Night Out

Hannah

Mal was unusually barky during class on Wednesday, calling out people to push themselves harder and not take the easy way out. She didn’t say anything to me personally, but I still felt a little targeted.

There was just something about the way she looked at me when Jordan kissed my cheek goodbye at the car.

On Thursday, Jordan showed me how to make low-carb cauliflower pizza crusts. It was messy, but he made it fun. When he started yawning around nine, I went home and let him get his rest.

On Friday, Mal was in a better mood, but she snubbed me when I said hi to her in the hallway before class. I tried not to take her crankiness personally.

On Saturday, it was the team dinner, and I found myself nervously pacing my living room as the early evening rolled around.

“You’ve been suspiciously absent during the evenings this week,” Parker accused as he looked at me expectantly.

“You were in class with me three days,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but you didn’t even try to get me to cook you dinner on Tuesday or Thursday,” he shot back, looking a little insulted at my lack of attention.

“You’d think that would make you happy. If you didn’t have to make extra for me.”

“But I was hoping for some juicy gossip,” he whined.

“There is no juicy gossip.” I frowned. I had a few reasonably tame dates with Jordan; while things had gotten a little more physical, it wasn’t the sex fest that Parker was imagining.

“You weren’t home when I knocked on your door to congratulate you... at nine p.m... on Tuesday.”

“I was busy,” I shrugged, an involuntary smile pulling at my lips along with my cheeks heating up a little.

“Busy getting busy,” he accused.

I bit my lip and avoided eye contact. We hadn’t done much more than some kissing, heavy petting, and grinding on Thursday, but Tuesday was hot.

“You dirty girl,” Parker taunted with a wry grin. “You seduced the trainer, didn’t you?”

“I mean, he gave me a tour of his house…”

“I bet he gave you a tour of his bed.” Parker laughed as he gave a little hip thrust.

“He might have.” I shrugged and my cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“Get it, girl!” he cheered. “How big was he?”

“Parker! Seriously?”

“That small? That’s disappointing.” He pouted with an exaggerated sad face.

“He wasn’t small.”

“I’m gonna need pictures.” He laughed and then gave me an expectant look.

“No, you perv.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “Just draw me a full-scale diagram, and that’ll be acceptable.”

“No, Parker. It’s none of your business how big his appendage is.”

“I can show you a picture of Lincoln’s.” My eyes widened when he tried to turn his phone in my direction.

“I don’t want to see your boyfriend’s dick!” I exclaimed while I held my hand out in front of my eyes. “Put that away.”

“He wouldn’t have sent it to me if I wasn’t allowed to share it,” he shrugged.

“You guys are freaks.”

He shrugged again and put his phone down on the coffee table.

“Why are you so nervous about tonight?” he asked after we both calmed down. It only caused my anxiety to flare back up.

“I don’t know how to act around him. Are we a couple? Do I avoid him since this is a work thing for him?” My voice rose an octave by the time I finished talking. I was freaking out a little.

“Did you ask him how he expected tonight to go?” Parker asked like it was really that easy.

“Yeah, 'cause desperately asking ‘are we dating or is this just a fling?’ is gonna go over well.”

“Just go and play it by ear,” he said in a soothing voice. Obviously, Parker was trying to talk down the crazy lady. “Hang out with Tatum and let him come to you.”

“But what if he doesn’t want to make me uncomfortable?” I’d reverted to a teenage girl worrying about her crush.

“I think you are overanalyzing this way too much. If he likes you, he’ll pay attention to you tonight.”

I knew Parker was right, but I hated the getting to know you stage. You never knew where you stood with the other person.

“It’ll be fine. Just go and have fun,” Parker insisted, still amused by my anxiety about this.

That was easier said than done.

***

“Hey, girl. You ready to get your drink on?” Tatum met me beside my car. We’d arranged to arrive at the same time, so we didn’t have to walk in alone.

More so I didn’t have to walk in alone.

“I thought they were only paying for the food tonight.” I frowned.

“That doesn’t mean it’s a dry party. I’m gonna have some wine,” she laughed. “Momma needs a drink.”

“I’m too nervous to drink,” I confessed, and she gave me a speculative look.

“Suit yourself.”

We walked into the restaurant where the dinner was being held. The hostess led us back to the private room, and I felt myself getting more nervous as we walked through the restaurant.

It was busy, with almost every table full.

“Hi, ladies!” Mollie was standing right inside as we opened the door to the private room.

There were two long banquet tables set up that took up most of the room. About a dozen people were milling about, talking amongst themselves and the gym staff.

It looked like not only the challenge coaches were invited, but all the desk staff and extra trainers as well.

“Let’s go grab some seats,” I followed Tatum to the end of the far table, awkwardly following as she chatted with Mollie.

“Congratulations, Hannah!” Mollie chirped as she leaned around Tatum. “We were all so excited that you got second.”

“Thanks, Mollie. It’s still a little surreal how much I’ve changed over the last two months.”

“It’s always harder to see the changes in yourself, but trust me, I’m not the only one who’s noticed all your hard work,” Mollie told me cryptically.

She glanced at the other corner of the room, and I saw Jordan’s back as he talked to a middle-aged couple. He hadn’t noticed I was there yet... but I knew he’d be busy.

He was wearing another fitted, button-up shirt, rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of snug dark wash jeans. It was becoming my favorite look of his, especially the artfully messy hair.

“I’m gonna head to the bar, can I get you anything?” Tatum asked as she rested her hand on the outside of my arm.

“Just water, please.”

She walked away, and I was left standing awkwardly beside Mollie.

“My mom has been bugging him to invite you to a family dinner,” she told me quickly as she looked back over to Jordan.

“Oh…” I said dumbfounded; he hadn’t mentioned anything about the future with me.

“He hasn’t said anything, has he?”

“Well, it’s still pretty early,” I said awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable about her telling me this before Jordan had the opportunity. “So…”

“He really likes you, but she can be a little excitable.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure if he wanted me there, he’d ask,” I insisted. “As I said, it’s still early. He might not be ready for that.”

“It’d be nice to have you come. Think about it if he does ask.”

Mal walked into the room, her gaze scanning it until she stopped on Mollie. Her eyes narrowed when she saw me with her sister.

“I’m not sure your sister would agree.”

“My sister needs to lighten up,” Mollie said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

I laughed, but my eyes widened as Mallory headed in our direction.

“Hannah.” She nodded as she stood next to Mollie.

“Mallory.”

“Would you mind if I stole my sister for a minute?” She grasped Mollie’s arm and tugged her away from me.

Tatum still wasn’t back from the bar, so I found a string of open seats and sat down at the table. I hated making small talk with people I didn’t know. I checked my email as I waited, trying not to be painfully awkward.

“Congrats, Hannah Banana.” Ty placed his hands on my shoulders, and I jumped a little, my phone dropping in my lap. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. How’s it going?”

He sat down in the chair next to mine and turned to face me.

“It’s going. Congrats on your winners.”

“Thanks, girly.” He smiled. “I was pretty pumped when Connie won. We worked really hard on building up her endurance during the challenge.”

“Well, obviously it worked.”

“They both worked pretty hard to grab that number one spot.” He nodded over toward Jordan again. He was still talking to the same couple.

“I’m sure they both deserved it,” I said honestly. I truly was happy they had won.

Second place was enough for me. I was just pleased that I completed the challenge and worked as hard as I knew I was capable of.

“Well, I’ll catch you later. Mal is signaling that she needs me.” I looked over to where the twins were standing close to Jordan at the head of the other table.

He followed Mal’s frantic waving and saw me sitting at the table.

Jordan mouthed 'Hi' to me with a nod, and I smiled back.

“Everyone needs to take a seat if you don’t already have one,” she announced loudly. “We can get this party going—the wait staff is ready to start taking orders.”

“What did I miss?” Tatum asked as she took a seat next to me and placed my water down on the table.

“Not much. I think they’re just getting started.”

Jordan started to walk in my direction, but as he rounded the corner toward my side of the table, Mallory caught his arm. She tugged him back to the head of the other table and thrust the microphone into his hand.

“As the head coach, Jordan would like to say a few words.”

“Go ahead and take a seat, everyone,” he said as he cleared his throat. The tables started to fill up, and I set my purse down on the seat next to me, hoping that maybe he’d sit there after he spoke.

“Thank you, Team Green Machine, for making an effort to join us tonight. The other coaches and I wanted to show you how much we appreciate the hard work you’ve all put in over the last two months.

“Whether you lost two pounds or twenty, you all made progress toward your fitness goals.”

“I’m especially proud of our three team prize winners, Jack, Hannah, and Kyle. The top female winner, Connie, is here tonight as well. So make sure to congratulate these four tonight sometime.”

He met my eyes across the table and nodded at me.

“Most of the food on the menu tonight is diet-friendly, but we won’t tell if you’d like to have a cheat meal on us. Just make sure you’re all ready to go next week.

“The challenge ending doesn’t mean you are done working toward your fitness goals, so now is not the time to slack off.

“The coaches will be floating around the room tonight, so make sure to flag one of us down if you have any questions. Enjoy your evening and get to know your fellow teammates if you haven’t had the chance already.”

He handed Mallory back the microphone, and then he started walking around the table again.

This time a guy grabbed him by the arm and started talking animatedly before he could even get around the corner. He made eye contact with me over his shoulder and mouthed, “Sorry.”

“Where’s J?” a familiar voice asked as he stopped next to the empty seat where my purse sat. Javi was grinning down at me, also looking handsome in tight jeans and a form-fitting shirt.

“He’s on entertainment duty,” Tatum laughed as we looked over to where a small crowd had formed around him.

“Do you think Mr. Popular would mind me taking this seat?” Javi asked as he nodded toward the unoccupied seat.

“I guess not. It looks like he’s busy tonight.”

Part of me was a little disappointed, but as I had feared, this was a work event for him, so he was bound to be busy. It would be weird if I tried to insert myself in that.

I could always talk to him later.

“I’m surprised he’s letting you out of his sight,” Javi laughed as he settled in and picked up the menu.

“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re dating exclusively or something,” I muttered as I took a large drink from my water.

“But you are dating,” he observed. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. I think so. We’ve had a few dinners together.” Despite my current insecurity with where we stood, I was reasonably sure that was the direction we were headed in.

“He wants to jump her bones.” Tatum laughed as she smiled across at me in Javi’s direction.

“I can’t say I’m surprised.” He raised an eyebrow in my direction, and it felt like a caress as his gaze swept over my skin. “I hear you got second place, Hannah.”

I nodded and felt my cheeks turn pink. Typically, I would have blamed it on the wine, but I was unfortunately sober.

“She lost almost 9 percent body fat,” Tatum chimed in.

“That’s pretty impressive.” He looked down at me. The dress I had on was fitted tightly to my new curves.

“I’ve still got a ways to go, but it’s a start,” I responded shyly.

“You’re gorgeous either way—you know that, right?” He smiled.

“Thank you,” I mumbled as I watched a few women I hadn’t seen before talking to Jordan. They were slender, wearing figure-hugging dresses, and one kept putting her hand on his forearm.

He laughed, and I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched them. I knew he was interested in me, but I couldn’t help letting old insecurities creep in the longer he stayed on the other side of the room.

The waitress came by, and I ordered a Parmesan chicken salad. Tatum ordered ribs, and I laughed at her unabashed expression.

“I think I’m going to go to the restroom.” I excused myself and pushed my chair out.

“It’s at the back corner past the bar.” Tatum pointed, then returned to inhaling her dinner.

“Excuse me.” I turned to Javi, and he nodded me off with a smile.

Jordan was still talking to people, and I tried not to be jealous as I left the room without even a glance from him.