Page 32 of Summer Breakdown (Training Seasons #2)

“He can make you uncomfortable even if it’s just friendly” Jasmine says. “Though, Bright is a heavy flirt. Get Zach to talk to him.”

The office door opens, and Frankie frowns. It’s nice in here right now, even if her body is thumping like a horny teenager’s with the image of Jasmine getting herself off. She doesn’t want it to be ruined by men. Alas, she does have a rugby club.

“Talk to who about what?” Zach asks, placing the drinks down. Kai strolls in after him.

“Cheers,” Frankie says. She wonders what Jasmine tastes like when she tastes like strawberries.

“Thanks, honey,” Mali replies, tilting her head up so Zach can kiss her. “I might have suggested a threesome. It was accidental.”

“Was it now?” Zach asks.

Kai whistles. “Must have been Jas because Frank would take someone’s knee out for suggesting she be near a man. ”

“As I should,” Frankie replies. She wonders if Jasmine would have a threesome with Zach and Mali.

Perhaps it would be something she was into.

Frankie won’t know unless she asks, and she can’t figure out how to ask without sounding like she’s jealous.

She is. She doesn’t even know the answer and she’s jealous.

“Yes,” Mali says. “Jas doesn’t think you’d let anyone else in the room.”

Zach smiles and leans to kiss her on the temple.

“I would do anything you wanted.” Zach is down bad, and he’s not afraid to show it.

It’s sexy. Well, as sexy as men can be. Frankie wishes she could be like that, which is a horrible thought because she never wants to take inspiration from men.

But not being afraid to show how much you like someone isn’t something she’d hate.

Frankie tries to remember if Zach was good at flirting before he and Mali got together. She tries to think if Mali was flirting at all. Would Frankie know either way? If Frankie was obvious with it, she’d hold Jasmine’s hand, or she’d ask her out, or she’d kiss her.

“The liner looks good,” Frankie says, even though she doesn’t have red hair and she’s not the last girl Jasmine took home from the bar. She wants to talk to her so she can apologise again, but she has no way to casually ask her to chat. “Can you do it for me?”

Jasmine smiles. “Sure.” She grabs a different colour lipliner from her bag and walks over, holding it up for Frankie to see.

Frankie nods. Jasmine parts Frankie’s legs slightly, and Frankie takes a deep breath.

Then, because the world is ready for her to pass away, Jasmine leans against her, her hand flat against the base of Frankie’s spine.

She pulls her closer. Frankie would have moved had she asked her to, but Jasmine doesn’t seem bothered about the interaction, as she starts talking again .

“Guys, do you think Bright is flirting with Mali?” Jasmine asks, her hand travelling up Frankie’s side. She doesn’t even seem to realise.

“Yeah,” they both respond quickly.

“Oh,” Mali replies. “You do?”

“Obviously,” Kai says, then he frowns. “Is it not obvious?”

“I thought so,” Jasmine says, “but Frank wasn’t sure.

” Frankie wants to frown. Look at me. Instead, Jasmine’s thumb rests against her chin, tilting Frankie’s face slightly.

The last time Jasmine touched her like this, she followed it with her lips.

Fuck, what Frankie would do to have her touch her like that again.

“Is he bothering you?” Zach asks. “I assumed you’d tell me if he was.”

Mali frowns. “Kinda.”

Zach’s jaw tenses. “Consider it handled, baby.” He’s so dramatic, but Mali leans against him with a smile.

Jasmine smiles while her fingers settle at the back of Frankie’s neck.

Something stirs within Frankie. Something deep, something forgotten, something she pretends she doesn’t want because she’s never comfortable enough with someone to explain it.

Something that sounds a little too much like being used.

Something like someone playing with her while they’re barely paying attention.

She swallows, and Jasmine rubs her thumb over the skin of her neck.

It’s embarrassing that Frankie’s getting wet.

Finally, Jasmine turns to look at her. Frankie’s gaze wanders over her face until she lands on her eyes.

She’s smiling slightly. Frankie has wanted so much in this life, with nowhere for it to go.

There is nowhere she can put her desire down that feels safe.

But with the sparkle of Jasmine’s eye, the small smile lines there, and the way she rubs her thumb over her ear, Frankie thinks about it.

“Smile for me,” Jasmine says. Frankie doesn’t know if her voice is low because she’s close by or because she’s fucking with her. Jasmine won’t know that the rasp of her voice sends vibrations through Frankie’s entire body, but she might figure it out with the way Frankie shivers.

Jasmine tilts her pretty head. “Cold?”

“I’m alright,” Frankie replies. Is Jasmine aware her hand is still on her face? Jasmine hums, then raises her eyebrow in question. Frankie frowns until she figures out she’s supposed to be smiling for the lipliner.

“Good,” Jasmine says, with a small smile. Frankie tries not to blush. “I’m going to line them. It might tickle a little, but just hold still, okay?”

Is she talking her through lining her lips? Is Frankie so ridiculously needy for her touch and praise that she’ll get herself off to the memory of this later? “Uh-huh.”

Ezra strolls into the office. Early. Frankie is still not starting training before she’s supposed to just because other people have annoyingly good time management.

“Ezra, do you think Bright is flirting with Mali?” Jasmine asks. “I’m getting you up to speed.”

“It’s obvious, innit? I thought Zach was going to take his head off last week.

” He drops his bag near the table, then kisses Frankie on the cheek.

She screws her nose up. She must be frowning.

He always kisses her or hugs her if he thinks she’s down.

It’s something he picked up because apparently she refuses to tell anyone when she’s down.

She’s not down right now, though; she’s confused.

“Okay,” Mali says, hands flying. “You can tell men are flirting, but can you tell when women are?”

“I assume everyone is flirting with me,” Kai says and Frankie rolls her eyes.

Ezra shrugs. “Depends how obvious they’re being. I could tell that you were flirting with Zach, but he had no idea. Embarrassing ’cause you were decent, and Zach spent his entire time googling how to flirt.”

“Shut up, man. I can flirt now.”

“What did you do before Mali?” Jasmine asks.

Frankie watches Jasmine work. From the angle, she can only really see her jaw and sometimes her cheekbones, but she doesn’t mind.

If she drops her eyeline she can see her shoulders, the dip of her collarbone.

But occasionally, Jasmine moves back and looks at her eyes instead of her lips, and she smiles at her, so Frankie mainly keeps her eyes on her in case she looks at her again.

“I don’t remember a single moment of my life before her.”

“God, the dramatic romance works for you.” Jasmine’s hair falls in front of her face, but Frankie moves it behind her ear for her before she can. “Thanks.”

“What about you, Ezra?” Mali asks. “Can you flirt?”

“Obviously.”

“Do your arms do the heavy lifting?” Jasmine asks, her hand resting against Frankie’s neck.

Ezra humphs. “We’ve seen you flirt,” he says to Jasmine. “We know your face does most of the work.”

Jasmine laughs, and Kai jumps in. “Jas is ace at flirting.”

“Not with you, pretty boy,” Ezra replies and Kai grunts, lying down on the desk. Dramatic but an appropriate response to Jasmine not wanting him.

Oh, how Frankie wants Jasmine to flirt with her again.

She’d even take her flirting at work, and Frankie has a semi-cool reputation here.

It helps with keeping everyone in check, but she’ll melt the moment Jasmine smiles at her.

She’s already deeply ruined her air of authority with Jasmine being around.

She hears the way people call her soft. The other day, Kai pushed back on running laps for the first time ever.

He made a joke about getting Jasmine outside for Frankie to get distracted. She almost kicked him.

But more than that, she wants Jasmine to want to flirt with her. She wants her to want her. She’s not sure she’ll survive the hope of it all.

Jasmine looks at her. “Blot together.”

Frankie rubs her lips, but Jasmine catches her chin. “Blot, not rub.” She does the motion, and Frankie follows it like her life depends on it. She hums like she’s satisfied. An annoying part of Frankie’s mind perks up at the idea. She shuts it down.

“There,” Jasmine says. “Beautiful. Wanna see?”

Frankie nods.

“Oh my God, Frankie, you look so hot!” Mali says, but she’d tell anyone they looked good if they’d put some effort in, so she doesn’t trust her niceness. Jasmine shows her, and she guesses it looks nice because Jasmine is good at makeup.

“If I say you look fit will you bench me?” Kai asks.

“Yes.”

“Tight, I can’t be arsed today. You look hot .“ Kai’s gone running to the changing rooms before she can throw anything at him.

She doesn’t like it on her, but she’s not mad at it. She just doesn’t like her lips. Or her face.

“Wanna take it off?” Jasmine asks.

Frankie blinks. Is that rude? Perhaps.

“It was just for fun,” Jasmine says. “If you don’t want to coach with it, I won’t be mad.” Jasmine gets her in a way few people do. Like she’s thinking about what Frankie wants, but from her perspective, not Jasmine’s.

“No?”

Jasmine shakes her head. “Not at you.” Frankie smiles, and Jasmine wipes it away for her.

It doesn’t take long, and when she’s done, she spins, her bum perched on the desk between Frankie’s legs and sort of…

leans against her. It’s nice. Frankie rests her hand against Jasmine’s waist and her chin over her shoulder.

“What about you, Frank?” Mali asks, looking between her and Jasmine. “We know you can flirt, but do you know if someone is flirting with you?”

“I don’t think I even knew you two were flirting before you got together,” Frankie says. “I have zero flirting identification skills. ”

Jasmine laughs. “What?” She turns to look at her. She’s so close their noses almost brush. “You don’t know if someone is flirting with you?”

“I mean, if they’re a straight girl at the bar, then probably.” Jasmine looks like she’s trying to work out a complex equation, though Frankie knows Jasmine would get the answer quicker than she is now. “But I don’t know otherwise. I need someone to kiss me or something.”

Jasmine laughs again. She’s so delightful.

Then, casually, she kisses her. A dream come true, once on the lips kiss.

It’s not enough to be inappropriate. It’s barely long enough for Frankie’s breathing to kick back in.

It’s not even long enough for Frankie to get her hands to move to hold Jasmine here forever.

But it’s enough to make her heart race. It’s enough to power every filthy fantasy she’ll have for the rest of time.

It’s enough to show her that Jasmine is making a move.

Jasmine pulls back. She’s not blushing or anything. She barely looks like she’s changed anything about her day. Like kissing a semi-coworker in the office is something that comes natural to her.

“Clear?” Jasmine asks. Her hand rests against the hand Frankie has on her stomach. There’s a gasp, a scoff, maybe a “fuck off,” but Frankie made the mistake of not looking at Jasmine once, and she’s not going to do it again.

Frankie blinks. “Ye—yeah. Yes. Crystal.”

Jasmine smiles. “Cool.”