t have any competition.”

“Except the rule applies to him as well.”

“He obviously didn’t think that part through,” Parker agreed. “Or he doesn’t intend to follow it.”

“I will NOT be his dirty little secret,” I insisted. If he really did intend to try something, I was not going to hide it to fit his stupid policy change.

“Then maybe he’s playing the long game,” Parker shrugged.

“Whatever. It’s not like it matters. I should be focused on the challenge, not some unobtainable guy.”

He laughed as he nudged my shoulder. “I don’t think he’s that unobtainable.”

“Well, for the next seven weeks, he is,” I corrected.

“If he can last that long,” Parker smiled.

“He’s gonna have to work for it.”

“That’s my girl,” he cheered. “Give him hell.”

***

I received a message through Facebook Messenger.

Tatum

How are you after our spectacular mile time?

Hannah

You obviously weren’t paying attention to the numbers on the stopwatch.

Tatum

Eh…Fuck the stopwatch. We killed it.

Hannah

You mean it killed me

Tatum

We weren’t last. That has to count for something.

Hannah

Do they give out trophies for mediocrity?

Tatum

Have you been to little kid sporting events lately?

Tatum

It’s like Oprah in the favorite things episode. ‘You get a trophy, and you get a trophy…’

Hannah

Obviously, I’m alive.

Hannah

How are you?

Tatum

I’m great. Definitely feeling the burn today.

Hannah

So you’re a masochist?

Tatum

Maybe a little bit.

Tatum

Did you get home alright? Driving after you’re wiped is a challenge.

Hannah

I didn’t leave right away.

Tatum

Ooo…I feel like there’s a story. Spill.

Hannah

Eh…I’m divorcing myself from the drama.

Tatum

I still need to fill you in on Mal. Want to meet for drinks this week?

Hannah

I thought we weren’t supposed to drink, clean eating, and all.

Tatum

Eh…just stick to the hard stuff, and you should be fine.

Hannah

I could do Tuesday or Thursday.

Tatum

They don’t call it Thirsty Thursday for no reason.

Hannah

Just give me a time and where. I’ll be there.

Tatum

I’ll let you know once I’ve settled my schedule for the week.

Hannah

Sounds good. Looking forward to it.

Tatum

Same! Ttyl.

Hannah

Bye.