chapter twenty-seven
Wren
Master James is sure to roast me when I show up for class. Jay parked my car at Dad’s and had a Crow drive us from there. It’s been probably a month since I attended Taekwondo. But I want to get back into the swing of things and going to class before the weekly dinner at Dad’s works out great. Despite Dad canceling this week, of course. Instead, I have plans to meet up with Gemma. We are overdue for a date.
“Oh, look, Wren has deemed self-defense as important this month,” Master James teases as I approach him. He’s smiling despite his jab. “How’s your practice with Blue Jay going?”
I look back and see Jay lounging in the parents’ viewing area, scrolling on his phone. I snort. “Uh, it’s going well, sir.”
“You haven’t practiced a bit,” Master James groans, seeing right through my lie. He pauses a moment, his eyes on Jay. “Wait, is that the same one?”
“It is,” I reply.
“Oh, fuck, Wren,” Master James says with a wince.
“What?!”
“Anyone with a brain is going to figure that out!”
“Okay, first of all, how dare you? And second, no, they haven’t.” I start my stretches.
“Are you allowed?”
“No?”
“Wait, does he keep the mask on?” He chuckles.
I throw a quick strike, followed by a kick. Both of which he blocks with casual ease and a laugh.
After class, Master James has me stay back again. “Blue Jay! Come attack Wren.”
I hear Jay’s boots hitting the ground as he takes them off for the mat. Then I hear his gun being set on the chair. I keep my padded helmet on because I’m not in the mood for a concussion. With my back to both my instructor and Jay, I wait to be attacked. As one naturally does when being attacked on the street.
The attack comes quickly. Strong arms band around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I kick back wildly and use my helmeted head to bash into Jay’s. He drops me when I get a good head smash in, but my feet only touch the ground for a second before he has me flipping and landing on the ground on my back. The air whooshes from my lungs and I struggle for a second to get a breath in. Jay is standing over me with a victorious look in his eyes. I kick up at his crotch but he catches my foot, having expected the attack. He lifts me by my ankle so I’m dangling upside down.
I screech in indignation while Jay and Master James laugh. Jay lowers me the two inches to the ground carefully and I get up, righting my uniform.
“This is why you need a bodyguard,” Jay says, his eyes amused but kind.
“And,” Master James says. “This is why we talk so much about awareness in class.”
I nod and take off my helmet. My hair is sweaty and all over the place.
“I hope to see you next week,” Master Jay says and claps me on the shoulder as he goes to the front desk.
I glare at Jay and turn to go to my locker to get changed. But that stupid victorious look in his eyes has me feeling mad. I make it halfway across the space before I turn around and see Jay bending to get his boots back on. I see my opportunity. Target: locked. With long, quiet strides, I make it to him while he has one boot on and he’s bent over tying the laces. I jump on his back, my forearms across his neck.
Master James looks up from the desk and laughs before returning to his work.
Jay straightens to standing and his long fingers wrap around my arms. I bind my legs around his waist and lock my ankles together so I don’t slide. Jay goes down to his knees too slowly and controlled for me to think I am actually choking him out, so I squeeze harder. I feel his air cut off this time. I can hear the way his breathing stops. It’s only a matter of seconds before he should pass out.
Instead, he lays back and squashes me under his weight. Now we’re both not breathing. He moves his hands to my sides and tickles me. I try not to let go of his neck as I giggle breathlessly. He has to be close to passing the fuck out by now. He turns his head to the side and gets in a big lungful of air. Fuck. I’m about to let go of him when his hands leave my sides and he brings them up to grab me under my arms and flips me over his head like a backpack. My back slams into the mat between his legs and I stare at the ceiling.
For the second time in five minutes, I am devoid of any air in my lungs. Jay’s smug blue eyes are staring at me, upside down, as I struggle to get in a breath. I reach up and almost poke at his eyes with two fingers.
He laughs and stands up, offering me a hand. I smack it away and stand on my own.
“That was good. You caught me off guard,” he praises, barely out of breath.
“Shut up,” I call as I head to my locker.
Outside after I get dressed and brush back my hair, Jay and I are waiting for a Crow to come get us. After the intruders came into my house, I feel less resistant to having Crows drive us around in the city.
Jay is looking around, his eyes scanning the street and every car that goes past us. I stand close to him as we wait. We never end up waiting long, but there’s a lot of traffic today.
“With all that contact, I’m surprised you didn’t come in your pants again,” I tease him.
His eyes don’t leave his scan, but I see his lashes flutter in annoyance. “That’s because I’m saving it for your face.”
He freezes.
I pause in shock and, admittedly, delight.
He looks down at me with a sorrowful wince. “I’m sorry, that just came out.”
“I’ll say.”
“I was focusing on the job and my filter was down.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, I liked it.”
A black car pulls up, and a Crow gets out of the passenger’s seat to open the door for me. I politely greet them and smile. Jay says nothing. His eyes are glued on me until we’re safely ensconced in the car and both Crows are talking quietly between themselves.
“You like hearing me talk dirty?” his voice is low and rough as he murmurs to me.
“Love it.”
“Then do you want to hear about how seeing you all pink and sweaty from fighting had me fucking hard as steel in my pants?”
“Yes.”
“Or how I couldn’t help but feel so fucking dirty as we watched the bird group eat those muffins?”
That one got a giggle out of me despite the blush that had creeped up.
Passenger seat Crow turns around and Jay quickly moves away from me. “Dinner with Gemma?”
“Yes,” I croak out and give the name of the upscale restaurant Gemma is being paid to promote on her social media pages.
Gemma and Lance are already sitting at a quiet, secluded table when we arrive. Gemma and I kiss each other’s cheeks in greeting before sitting down.
“I already ordered a bottle of wine,” she says as we settle.
It’s not just wine, it’s a very expensive bottle of champagne. “Oh?”
“Remember how I signed with Noody, the shapeware company?”
“Yeah,” I say as she gestures for the waiter to come over.
She allows the suspense to build in true Gemma fashion while the waiter opens the champagne with a pretentious flourish. I stare at her as the man works and Jay and Lance both chuckle. The waiter pours us each a glass, startling slightly when he looks at masked Jay, and describes the location of the vineyard and the background of the wine. Lance clears his throat and the waiter promptly leaves.
Gemma sips her champagne and moans her approval.
“Gemma, I am going to kick your ass,” I threaten through my teeth.
“I’ll be doing their primary campaign. I’m going to be the face of Noody!” Gemma crows.
“Oh my gosh! Gemma! That’s fantastic!” I screech and hug her tight.
“I’m so excited. I’ve been having some trouble booking since… well, you know ,” she says and wipes her happy tears. She’s referring to a time she puked backstage at fashion week. A bout of the stomach flu was not welcomed by the designers. It didn’t deter her from making bank on her brand partnerships on her social media, though.
“You’re merging the worlds of social media influencing with modeling and I’m so proud of you!”
I take a sip of my drink and look at the guys. Lance is looking warmly and proudly at Gemma as he drinks his champagne before he begins his guarded sweep around the restaurant. Jay is doing a sweep, but I notice his arm is on the back of my chair. A shiver of warmth goes through me and it’s not from the alcohol. His arm on my chair is a signal of his claim on me to everyone in the restaurant, and I don’t think he even realizes he’s doing it.
We order tiny, fancy meals Jay will surely ask to stop for tacos after. Gemma talks happily about her plans with Noody and I am ecstatic to listen. There’s a slight tug on my hair and I look over to see Jay absently twirling it in his fingers. The soft pull on my hair has my eyes drooping in pleasure and I look up at Jay. He’s watching new customers come through the doors, cataloging them, before moving on to the rest of the sweep.
“So, did it happen for real? Like all the way to third base?” Gemma says abruptly.
I focus on her mischievous expression. “What?”
She points between me and Jay.
“Nothing.” My quick, barked response doesn’t even make sense.
Gemma looks almost offended. “Are you kidding?”
Jay quickly moves away from me like he just realized he was practically draped over me with his hand tangled in my hair. “Gemma, there’s nothing—”
“Liars!”
“Gemma, that’s a strong accusation,” Lance lightly scolds her, but his eyes track our movements and my blush.
“Please, don’t tell anyone,” I whisper hoarsely to both of them.
Gemma squeals with delight, and Lance’s face slackens with shock.
Jay leans down to whisper in my ear. “If he tells our boss, I’m cooked.”
“Please,” I say to them again.
“Well, I’m sure as shit not telling anyone,” Gemma snorts and sips her champagne. “This is the first time I’ve seen you happy in ages. I’m not fucking that up for my best friend. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I say, my voice tight with emotion.
“Lance,” Gemma barks. “Tell my best friend her secret is safe.”
Lance startles slightly and stares at me and Jay. “I will not be the one who outs you two to Safe House. But you need to think about this objectively. Can you still protect Wren if you are distracted?”
“Yes. I am not distracted,” Jay insists. I say nothing about how his hand had been tangled in my hair and nowhere near his holster.
“Was the break in at her house due to—” Lance starts. While a flare of indignant anger rises in me, I realize he is right to wonder if the break in happened because Jay was distracted.
“No,” Jay cuts him off. “Nothing had… happened yet. I told you how the break in happened.”
Lance nods and sits back in his chair. “Alright, your secret is safe with me.”
“Thank you,” Jay and I both say.
Lance’s eyes crinkle with a smile as he shakes his head at us. “I’m happy for you kids.”
“Wait, Lance, it never occurred to me since you work at Safe House you’ve seen his face.” I change the topic.
“I have.”
“And you know his real name.”
“Yes.”
“Is he handsome?”
Lance groans and rolls his eyes.
“Of course he is!” Gemma says and gestures up and down at Jay’s body. “I work with male models all day and only the ones who are actually good looking hold their bodies the way he does. It’s all in the stance, the posture.”
Jay shrugs. “I was a pimply, big kid with anger issues in school.”
“Who wasn’t in high school?” Gemma says dismissively. “You were a hottie underneath.”
Jay laughs. A good, big laugh. “I was absolutely not.”
“Sure, okay, but is he hot now ?” I ask Lance.
“Cover model,” Lance replies.
Jay tips his head down to me and gives me a dramatic wink, and clicks his tongue behind his mask. I giggle.
“Wait, he keeps the mask on for sex?” Gemma finally catches up.
“We haven’t…” I trail off.
“Then what have you—” Gemma cuts off and looks around. “We need a sleepover, and I need the details.”
“Absolutely,” I agree.
“If she sleeps over, do I sleep over?” Lance asks Jay. “I never slept over when she stayed at Mr. Taylor’s penthouse. There were always Crows around.”
“Yes, boys get a playdate, too,” Gemma says with finality.
Gemma and I bow our heads together and giggle as we finish our champagne. My best friend knows about Jay. She approves and is happy for me. The evening couldn’t get any better.