A Dish Best Served Hot

"I'm just joking. I'm sure your sex life is fine, Jake," she reassured, before adding suggestively, "But if you need to work on it...you could always ask me for tips."

The suggestion was so open-ended and mischievous. Jake knew she had a boyfriend before. Jessica didn't know if Katie had told him if she was a virgin or not, but now Jake knew the answer.

He let the clicks and clacks of his keyboard to fill the flustered silence before he responded with a,

"Okay."

Jessica giggled playfully before she finally made the next move, setting a major element of her plan into motion.

"Speeeeeaking of working," she segued. "I want to ask if you're willing to do me a favor..."

She could hear Jake's chair squeak. She assumed it was him sitting straighter. The smile remained on her lips. He was cute sometimes.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, Katie's told me you um...you work out at the gym."

"Eh...yeah, sort of," Jake said, unsure. "It's honestly been a few weeks since I hit those weights though..."

"Ah...Katie's noticing, you know."

"Wait seriously?!"

Jessica chortled. He was too easy.

"Of course not, I'm joking, I'm joking. You still look fine, honey."

She pinned on the nickname subtly and quickly. Jake probably didn't notice, but his subconscious would more than likely store it for later.

She could hear a small sigh of relief.

"But anyway, as I was saying, you have experience in the gym with weights and all that shenanigans, right?"

"Uhuh."

"Well, um...if I was honest with you, I think I need to work out. I feel like I'm kind of gaining some weight," Jessica said, partially truthfully. Although she was skinnier than most due to her Chinese blood, she still felt insecure about when her metabolism would give out on her. "And I need a...helper or a...what is it you call them? Squatters?"

"Spotters."

"Yeah, yeah I need a spotter to help me. So I thought, 'Hey, Jake is nice. And Katie said he works out a lot, so he can be my spotter and personal trainer!'" she said sweetly. "So yeah, that's my favor. Do you think you can help me, pleeeease?"

Jessica made sure to add an innocent little-girl lilt into her voice, the lilt that had made Jake kneel and buy her some in-game merchandise a few weeks ago. She gave him a few seconds to mull over it.

"Besides, it'll help you get back into it again. I'll watch you and it'll help me with my form or whatever."

Jake still held the silence before,

"Uhhhh...well..."

"Come on, Jake. I won't tell Katie that you haven't been working out lately..."

She could almost hear him gulp. She knew Katie was strict on him maintaining his muscles, the controlling bitch.

Gotcha.

"...fine, fine. You're right. It's not like it'll be a hassle honestly, and I do need to work on getting back into it."

Jessica let out a childlike "yay!", clapping her hands together. Her cute demeanor always won over guys, and Jake was used to her personality at this point. Perfect playing field for what she had in store for him next.

"So when do you want to start?" Jake asked, his mouse clicking as he started their queue up for another match.

"Tomorrow," Jessica said without even thinking. "Tomorrow, please."

Jake said "um" again, but conceded.

"Alright...I don't really have much revision to go over. And Tuesday is a day on my workout cycle anyway."

"Perfect," Jessica said as her own mouse clicked, picking out characters for her to play. The match was about to begin.

She grinned. Perfect. It was already going to smoothly. Her plan of seduction was so simple, but she knew it was going to be effective.

For the first time in her life, she suddenly couldn't wait to exercise.

Chapter 3

As usual, the university gym was near-abandoned when Jessica arrived. It was the early afternoon, when most classes were still in session. Fortunately for her and her newfound trainer, they both finished their lectures in the morning, leaving the rest of the day free.

She scanned her ID card to enter, scanning the rows of exercise equipment and various weight-lifting apparatus. No Jake. In fact, it was almost safe to almost as if there was nobody there at all. The only people in sight were a few girls using the treadmills in the corner. Perfect. She didn't want too many people seeing her here in what she was wearing, or what she was planning to wear.

At the moment, her legs are covered to the ankles with loose-fitting leggings, shoes adorned with baby blue Asics. Her top matched her shoes, long-sleeved, and a little loose. It was modest workout attire, but it was comfortable. Personally, Jessica liked the top. It contrasted the long, stubborn hair that flowed behind her that refused to keep itself restrained in a ponytail, but most importantly, it worked well for her plan.

Jessica strolled over to the nearest exercise bike for a seat as she took a Snap of her pouting, lips pursed.

You're late, Mr. Trainer :<

Jessica sighed, flicking through various stories of Snapchat. She had added Jake a few weeks ago, but as usual, his story was empty. The minutes ticked by, and as she considered sending him another Snap, the door to the gym burst open.

Jake hurriedly walked in, flustered. He looked around hurriedly before their eyes locked. Jessica fought back the grin at how worried his pupils looked.

As he strode over, she couldn't help but admire his built but modest physique. He wore a cut tank top, revealing his relatively muscular arms. They didn't seem too big but they certainly weren't skinny either. The legs that sprouted beneath his gym shorts needed work, but at least they weren't twigs. His hair whished over above his forehead, and Jessica instantly felt the urge to pat it like she usually did. But as he stood before her apologetically, she fought it.

"I'm so sorry, Jess," he said, eyes sincere. "I don't know where the time went, I was just-"

She put a finger to his lips. She felt the jolt from his body. Aside from a hug or a high-five, she'd never touched him before. She wondered how soft her finger felt on his mouth.

"Sh. You're late, no excuse. Now teach me what I'm supposed to do," she said, sass laced in every word. She withdrew her finger and she grinned at the hints of blush on his cheeks.

"Okay, fine, fine."

He led her to the treadmills where he said they would start with some conditioning. They both set aside their small bags and turned on the machines, starting off into a slow jog.

As Jake's feet pounded into the rubber below him, Jessica slipped her gaze over. Small beads of sweat began to accumulated on his muscles, running down their subtle contours as his feet pushed onward. Soon Jessica almost found herself staring. In the light of her mission, Jake was suddenly more attractive than she realized. Before it turned obvious, she looked ahead of her, keeping her own pace.

She realized the amount sweat on her brow and the nape of her neck. She was a fast runner, but she was never one for stamina. Maybe that was something to improve on before the events at the end of the month...

Regardless, she upped the speed on her machine, giving herself more of a challenge. With each bound of her feet, her slender frame shook. She was healthy yes, but exercise was something she really should have started getting into much earlier. More sweat began to accumulate on her skin, soaking itself into the thing fabric of her top.

Suddenly, she felt Jake's subtle peeks towards her. Jessica didn't investigate of course. This was part of what she wanted. But at that moment she had completely forgotten how she had managed to gain his attention. Then, she remembered.

Beneath the thin baby blue of her longsleeve, Jessica had decided to forego a bra.

The sweat had done its job. Accumulating in small peaks, her nipples were now peeking through, and their cute roundness had caught her friend's attention. She grinned. It was so early, and already she was hooking him in.

She felt his small gazes leave, presumably because he realized his horny subconscious was being irrational, and his eyes never touched her again. Jessica grinned. Those small peeks were all she needed. All the confirmation she required to confirm her suspicions of his attraction.

It was almost cliché. The flatmate of your girlfriend? She could remember small instances of when he had been around the apartment with her and Kate. Seen his gaze quickly avert from her long legs whenever she wore her short shorts, seen that same gaze quickly glance at her cleavage when she would wear her deep-cut romper. At the time, she had always dismissed them as just his hormones. Even his longer gazes when he would look at her face, almost as if he was memorizing the details of her cheeks.

He was 18 after all. Men couldn't resist a woman's allure, taken or not. She should know this better than anyone; her ex was a porn writer for Christ's sake.

But now, she knew. And the thought that Jake had already dipped his feet into her spring of seduction made her giddy.

Soon, conditioning was over, and Jake lead her over to the various machines and weights. She asked for something of the light side, but she insisted on weight training. Initially, they began with an ab machine to work her core. She asked for his guidance, letting his hands on her shirt, seeing him gulp as he tried to avert his eyes from the faint outline of her small nipples.

His touch on her body was sensitive and almost scared. It made Jessica chuckle to herself at it. Jake grew cuter by the minute.

They moved on from machine to machine, and Jake would always demonstrate first. He was surprisingly strong, despite his appearance. Jessica would stand by, watching his form and his movements. It was an excuse for her to stare at his body at work, and she would be lying if she said it didn't get her worked up. As Jake strained his muscles, pumping out more sweat to glisten on their contours, she couldn't help but want to reach out and touch them. She wanted to take that shirt off and watch his other muscles at work, seeing them flex and tighten.

But she reassured herself all of that would come in good time, and she merely fixed his gaze on his body with the pure intent of making him flustered.

It was easy to do, and by the time the pair was doing weights, she could hear his breaths rushing past his lips. She knew it wasn't from the exercise. He had caught his breath long ago, but he was teaching her how to squat, and his grip was on her body.

The weight of the bar was massive on Jessica's shoulders. It almost hurt as she slowly descended before struggling to rise again. It wasn't terrible, but she exaggerated the difficulty as she looked at herself in the mirror, Jake's hands on her waist. Jake's head was beside hers, and she could smell the sweat off his skin. It definitely wasn't a basket of roses, but she found it to be tolerable. She could almost hear his quick pulse hammer into her back. She knew the pheromones in sweat was a surety to get someone riled, and she wondered if Jake was inhaling the sweat on her neck. The thought almost made her blush.

Every time she would go down, Jake would go down with her. It certainly looked awkward and a little too intimate, but that was the point. If he scooted forward just a tad, their legs would have overlapped, and his crotch would be brushing into her perky bum with every squat.

Then, suddenly he reassured her that she could do it by herself. Slowly she felt his grip relinquish until his hands just began to hover over her.

Fuck, she thought. She knew she was a quick learner...but she needed his contact for at least three more workout sessions. She had to pull a stunt.

As Jake completely let her squat without any aid, Jessica yelped.

"O-Oh shit!" Jessica said, feigning to fall. Jake immediately straightened her, panicking in his grip.

"Jess, are you okay?" He said as he took hold of the bar, wrenching it and throwing aside. He let her lean into him. She intentionally pressed forward, letting their sweat mingle, her pert nipples touching his chest. Now she could feel his heartbeat. She felt hers quicken too and she wondered if his pheromones were working on her too. She pretended to catch her breath, looking up at him with soft eyes. She intentionally let her thin lips quiver a little, her dainty fingers gripping his biceps.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," she said, getting to her feet with his help. She didn't let go of his arms. He didn't let go of hers either. "I just think maybe you shouldn't let go of my waist," she giggled.

Her point was delivered. Jake nodded, blushing a little.

"That's a good idea. I shouldn't have let go that early."

"Oh no, it's fine, honey," Jessica said. She could see a physical reaction to her new nickname. "It's my fault for learning how to do this so late in life."

She giggled, and let her hand slide down one of his biceps. She felt him withhold a shiver and his Adam's apple shift as he gulped. He withdrew his hands from her thin arms.

"I-If you say so, Jess."

Jessica grinned as he turned away from her and proceeded to help him do his own weight training. She encouraged him with pats on the back, sometimes patting his hair teasingly. She couldn't be a full-on seductress just yet. The childish, brash, friendly Chinese girl needed to stay in the forefront. She couldn't afford for Jake to suspect her.

Then, a little over two hours after she had arrived, they finished their first workout.

"Sorry it took so long...and for the accident earlier."

"Psh, it's fine," Jessica said, brushing her hand on him again.

"Trust me, it'll b-be easier later on. Once we get a routine going and all."

Jessica nodded, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, revealing the sweat on her cheek and her peeking collarbone. She grinned, lowering her voice almost confidingly.

"I trust you, Jake."

The words seemed to hit him physically, and he muttered, "Yeah, I'll see you outside," before he dashed off with his bag into the shower room. Jessica lingered a little, biting her thumbnail with a grin.

She let that grin stay on her lips before picking up her own bag to head off to the women's room.

She stripped herself of her attire, wincing at the soreness. She hated exercise with a passion, but she knew this was necessary for her revenge. And besides, she needed to get used to this regimen if she wanted to stay as skinny as she was after her teenage metabolism died off.

A squeak of the showerhead later and she let the hot water pour over her nakedness. It felt refreshing and she let out a sigh, brushing her long fingers through the thick matted black of her hair. She smoothed her palm down the front of her body to the crevice between her thighs before her eyes shot open. The contact with her clit flashed imagery of Jake's arms, his touch, his scent in the span of one second.

Jessica withdrew her touch, letting the water drape her with warmth.

Slowly the small shock wore off and she proceeded to pool shampoo into her palm.

This was the first real day of action, and already it was bearing fruit. Not only in her target, but surprisingly enough, in her own psyche too.

The game was getting interesting.

Chapter 4

Jessica's thin lips wrapped themselves absentmindedly around the straw sticking out of her Strawberry Crème drink from Costa. Her hair was still a little damp from the after-gym shower, jet black in the light of the afternoon sun. Jake sat across from on his phone. His eyes would sometimes flicker between his screen and her face, and when their eyes met, he'd give a bashful grin before scrolling through whatever app occupied his thumb.

Their third workout session had gone great. Jessica already felt that she was getting used to the routine of having Jake help her discover new ways to build muscle and burn calories, some of the calories she admittedly gained back during the Costa stops after every workout.

Her plan was advancing smoothly. Despite its slowness, Jessica was surprised at how fast Jake was revealing himself to her.

They would take breaks in between each workout day to rest their muscles, spending that time revising, and, thanks to Jessica's insistence, playing League together.

In short, Jessica made sure she was in Jake's life every single day. Soon enough, Katie's business and overall hostility towards Jake would drive him into her arms, and into her sheets.

The first week of her plan was almost over.

The next workout was her next major step. She would make sure that every week, she would shed the innocent, playful Jessica, revealing the desirable mistress within. Slowly but surely, Jake was already willingly wrapping himself around her finger. Jessica just needed to make sure her demeanor and mannerisms progressed with time, much like adding weights to their workout every week as their muscles toughened.

She took another sip of her drink, directly looking at him now.

It was still fun to watch him squirm uncomfortably under her gaze. A tall, cute guy like that, bashful as a 12-year old kid.

"Thanks, Jake...I really do appreciate you doing this for me," Jessica said, finally breaking the tapering silence between them.

He looked up from his phone.

His face contorted strangely and blushed, as if he was stuttering without saying a word.

"Don't worry about it, Jess. I need to work out too. Gotta make sure I don't disappoint Katie and everything," he chuckled nervously.

She looked him dead in the eye with a grin. She could have said a joke like she usually would. She could have teased him, poking at his insecurity just like she usually would. She could have broke the awkward stare with a laugh like she usually would.

But instead, she said,

"I don't see how you can manage to disappoint any girl, looking like you do."

Then, very intently, she grasped for the straw of her drink with her tongue, missing it on purpose before finally grappling it between her lips. Jake's eyes shuddered.

She allowed the awkward silence to blossom into something else. Something she was going to lay thick between them in the remaining three weeks.

Tension.

It was a sapling between them, but soon enough it would grow. It would grow as taut as she could make it before she'd let it snap.

Jake's blush grew bigger and Jess swore she could hear his pounding heartbeat. She kept sucking the strawberry through her straw.

"Shit, Jess I can totally see progress."

"Psh. Sure," Jessica said skeptically, collecting the small amount of flesh in her abdomen in a roll. "Look at this. This isn't progress."

Katie gave her an openmouthed dumbstruck look.

"Why are you even working out. I'm the one who should be in that gym," she said exasperatedly, putting on a display by grabbing her own abdomen, making the belly button between her two hands speak.

Jessica couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Revenge plot or not, Katie was still her friend for the time being. No harm in laughing at how ridiculous she acted.

"Well, not my fault your lazy fatass can't manage to motivate itself for even a day."

Katie pouted at her, settling into Jessica's bed, her red hair frizzy and wild.

"Whatever. At least I get laid."

A grin crept onto Jessica's lips.

"Really? When was the last time you even talked to Jake?"

Katie sat back against the wall, squinting at the ceiling as if to recall a specific date. She finally shut her eyes with a sigh resignedly.

"Two weeks ago..."

"Exactly. Hell, I see him more than you do."

"Hey, I'm busy, unlike you two gamer freaks. And besides, he's such a fuckboy sometimes. Always just prioritizing his clubs and mates, and when I have my clubs and whatnot, he gets pissy. Psh. He doesn't deserve this bomb coochie."