Chapter 10
Thankfully, all was quiet for the rest of the night.
Piper and David had found cut fences when they’d gone on their hunting excursion but no one on the property who wasn’t supposed to be there.
And while all was calm for now, Elena had a feeling it was just the proverbial calm before the storm.
Someone was out there planning . . . something.
She had no idea what to do about it, but for this moment in time, she could make a young girl happy. She drove to the cabin, then walked up to the door and knocked.
Piper opened the door, coffee in her other hand. “Good morning.”
“Morning.”
“Ollie’s chomping at the bit. I think she was up at six in spite of her ‘I don’t do early mornings’ whine yesterday.”
“I’m looking forward to it too.”
“You sure you’re up to this?”
“I’m up to it.”
Ollie walked into the kitchen dressed in sweats and tennis shoes.
She radiated excitement, and Elena didn’t blame her.
She hadn’t had much to look forward to for the past three months, and now she was very interested in learning to defend herself.
Elena would make it happen despite her own aches and pains.
Aches and pains that were shouting at her this morning.
But nothing was broken, and she didn’t hurt so bad that she couldn’t give some verbal instructions.
Sully stepped into the kitchen. “We all ready?”
“You’re going too?” Elena asked.
“I’m with Ollie like Velcro for now. All right to use your car? I don’t want to use the golf cart. Too open.”
Ollie groaned. “You really think a sniper’s going to—”
Sully shot the teen a hard look and she bit her lip. “I don’t know, but at this point we’re not taking any chances. You’re smart enough to know that. So, it’s this or you can stay here.”
Elena’s eyes widened at the steel in his words, and Ollie blinked, then nodded. “Fine.”
Smart girl. Elena wouldn’t want to argue with that either.
They hurried to the vehicle, and Sully dropped them at the gym. Once they were inside, Sully stayed near the door. “You guys go ahead. Just take it easy, okay?”
Elena nodded. There was no way she’d work the teen too hard. “I promise.”
“I’m going to make a few calls. That okay?”
“Of course. We’ll be right over there in the corner on the mats.”
He nodded, his gaze lingering on her face before he turned away, phone already in hand.
“Hey, Sully?” Ollie said.
“Yeah?”
“After this, can I visit the library here? I want books on how to survive in the woods.”
He smiled. “Sure. Books are good. We’ll get you whatever and however many you want.”
Elena bit her lip, able to read his thoughts without any problem. Books would keep her in one spot. Easy to watch and out of trouble.
She joined Ollie at the blue exercise mats. The polished wooden floor gleamed under the fluorescent lights, and the lemony smell of cleaning solution hung in the air. She kicked off her shoes and stepped onto the mat. Ollie did the same.
“All right, first things first. Self-defense isn’t about strength. It’s about leverage, timing, and using your attacker’s momentum against them, okay?”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Perfect. So, let’s just focus on some basic escapes. And truly, if you can outrun someone, do it. Avoid having someone lay hands on you at all costs.”
“Right,” Ollie said.
“Okay, so let’s try a wrist grab. If someone tries to control you by grabbing your wrist or arm like this . . .” She grabbed the girl’s left wrist in a light hold. “What’s your instinct here?”
“To pull away.” She tugged.
“Exactly. And that rarely works unless you can catch someone by surprise. But if they’re stronger and expecting you to do that, then it’s basically impossible to get away like that.”
“Okay.”
“So, what you want to do is use rotation instead. I’ll show you. Grab my wrist—the one without the bandage.”
Ollie did so. Her grip was surprisingly tight. “Okay, now what?”
“What’s the weakest area of your hold?”
“Where my thumb and fingers are separated a little?”
“Exactly. So if I rotate toward that gap, I have a much better chance of breaking free.”
They practiced the maneuver several times with Elena easily breaking out of Ollie’s grip no matter how tight she tried to hold on.
Then Elena did the same to Ollie, being careful but allowing the teen to master the move. “I think I have this,” she said, excitement bubbling in her voice.
“I think you do.” Elena grinned. “Now, let’s move on to the next step.”
After about fifteen more minutes of practice, Ollie said, “Okay, for real now.”
“I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.”
“I’m not worried about you hurting me. How am I supposed to learn this if it’s too easy?”
She had a point. Elena grabbed Ollie’s wrist in a firm squeeze and the girl rotated her wrist just as she’d been taught, but as she tried to step back, she lost her balance.
Ollie worked to regain her footing and accidentally hooked her ankle around Elena’s.
As she toppled backward, she grabbed Elena’s shirt, and the sudden pull, combined with their tangled feet, sent Elena forward.
Momentum carried her down toward Ollie. At the last second, she managed to twist away to land on her shoulder and avoid falling on her injured wrist—or Ollie.
A moment of stunned silence followed before Ollie shifted, then her eyes widened, her mouth twitched, and she erupted into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Elena asked from her awkward position on the mat. Then she followed Ollie’s gaze and realized why the teen was nearly in tears with laughter.
In her fall, Ollie had somehow managed to grab not just Elena’s shirt but the elastic waistband of her yoga pants, pulling them slightly down her hips.
Just far enough to reveal the bright blue Wonder Woman boy shorts complete with gold stars and the iconic WW logo prominently displayed across the back.
“Wonder Woman?” Ollie gasped.
Elena ignored the heat flooding her cheeks while she adjusted her clothing. “They were on sale,” she muttered, “and they’re super comfortable.”
That set Ollie off again, and Elena found herself unable to maintain the facade of dignity. A snort escaped her, then the giggles started. Finally, Elena caught her breath. “Wonder Woman is a warrior. An Amazonian. The underwear is basically tactical gear.”
Ollie roared and tears streamed down her face. She clutched her stomach and finally lay on her back on the mat, gasping. “So, does Sully know you’re a secret superhero?”
“You wouldn’t dare.” The words held no heat. She didn’t care if Ollie said anything to Sully but played the game like she was supposed to.
“No, not right now. But blackmail material is always handy.”
Elena laughed, and Ollie hopped to her feet. “All right, what’s next? Wanna show me how to use your golden lasso?”
Elena cut her eyes at the girl. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No way.”
“All right. I’ll show you another move. Join me on your knees and face me.”
Ollie did. “What kind of move is this?”
“The kind that finds out if you’re ticklish.” She dug her fingers into the teen’s ribs and Ollie squealed. “I’m going to go with yes.”
Sully had finished his call and stepped back inside in time to see Elena and Ollie go down in a tangled heap. He started to run toward them, then stopped when he heard the laughter and got a glimpse of the Wonder Woman–patterned secret now shared between her and Ollie.
And him. He snickered.
But he wouldn’t let on about that little fact.
The two were lost in their fits of laughter after Elena tricked her into a tickle fest, their mirth triggering his own. He fought the smile curving his lips, and finally gave in to it while he studied Elena.
Laughter transformed her usually composed features, and the sound of her relaxed joy echoed across the gym.
He’d been attracted to her before this moment—drawn to her competence, courage, and determination. But as he watched her now, sitting cross-legged on the mat beside Ollie, both of them wiping tears from their cheeks and still giggling, something shifted inside him.
This glimpse of the playful Elena, slightly embarrassed yet able to laugh at herself, morphed his attraction into something else. Something deeper. And he couldn’t look away.
She looked up and caught his eye across the room, and he wasn’t fast enough to pretend he wasn’t watching, but she didn’t seem to care. She gave him a small shrug and lifted her hands in a silent “What can you do?” gesture.
Okay. He was in trouble. Like serious trouble. Because this woman—who was all things amazing and apparently harboring her own superhero identity—was working her way past every defense he’d painstakingly constructed.
And he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep trying to stop her.
But he should, because he had his own secrets that weren’t quite so lighthearted as Wonder Woman boy shorts.
The thought sobered him, but he continued to watch the training and noticed how easy Elena made it on Ollie physically while giving her excellent self-defense moves in between periods of explanations that were probably rest breaks in disguise.
She’d need to practice the moves when she was stronger, but she caught on quick.
Thirty minutes later, Elena called it. “I think that’s enough for today.”
Ollie looked disappointed, but she didn’t argue. “Can we do more later?”
“Sure. I recommend you treat your body well until later this afternoon—we’ll grab those books from the library—and if you’re feeling up to it, we’ll do another thirty minutes or so. I need a break too.” She rotated her shoulder with a grimace.
The girl’s eyes lit up. “Great!”
“In the meantime, I’ll print off some information about some survival tactics that you can study if you get bored with the books.
Normally, we’d head into the woods, but I don’t think that’s going to be an option right now.
So I’ll think on it and see if I can figure out a way to put those into practice without putting you in danger. And clear it with Sully and Piper.”