Chapter 15
My Man, My Man, My Man
Tinsley
“Uncle?”
“Yes, niece. It’s me.”
“Oh my goodness, I’m so happy to hear your voice. I’ve been worried sick,” I cried into the phone. I had just stepped back into my bedroom after my morning shower and heard my phone ringing.
“Your aunt and I are fine. The boys and their families are fine. It took us a few weeks to truly get settled here on the island.”
“Are you still in the Caribbean?
“Yes. We’re staying with friends on Oriana Cay.”
“It’s beautiful there,” I said, thinking of the island that was not far from Grenada.
“It is. We like it very much so far. It suits your auntie.”
“Is that where the boys are as well?”
“No, they’re on Saint Aurore.”
“What about Faylise?” I had to ask about my bestie as I slipped into my underwear. “Has anyone heard from her? Is she okay? I called Velvet now she has to lie in it.”
“You ready to start this journey toward being able to defend yourself in the case of an emergency?”
“I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
Double and I left my bedroom with me following him to the gym.
He’d shown me the gym when he’d given me the house tour, but I never had any reason to circle back.
Looking at it now, it wasn’t intimidating, but I still had uncomfortable butterflies in my stomach.
The equipment had been pushed along the walls, leaving a wide-open space in the middle of the floor.
That was where Double stood as he beckoned me over.
“Okay,” he said once I joined him. “The first thing I wanna teach you is called the natural stance.”
“Okay.”
“This should mimic how you stand naturally. Like how you would stand if you were just shopping or looking at an exhibit in a museum. It’s the stance you have when you’re unaware of danger. Your feet are shoulder-width apart, and your arms are relaxed at your sides.”
I thought I was doing it right until he came behind me and gently corrected my posture.
“I want you to be relaxed but observant. I don’t know what life was like for you over there on Iredia. Apparently, it was soft, but this is Chicago.”
“Yeah, I know. And it’s hard here. I miss Iredia.”
“I know you do.” He kissed me on the cheek before stepping away, and I fought the urge to palm the spot he’d kissed and hold onto the warmth of his lips.
“Next is the guard stance. This is the stance that you’ll hit when you determine that danger is imminent.
You feel or notice a threat, you hit the guard stance.
Shift your right leg back a little, Sweetheart. ”
I always wanted to swoon when he called me “Sweetheart.”
“Bend your knees slightly so you bring down the center of gravity. Gimme fists with both hands. Show me fists. And tuck your elbows. Rest ’em against your sides.”
“Like this?” I questioned, feeling completely unsure of myself.
“Just like that.” He moved in front of me then placed his palm on my fist. “Don’t punch my hand, but push against my palm. Use your strength. Show me how strong you can be, pretty girl. Push against my palm.”
I did it, not feeling very strong at all.
“Hey!”
I looked up at the authority in his voice.
“Don’t doubt yourself. You’re stronger than you know. Show me that.”
So I did. I used my strength to push against his palm. After what felt like forever, Double pulled me into a hug, and it was my favorite part of the lesson.
“Good job,” he praised, kissing me on the hair. “Next up, the palm strike.”
He explained the mechanics of the palm strike move.
It was about using the heel of your palm to strike your attacker in the nose or the chin.
After a few lackluster tries, I hyped myself up to finally get it right, with the right amount of force behind my blow.
Putting the force of all my weight behind the blow, I lunged toward Double’s open palm.
Right before I made contact, he smoothly stepped to the side.
The momentum I’d built up made me lose my balance, and I started to stumble.
I was mentally prepared to hit the floor when I felt strong hands at my waist, trying to catch me, but it was too late. Both of us tumbled toward the floor.
“Agh.” I landed on my back. Double landed over me but not on top of me. He was over me in a push-up position. My chest rose and fell as I heaved, both from the exertion and from the fear that I would hurt myself when I fell.
We stared into each other’s eyes. We were in such a weird position for it not to have been choreographed.
He was between my parted legs, and he was holding my wrists, pinned to the floor by his hands.
As I stared into the light-brown pools that were his eyes, all I wanted him to do was kiss me.
He stared back at me, his eyes studying every inch of my face—my eyes, my freckles, my nose, my lips.
Like he read my thoughts, his mouth came down on top of mine. My mouth opened involuntarily and invited him inside. Our tongues tangled for a moment, but all too soon, he broke the kiss.
“My bad.” He shook his head back and forth. “I don’t know. You looked so . . . I don’t know.” He rolled back on the balls of his feet before standing. Once he was on his feet, he offered me his hand, and I took it.
Once I was on my feet, I spoke. “I didn’t mind it.”
“Noted.”
“Is that the end of the lesson for today?”
“For now. We’ll have breakfast. Later on today, I’ll probably put you on the heavy bag, see if we can get you to actually put some strength behind your punches.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest. He hugged me back. And when I tilted my head and puckered my lips for a kiss, he dropped one on my mouth. I couldn’t help smiling to myself. “I like that you did that.”
“What? Kissed you?”
“Yeah, at my command.”
His eyes widened, and his eyebrows went up. “Oh, that was a command?”
“Yep.”
“Oh, so instead of being controlled, you’re doing the controlling now?”
“I’m testing out my power.”