Page 32 of Burn for You (Flirting with Forever 3)

He grasps my elbow with his strong hand, making me jerk. I glance down at where he’s gripping my arm before I look up into his eyes. His face is entirely too close to mine as he rasps, “Aren’t we going to talk about what I said before we left?”

Just then, Jake bustles into the workroom. “Damon, we’ve got you all set.” He turns to me, “Piper, here are a couple more permission slips and money to cover a few more kids. Can we make sure we have enough space on the bus for them?”

My eyes snap to Damon’s and flash fire. “Did you arrange for more tickets?” My question is directed to Jake, but my eyes never leave his.

Jake shuffles on his feet, suddenly aware of the growing tension in the room. “Um, yeah. Damon, you took care of that, right?”

“I did.” He gets up out of his chair. “If you all will excuse me, I’ve got some copies to run.” My eyes follow him all the way out of the room before they finally come back to Jake.

“Piper, I assumed you two had talked about it. When he came to me, he said he needed four seats on the bus and he had tickets already.” He hesitates. “Is there a problem? I take it you didn’t discuss this?”

“No, he didn’t say a word about it to me.” I get up out of my seat, giving him a tight smile. “It’s fine, really.”

Chapter 18

Piper

The next afternoon, after another few rounds of bickering with Damon at school, I can’t help but wish I were taking a kickboxing class instead of a barre class. I’m too worked up to be doing such calm, soothing exercises. Not to mention, maybe if I took one of those classes, I’d be capable of kicking Damon right in the ass.

My traitorous gaze keeps flitting across the gym to where he’s working with Frank. It irritates the shit out of me that I can’t seem to control my body’s reactions when it comes to him, and I’m still supremely pissed he invited himself on the field trip tomorrow. But at the same time, my eyes drink in his every move as if he were a Slurpee on a hot, hot summer day.

“You’re way too tense, Piper. Head up, shoulders down. Let those arms float gracefully as you move through the positions.” The teacher walks around giving us corrections as we repeat the sequence of positions she’d given us to practice.

From behind me, I hear Quinn try to stifle a laugh … and fail miserably. Glancing back at her, I aim the evil eye right at her, which only makes her laugh harder, attracting the attention of Madison on my other side.

She shoots me an amused look. “Psst. Piper. Barre class is over here. Last time I checked you weren’t taking Muay Thai.”

Quinn gives a decidedly unladylike snort, and I turn my head to look at her. “Yep, I think you’re right. Maybe she wants to join Damon and Frank over there.” She shakes her head. “You’ve positioned yourself just right at the barre so you can see their practice area through the door, haven’t you?”

“I did n—”

“Oh girl, don’t try to deny it.”

My face draws into a frown. “Well, why is he here anyway? It’s like he’s looked at the schedule and just conveniently shows up everywhere I do to torture me. It’s maddening as all hell. As if it’s not enough that he’s coming on the field trip tomorrow.” I huff and ever so ungracefully fling my arms and legs through first, second, and third positions.

Madison fully stops and turns around. “Piper, do you not realize he works here?”

What she’s just said takes a few seconds to sink in. My arms fall to my sides and my mouth drops open as I blink a few times still trying to process the information. “What do you mean?”

Quinn, Madison, and I huddle in a circle. Quinn’s brow arches high on her forehead. “Oh, Piper … yeah, he’s Frank’s trainer. And he teaches a few different classes here, too—besides Muay Thai. He also teaches a kickboxing class and some other type of martial arts.”

“I think it’s jujitsu.” Madison bites her lip as she studies me. Quinn covers her mouth for a second and glances at Madison before removing her hand to question me. “How did you not know this?”

With a harsh exhale, I spin back to the barre and continue my workout, frowning all the while. The instructor walks past us, makes some comments, and then I turn and hiss indignantly over my shoulder, “I don’t freaking know.”

Well, at least that makes sense. And now I feel kind of stupid because I’d thought he was following me around, but clearly not. This is what happens when you assume things, I guess. I’ve made a big ass out of myself. Fortunately for me, it’s only my friends who know this.

I don’t know what possesses me, but after class, I hang around for a while, sitting on a bench by the door, fiddling with my phone. I can’t resist glancing up every so often to watch Damon in his session with Frank. I still can’t freaking believe he’s crashed my field trip—well, Hadleigh and Sawyer’s. I mean, I sort of did the same, but at least I had permission from them before inserting myself into the trip. I can’t believe he went to Jake behind my back. The big jerk.

Big, sweaty, muscly jerk. I feel the growl work its way up from my stomach and just barely stop it from coming out.

Damon and Frank move around each other on the mat, punching, jabbing, and kicking at each other. The more I watch Damon, the grumpier I get. All day today, I’d ignored him, refusing to speak to him, but now? Now I’m mad and spoiling for a fight. I may not be able to literally kick his ass, but I sure will lay into him verbally when I get the chance.

Another glance at him has me wanting to mentally whip myself. It’s a damn shame he’s such an ass because his body is a masterpiece. He’s completely cut, his muscles flexing and rippling under his skin, and dear lord, I can’t help but watch him move. He’s powerful, yet graceful. Cunning, and quick. Poetry in motion, really.

Hot jerk poetry. Why does he have to be so attractive when all I want to do is sock him in the nose?

A while later, I notice Frank exiting the gym area to the locker room, while Damon continues his workout, throwing punches and kicks at a bag hanging from the ceiling.

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