Six
SIX
Cierra
The weekends were sacred.
I’d always known that, but it became even more apparent today.
I valued my sleep, and there was little I loved more after a long week at work than to be able to get those few extra hours of rest on the weekend.
So, I wasn’t quite sure why I thought agreeing to take self-defense lessons with Greyson first thing on a Saturday morning was a wise idea.
Because even if I enjoyed those lessons with Greyson, even if I could feel my confidence growing with each session I had, it was safe to say I was dragging this morning. It was almost as though my body knew it was the weekend and had prepared itself for the extra hours of rest this morning. That I hadn’t stayed in bed and given my body what it wanted, well, I was now paying the price.
I pulled into the parking lot at Harper Security Ops and realized I was the only one there. The parking lot was empty, save for my car, leading me to believe that Greyson must not have arrived yet.
No problem at all.
I’d just take the time to close my eyes for a few minutes and rest until he showed up.
Almost as soon as I pulled into a spot and put my car in park, I closed my eyes and allowed my head to drop back on the headrest.
Just a few minutes.
Just a quick nap.
That’s all it would be.
The next thing I knew, my body jolted at the sound of a knock on my window. I blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light, and saw Greyson standing outside, peering down at me through the window.
I felt like I’d just been woken from a deep sleep and realized I’d probably made things worse for myself this morning. I was even more exhausted.
I turned off the car, smoothed out my hair, and reached for my things on the opposite seat. Then I opened the door, stepped out, and said, “You startled me.”
“I noticed. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just… Are you feeling alright?” he asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”
We made it to the front door, where he inserted a key and opened it. Once inside, he asked, “Are you sore?”
“Surprisingly, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I do feel some aches and pains, but it’s not unbearable.”
After Greyson locked the front door behind us, presumably so nobody else would come into the building once we had made our way to the training room, he said, “I was worried. I saw you had dozed off in your car, and I assumed you were dealing with too much soreness from yesterday’s lesson.”
We’d turned out of the part of the building where the offices were housed and made our way down the hall toward the training rooms. “No, it’s not that. The thing is, this probably wasn’t the smartest idea. I guess… well, it’s just that I’m not exactly a morning person, so I looked forward to having my weekends to sleep in. Honestly, I think it’s wise I apologize in advance, because I’m not so sure I’m going to be very productive this morning.”
Greyson and I rounded the corner at the end of the hall and made our way into the training room we’d utilized yesterday. “So, what you’re telling me is that I’ve got to try to train a sleepy Cierra this morning.”
I sent an apologetic smile his way. “It looks like it. And again, I’m sorry. There’s little I wouldn’t do right now to be back in my bed.”
He offered a thoughtful expression in return. “If you’re not up to it this morning, we can postpone it until Monday.”
“No. I’m already here. I might as well just do it.”
“Alright. Well, despite the urge you feel to be back in your bed instead of here, I want you to know that I’m proud of you for pushing through and showing up. That says a lot about your determination, and it’s admirable.”
He might have viewed it as admirable. Really, it was just the commitment I had. I didn’t expect I’d be suddenly turned into the kind of person who jumped out of bed, excited to face the day, even after weeks of training. “I hope you’ll remember that when I pass out on the mat an hour from now.”
Greyson laughed, the sound only making me want to curl up and get cozy. “That won’t happen. You’re going to do fine. We’ll take it slow this morning, and we’ll stick to reviewing the moves I’ve already taught you instead of adding anything new. And before we begin any of that, we can start with a quick warmup and some light stretching to get the blood flowing.”
“Mmm. A stretch sounds like a nice way to ease myself into this.”
I could have sworn I heard Greyson chuckling again as I dropped my things down on the stack of extra mats in the corner of the room, but it happened faster than I could turn around, and I was too tired to be sure.
Greyson gave me the first few minutes of our warmup to focus solely on what I was doing to get some heat into my muscles. It was when we were in the middle of stretching a couple of minutes later that he finally broke the ice again.
“If nothing else, I have to admit I’m a bit entertained.”
My brows shot up, questioning him. “Oh?”
“Well, a bit entertained and a lot curious.”
Those same brows pulled down in concentration. “Curious about what?”
Greyson and I were both sitting on the mat now, working on stretching our legs. “It’s just that it’s later than it would be if you were at school. Are you this exhausted during the week?”
Much of the soreness I’d been feeling eased the longer we stayed in each stretch, and the blood flowing a bit easier helped to rouse me. “I wouldn’t say I’m thrilled about rising early during the week. I think my body is just accustomed to it, and something inside me knows that today is not a workday.”
“Maybe, if we’re going to continue to train on Saturdays, we should push it back a few hours to help you out,” Greyson suggested. “If you had called to let me know this morning, I’d have been happy to come in later.”
I mustered up an appreciative smile. “That’s kind of you to offer, but I’d feel awful doing that. I’m already uneasy about this as it is. This is your weekend, and you’re stuck here, working.”
He shrugged and waved his hand dismissively through the air. “This, giving you self-defense lessons, does not feel like work at all.”
Because I was still stuck on the most basic of skills in my training. “It’s embarrassing how slow the process is going for me,” I murmured. “No wonder this doesn’t feel particularly taxing for you. You could probably do it in your sleep.”
“Yeah, but I think that’s true for anyone in their chosen profession,” Greyson reasoned. “Are you telling me you wouldn’t be the same way when it comes to doing your job?”
As soon as he said it, I realized he was right. There wasn’t anything I didn’t know about that library, about where things were, or what resources my students needed. “I guess you’re right. Thanks for not making me feel so bad.”
Greyson smiled at me as he moved our stretch to the opposite leg. “I have to admit, this is such a surprise to me. You’ve always been so chipper every time I’ve been around you. This is like a whole new version of you.”
Though there wasn’t an ounce of accusation or anger in his tone, I felt compelled to defend myself. “You’ve only ever seen me later in the day, always after I’ve put in a full day of work.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. But I’m intrigued now.”
“In what way?”
His lips twitched with amusement. “I don’t know. It’s just that you’ve already been up for a bit, at least long enough to be able to safely drive yourself here. I’m curious what you’re like when you first wake up in the morning and are still in your bed.”
Greyson would have to spend the night in my bed with me to ever have the opportunity to see that. And the more I was around him, the more I learned that we were so very different from one another.
I huffed. “That depends on the day you see me. During the week, I purposely put my alarm on the opposite side of the bedroom, so I’m forced to get out of the bed. But on the weekends, I never set that alarm, and my body doesn’t just automatically wake up at five-thirty. I normally use that time to catch up on a week’s worth of missed sleep. Are you telling me this is normal for you?”
“I’ve always been a morning person. Granted, I like my sleep, but once I’m up, I’m up. I don’t have to fight for my life to stay alert.”
I could hear the teasing in his tone as we moved to lay on our backs for an outer hip, glute, and spinal stretch. “You’ve got that part of it right. I certainly feel like I’m fighting a battle right now.”
My head rolled to the side, where I found Greyson looking at me with a chipper smile on his face. “Is this not helping at all?”
“It is. The stretching and the conversation are both helping. I just don’t think you understand how slow I am to get myself going,” I explained.
A determined look washed over his expression. “Okay. So, more conversation, then. I can do that.”
I sighed. “Ugh, I’m sorry. I’ll have to tell Avalon on Monday when I come in to charge me extra for the additional work you’re needing to do now.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Surprise washed over me at the harshness in his tone. It didn’t make me fearful, but it certainly made me perk up a bit with interest. “No? Is this a normal part of your training with someone?”
“Not usually.”
“So, don’t you think you should be compensated additional for it?”
Greyson’s dark stare roamed over my face. “Absolutely not. First, I’m enjoying myself, Cierra. I like talking to you. Second, you’re my nephew’s teacher. If anything, that qualifies you for a discount.”
Wow.
All of that was nice to hear, especially the tenderness with which he said my name and his confession that he liked talking to me.
“Tucker’s a great kid,” I informed him, deciding this was the perfect opportunity to change topics. “Even if he gets his lack of love for reading from his uncle.”
“Yeah, I need to be a better influence on him. I will say, though, that he did tell me you make having to go to his library class each week a little more bearable. He said you found ways to make it fun, so you should be proud.”
My heart swelled at the same time my belly flipped. I was surprised to learn that Greyson had a conversation with his nephew about me, and I didn’t quite know what to do with that information.
So, feeling curious about something else he said, I asked, “Are there other things you do to be his cool uncle, or is the determination to prevent him from reading the only thing?”
Greyson snorted at my teasing. “Oh, man. I certainly do what I can to earn points with him. My sister is a saint for putting up with what she does. After I picked him up from school that day, I took him out for ice cream.”
My eyes widened as I gasped. “Before dinner?”
He sent a sheepish smile my way. “I couldn’t help it. I was feeling all sorts of things that day. Morgan, Tucker’s mom, called me at the last minute to pick him up, because she’s pregnant right now, and when she went in for a checkup, they wanted to run additional tests. At the time, she didn’t have many details to give me, and her sole focus was on making sure that Tucker wasn’t sitting around at school, believing his mom had forgotten him. So, I focused on Tucker and didn’t have any real answers about what was going on with my sister. Morgan and her husband have been trying for another baby for years and had a couple of pregnancy losses early on, which made this even more terrifying. And Tucker was beyond excited about getting a sibling, so I was worried about how this would impact him if something was terribly wrong.”
Suddenly, I was wide awake. I immediately sat up and turned fully to face him. “Oh, my God. Are you serious? Is she… is she okay? What about the baby?”
Greyson’s eyes roamed over my face again, but there was a different kind of softness in his features this time. He sat up to face me. “She’s okay. The baby’s okay. But she needs to go in for more frequent checks just to make sure nothing goes awry. Apparently, she has more amniotic fluid than they like to see at this stage in the pregnancy.”
My hand was plastered against my chest, my heart hammering. I let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so sorry she’s going through that, but I’m relieved to know everything is okay.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that. And on the bright side, at least we didn’t have to break devastating news to Tucker. I don’t even know if he’d be able to process such a loss at his age, especially when they are in the final few weeks of this pregnancy.”
My heart hurt to think about that little boy needing to face something so tragic. “I hope the remainder of the pregnancy is uneventful and a happy, healthy baby is delivered in the end.”
“Yeah, we’re hoping for the same.” Greyson offered a sweet smile. “So, it looks like you’re feeling a bit more alert now than you were just a few minutes ago.”
I nodded. “Well, you gave me some heart-stopping information. Did you think I’d just continue to lay there and doze off?”
Greyson shrugged as he let out a laugh. “Not necessarily. But I didn’t realize you needed that kind of shock to the system to jolt you awake.”
“I’d prefer easing into things, if given the choice,” I noted, smiling softly. “But I am glad you shared that with me.”
He dipped his chin. “Alright. Well, what do you think? Are you awake enough to get started with some balance drills?”
I let out a deep breath, feeling the most refreshed I had all day long. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks for easing into this with me this morning.”
The corners of Greyson’s mouth tipped up in a smile as his voice dipped low. “It’s been all my pleasure.”
A shiver ran down my spine at that deep rumble, and I wondered why he’d spoken with such a voice. But I didn’t dare ask him what that was about, not the voice or the promise in his words.
Instead, I stood and got myself ready for a morning of training. There was still a guy out there who’d threatened me with just one look, and I couldn’t be distracted by a handsome man who said nice things.