Wednesday found her inventing reasons to stay after class again, creating alibis with a creativity that would have impressed her former self. This time, she told Jacob she’d been invited to join some of the women from class for drinks, a girls’ night that would give her a couple of hours of freedom.

“You should definitely go,” Jacob had encouraged. “You deserve a break from playing nurse.”

The casual trust in his voice, the genuine concern for her well-being, had sent a stab of guilt through Ashley’s chest. But not enough to change her plans.

The gym was busier that evening, a competition class running later than usual in the secondary training area. Ashley and Carlos maintained a careful professional distance during the regular class, their interaction limited to brief technical corrections and the occasional glance that carried volumes of suggestion invisible to others.

When the main class ended, Ashley stayed on the mats, pretending to work on a technique with another white belt while the room gradually emptied. Carlos was tied up with competition team members, his attention apparently focused entirely on their preparation, though she occasionally caught his eyes tracking her movements across the room.

By 9 PM, only a handful of dedicated competitors remained, their training confined to the far end of the gym. Carlos finally left, making his way toward Ashley with the pace of an instructor checking on a student’s progress.

“Your hip escape is improving,” he observed neutrally, loud enough to be heard by anyone who might be listening. “But you’re still not creating enough space before you try to recover guard.”

Ashley nodded, playing along. “Can you show me again? I think I’m missing something in the timing.”

Carlos demonstrated the movement, his hands professionally placed on her gi to guide the technique. To any observer, it would appear to be simple instruction. Only Ashley could feel the extra pressure of his fingers, the brush of his body against hers as they moved through the positions.

“The team will be at least another thirty minutes,” he murmured during a transition, his mouth close to her ear under the guise of offering technical advice. “Meet me in my office. Five minutes.”

Ashley nodded, continuing to practice the movement as Carlos moved away to check on something at the front desk. She gave it another few minutes before gathering her water bottle, making a show of checking her phone as if responding to a message.

Carlos’s office was located behind the front desk, a small room with glass windows that looked out onto the gym floor but were partially obscured by venetian blinds. Ashley knocked lightly before entering, closing the door behind her.

The space was surprisingly orderly. A desk with a computer, filing cabinets along one wall, a small sofa against the other, and various jiu-jitsu memorabilia and photos decorating the remaining wall space. Carlos was seated behind the desk, reviewing something on his computer, but his eyes immediately lifted to her as she entered.

“Lock the door,” he instructed quietly.

Ashley complied, the soft click triggering a now-familiar flutter in her stomach. Carlos rose from his chair, crossing to the windows to adjust the blinds, ensuring privacy.

“We don’t have much time,” he said, turning to face her. “And we need to be quiet.”

The constraints added an element of danger, of forbidden excitement that sent arousal through Ashley’s core. “How quiet?” she asked, moving closer to him.

Carlos smiled. “Very,” he replied, reaching for her. “Think you can manage it?”

“I can try,” Ashley murmured as his hands found her waist, drawing her against him.

Their mouths met with immediate intensity. No gradual build-up, just hunger and need that had been simmering through the class, through the days since their last encounter. Carlos’s tongue pushed past her lips, claiming her mouth possessively.

His hands weren’t idle, quickly untying her belt, pushing her gi top off her shoulders. Ashley responded in kind, her fingers working at his belt, both of them undressing each other urgently.

When he had her down to her sports bra and underwear, black this time, practical rather than seductive, though Carlos didn’t seem to care, he guided her backward until her legs hit the edge of the desk.

“Turn around,” he murmured against her neck.

Ashley complied, turning to face the desk, her hands bracing against the smooth wooden surface. Behind her, she heard Carlos pushing his gi pants down, felt his hardness press against her ass through her underwear.

“I’ve been thinking about fucking you all class,” he confessed, one hand sliding beneath the waistband of her underwear to find her already wet. “Watching you move, knowing how tight your pussy feels around my cock.”

“Carlos,” she breathed, pushing back against his exploring fingers. “We don’t have much time.”

He made a sound of agreement, his fingers hooking in the sides of her underwear, pulling the fabric down her legs. Ashley stepped out of them, now naked from the waist down, acutely aware of their situation. Competitors were still training nearby, the glass windows offering only partial concealment.

Carlos’s hands gripped her hips, positioning her more securely against the edge of the desk. She felt the head of his cock pressing against her entrance, testing her readiness.

“Wait,” she said suddenly, turning her head to look at him. “You have to be quick.”

Carlos paused, meeting her gaze, understanding immediately the practical concerns behind the request. “Of course,” he agreed. “Now turn back around and bite your lip. I don’t want anyone hearing you scream.”

The confidence in his statement, the assumption that she would need to stifle sounds of pleasure, might have seemed arrogant from another man. From Carlos, it was simply fact, backed by experience. Ashley faced forward again, her fingers gripping the edge of the desk as he positioned himself once more.

This time, he pushed forward in a single, smooth thrust, filling her completely. Ashley bit her lip as promised, suppressing the moan that wanted to escape at the delicious stretch, the fullness that only he provided. Carlos held still for a moment, allowing her body to adjust, his breathing harsh against her neck.

“So tight,” he murmured, one hand sliding around to cup her breast through the sports bra. “Every fucking time.”

Then he began to move, establishing a rhythm that was controlled but intense, each thrust driving her forward slightly before she pushed back to meet him. The desk creaked faintly beneath them, the sound covered by the distant thuds and calls from the training area.

Carlos’s hand found her mouth, covering it gently but firmly as he increased his pace. “Don’t want them to hear you,” he explained, his hips snapping forward with more force. “But I want to make you scream.”

The combination of the enforced silence, the danger of discovery, and the physical pleasure of his cock hitting all the right spots inside her quickly built Ashley toward orgasm. She felt it approaching with startling speed, her inner walls beginning to flutter around him.

“That’s it,” Carlos encouraged, feeling her response. “Come on my cock. Let me feel you.”

Like before, his free hand slid between her legs, finding her clit, circling the sensitive bundle of nerves in time with his thrusts. The added stimulation pushed Ashley over the edge, her orgasm crashing through her, her cry of pleasure muffled against Carlos’s palm.

He didn’t slow, continuing to drive into her as she clenched around him, drawing out her pleasure until it bordered on overstimulation. Only when her body began to relax did he adjust his rhythm, his breathing becoming more ragged against her ear.

“I’m close,” he warned as he continues plowing into her, his pace becoming more erratic. “Where do you want it?”

“On my ass.”

Carlos made a sound of approval, his thrusts becoming deeper, more forceful as he approached his own release. At the last moment, he withdrew, his hand replacing his cock as he stroked himself to completion, his release spilling hot across her perfect ass, marking her with his essence.

For a moment, they remained frozen in that position, both breathing heavily. Then Carlos reached for a box of tissues on his desk, gently cleaning his cum from her skin.

“You’re incredible,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her shoulder blade as she straightened.

Ashley turned to face him, strangely moved by the simple care of his actions. There was something intimate about it, something that went beyond the physical act they’d just shared.

“We should get dressed,” she said softly, aware of time passing, of obligations waiting outside this small, private space.

Carlos nodded, retrieving her underwear from the floor, handing it to her with a small smile. “Same time Friday?” he suggested as they readjusted their clothing, erasing the visible evidence of their encounter.

Ashley hesitated, mental calculations running through her head. “I can’t stay late Friday,” she admitted reluctantly. “I have a family thing. I need to be there.”

Carlos absorbed this information without visible disappointment. “Saturday then,” he countered. “Tell him you’re coming in for open mat. I’ll be here, working on competition footage.” He smiled. “A common interest we’ve discovered.”

The ease with which he suggested the deception, the practical way he approached the logistics of their affair, should have troubled her more than it did. Instead, Ashley found herself nodding, already constructing the lie she would tell Jacob, the reasonable explanation for spending Saturday morning at the gym while he rested at home.

“Saturday,” she agreed.

Before she left his office, Carlos kissed her once more, his mouth firm and possessive against hers. “Think about my cock until then,” he instructed. “About how it feels inside you. How much you want it.”

“I will,” she promised, and knew it wasn’t a lie.

Outside, she nodded casual farewells to the competition team members still drilling, her face composed, her body language giving no indication of what had just transpired. The compartmentalization was becoming easier, the transition between her two realities smoother with practice.

On the drive home, she stopped at a bar where the mythical “girls’ night” was supposedly taking place, ordering a single drink and taking a selfie with it to create evidence of her cover story. She even asked the bartender to take a picture of her with two random women at the end of the bar, explaining it was for her husband who was sick at home, a partial truth that made the lie more convincing.

The women had been happy to pose, raising their glasses in cheerful solidarity, unaware they were props in an elaborate deception. Ashley posted the photos to her Instagram, tagging the location, building her alibi with the thoroughness of someone who had begun to take a certain pride in the craft of deception.

Jacob was still awake when she arrived home, his face lighting up at the sight of her. “How was girls’ night?” he asked, making space for her on the couch beside him.

“Fun,” Ashley replied, showing him the carefully curated photos, ignoring the fact that his arm was around her shoulders while she could still feel the ghost of Carlos’s touch between her legs. “I mostly listened to Melissa complain about her boyfriend. Apparently, he’s terrible at remembering important dates.”

“Amateur,” Jacob scoffed playfully, squeezing her against his side. “Everyone knows that’s what Google Calendar is for.”

They laughed together, the sound genuine despite the context of lies in which it occurred. This was the strangest part of her double life, Ashley reflected, the fact that her feelings for Jacob remained real and true, undiminished by her relationship with Carlos. As if her heart had expanded to accommodate both connections, separate but equally valid in their own ways.

Later, when Jacob kissed her goodnight, his touch gentle and familiar, Ashley responded with genuine affection, no trace of the comparison to Carlos’s more demanding kisses visible in her expression or response. Two men, two kinds of desire, two versions of herself, all coexisting in a precarious balance that she knew couldn’t last indefinitely but that she was increasingly unwilling to disrupt.