My body responds to his words with an immediate flash of heat. Memories of his focused intensity that night at the club, the way his eyes never left mine even in our most intimate moments, flood back uninvited.

I pause, tapping my finger against the side of my phone and fighting the urge to say something back that’s just as flirty. But my phone buzzes with another message before I can think of anything to say.

DECLAN: I’d better go. I’ve gotta go get ready for the game tonight.

ME: Me too, my class is waiting for me. Thanks again for the food.

DECLAN: My pleasure. Have a good class.

I tuck my phone back in my purse and throw away the food container, then hurry back out to the main room of the studio. Most of the people in the session have been coming for a long time, and a good portion of them saw the surprise food delivery, so no one sweats me about starting a few minutes late while I ate.

This is a more advanced class, so I launch right into my usual stretch routine for them, and the rest of the hour passes quickly. But every time I try to get quiet and listen to my body, all I can hear is Declan’s voice and words repeating in my ear. All I can feel is the phantom pressure of his lips against mine, his body pinning me against the cold, hard metal of his bike.

And the boiling tension between us that bubbled right over the edge in that moment.

My body refuses to forget what my mind keeps trying to deny.

Thankfully, I have a class change to take my mind off it. I thank everyone for coming and give some last-minute feedback to a few people on their way out, then reset the room for the next class before they start trickling in. I’m almost done when the first of my students for the second class arrives, an early retiree named Gwen.

“Looks like you’ve already gotten a good workout today,” she says as she lays out a mat in her usual place by the wall, shifting her gray-streaked braid over one shoulder.

I chuckle ruefully. “You’re my second class in a row, so yeah, I’m feeling the burn a little bit. But it’s good for me.”

Honestly, it’s not really the calories I’m trying to burn off, although that’s a nice bonus. It’s the restless energy Declan stirs in me, the way thinking about him makes my skin feel too hot. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying.