Tempting /A Jordan Knight fanfic ✔️

Chapter 6: Bullseye

To say that I was skeptical as Jordan parked the car in front of this particular establishment would only be a minor understatement.

"Did you bring me here to... kill me?" I feigned laughter that did a shoddy job at hiding that sliver of sincerity in my tone.

Jordan's quiet chuckle filled the stiff air in the car. "Your sister said the same thing when I brought her here on a date once."

I nodded along and unbuckled my seatbelt as he did, trying my hardest to picture Mel stepping foot in a place like this... and failing. She preferred the classic dinner and a movie or being taken to fancy bars with soulful music and live bands.

"How'd she like being taken here on a date?"

Jordan squinted into the sunlight, tilting his head with an admitting grin. "She liked the next date a lot better. I lost track of how many times she threatened to lob me in the head while we were here."

"I didn't even know places like this existed," I commented as I stepped out of the car.

"A lot of people love coming here. It's a great way to get out some anger or in your case, stress. That's initially why I started coming here."

"Throwing axes is your stress reliever?"

Slamming shut his car door, he smiled a mischievous smile at me from over the top of the car. "Among other things."

Thank God the sun was so bright that day and Jordan was wearing sunglasses or else he might have seen the blush I knew followed his teasing comment. It was stupidly unfair how easy it was to make my face flush with any emotional state that wasn't calm.

Damn my fair skin. Damn it straight to Hades.

I followed behind Jordan as he walked inside and stood behind him as he squared away the payment. My fingers found busy work with themselves as I looked around the room at all the blades lining the walls that held my own petrified expression in their reflection. I'd never been around axes and knives like this before, let alone in this quantity. My stomach felt like I'd just stepped into a horror film and knew I wasn't 'final girl' material.

"You ready?"

My stare flew up to Jordan's as he spun to face me, and already, I could feel the unease sitting heavy in my eyes. Never in my life did I think I'd be throwing axes willy nilly, but here I was, and I wasn't about to chicken out now in front of him. A new life meant new adventures, right?

"As I'll ever be."

Jordan walked us back through a narrow hallway until we reached our very own blocked out space with walls on both sides and a fenced in wall behind us. About twenty feet away was a circular, wooden target.

"All right, so the goal is to get as close to the center of the target as possible. Seem easy enough?"

Hesitation cut right through me as if with one of the many blades surrounding us.

"Can I watch you do it first?" I peered up in search of his stare, only to find him already looking down at me with a crooked kind of grin.

"Sure, but fair warning—" That crooked smile of his turned smug as did the glint in his bright eyes. "I'm stupidly good at this. Don't be too intimidated."

"Your humility is much appreciated."

Before anymore could be said, Jordan was reaching for one of the axes on the table to the side. He wound his long fingers around the base of the axe and unintentionally, I held my breath as I waited for his next move. My breath was as steady in my lungs as his hand was that held the blade still. His focus was admirable, like any one of the dancers I'd worked with. If those dancers wielded life-threatening axes, that is.