Chapter 27 Jade #5
He looks down at me as he gets closer, and I feel his eyes burn a trail over my exposed skin as he looks me over from top to bottom, much the same way I am him.
He reaches the mat I’m on and continues without so much as a word.
I can't stop myself from continuing my visual exploration of his body, even with his back to me.
Much like the rest of him, his back is completely covered in art that wraps around his well-defined muscles.
No wonder girls are ready to fight for him.
His ass alone is mouth-watering.
I shake myself from that line of thought and continue stretching, keeping my eyes down so I don’t have to worry about drooling over him. Which I’m not afraid to admit is a very real possibility.
I hear him sink onto a mat close to me and assume he’s stretching. Time ticks by slowly, and eventually, people begin to join us, most of whom I have never seen before. Just after the bell rings, the locker room door closes, and I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes when I hear who it is.
Amanda’s annoying voice carries across the gym as she talks to someone far too loudly, and everyone in the room gets to hear just how good she thinks Roderick looks.
Pushing to my feet, I catch a glimpse of Mai as she nods her agreement far too enthusiastically.
Both of them are wearing the tiniest shorts I have ever seen, with matching sports bras.
Amanda’s is all pink, and Mai's is purple.
They look ridiculous, and I seriously wonder if one wrong move won't have a boob popping out or, worse, a pussy lip.
They move to the bags closest to Roderick, watching him like they are about to jump him. I know the disgust is clear on my face. I don’t even try to hide it, and I make a mental note not to ogle him anymore. No matter how good he looks, I don’t want to be one of those girls.
Roderick stands at the front of the mats and calls attention. Conversations die down instantly, and I realize why Zander didn’t mention the shared class.
Roderick isn’t in this class.
He teaches it!
I’m going to strangle him. His little devil makes so much sense now.
Roderick goes through the basics of a few kicks, demonstrating them for everyone on his bag. I watch the class more than him because, first of all, it's safer, and second, I know all of these moves.
My eyes jump from person to person around me.
There's nine other people in the class besides myself. They all watch Roderick, none the wiser that I'm watching them. Six people, both men and women alike, watch him with much more than just the desire to learn, and I wonder if they took this class for the class or for him. I’m almost positive he’s the reason why Amanda and Mai are here.
They don’t appear to have an ounce of muscle on them, and their long, fake nails don’t look great for combat unless you plan to weaponize them, but I doubt that’s why they have them.
Not to mention, I would like to think that if Amanda knew anything about fighting, she would have tried harder the night of the party. Considering how easily she folded, I feel confident saying this class is all for her eyes.
“Jade,” Roderick calls me, and I turn my attention to where he stands near his bag with a stern look on his face.
“Did you take this class to learn or to people-watch?” he asks me, and I narrow my eyes at him. He knows my skills, so why call on me like this?
“I was waiting for you to get to something worth listening to,” I tell him sweetly. I didn’t intend to make a scene, but for some reason, his calling me out like this irritates me, and I’m not one to pull punches, especially not with them.
His face gives nothing away, but I didn't expect it would. Roderick is great at hiding his emotions behind a mask. His eyes are pretty easy to read after spending time around them, though, and I can see how my words affected him.
“Is that so?” he questions, and I nod. Everyone around us is watching our little back-and-forth now.
“Well, if that's the case, you won't mind coming up here and demonstrating some basic kicks for us, right?” I can see the smile in his eyes, even though nothing about his face looks happy.
I’m confused. I’ll be the first to admit it, but I’m also not one to back down from a challenge.
Pulling myself to my full height, I lift my chin before working my way through the bags and up to the front with him.
When I reach him, he only gestures to it without telling me what it is I should be demonstrating.
Guess I'll just wing it. With a deep breath, I drop into my stance. I start with a front kick before moving to a side kick and then a roundhouse kick, all back to back with hard hits and precision.
“Very good form and not bad strength for someone your size. I bet your kicks could be lethal with a bit more weight training and a better nutrition plan. Meet me after class to talk, and we'll see what we can do,” he tells me in dismissal, and I head back to my spot.
A few people look at me with shock or even wonder on their faces, but Amanda and Mai both have matching looks of anger. Their faces pucker up like they just ate a lemon, and I have to fight hard to keep from laughing at them.
The rest of the class is simple. Everyone works through those three basic kicks, and since I know them, I spend my time working on more complex things on my own.
Roderick mostly ignores me as he walks around correcting people's forms, but occasionally, he will call out praise for me, letting me know he’s paying attention.
I tell myself my cheeks are red from the strain of the workout and not his words, but I know it’s a lie. I’m barely working up a sweat, but I hope everyone else thinks that's what it is. I don’t need any more rumors about the 'Vengeance guys' and me.
Ugh, I still hate that name.
Roderick works with each person, and I quickly see what a hard-ass teacher he is. He expects perfection, and the third time he corrects Amanda’s stance, she gives me a look that lets me know her earlier anger wasn’t just due to my skills but also to his reaction to them.
She’s jealous.
I wink at her before returning to my bag and enjoying seeing her seethe for a moment. I doubt half of these people will last the whole semester in this class, but I will.
When Roderick dismisses the class, I grab a drink at the fountain and head over to him, where he once again stands in front. Amanda and Mai slowly collect their water bottles, purposefully bending over so that their asses are facing him and on full display.
Gross.
Roderick doesn't even bat an eye in their direction, and Amanda actually stomps her foot when she stands up again, only to realize he hasn't so much as glanced her way. I chuckle at them as I walk past because they deserve to feel stupid, trying so hard to get attention when he isn’t interested.
Not to mention, I remember her pushing herself on both him and Zander at the party.
“Trashy.”
Amanda’s head whips around to look at me, and I realize too late that I spoke aloud.
Oh well, it's the truth. She looks disgusted when her eyes land on me, but I ignore her, which only seems to make her angrier. As I walk past Mai, her foot pops out in front of me in an attempt to trip me. I hop over it with ease and keep walking as if it wasn’t there.
I can’t keep the smile off my face as I hear them both stomp away.
“You probably shouldn’t poke at them like that,” Roderick says as I reach him. I shrug but say nothing. He’s probably right, but they started it, and I’m not doing anything wrong; just being petty. We both know I could do so much worse.
“I was hoping that having you demonstrate would help keep them off your back, but it seems like they’ve already decided to target you.” He grabs his water bottle, and we head toward the locker rooms together.
“They don’t worry me. I can handle a few bitchy girls,” I tell him, and he huffs.
“I’m not worried about if you can hand them; I know you are more than capable.
I was just hoping you wouldn’t have to, is all.
You have a lot going on right now. We all do.
Not having to deal with them would have been better,” he says, stopping at the water fountain to refill his bottle.
I stop with him and lean up against the wall while I wait.
“I was serious about weight lifting and nutrition, by the way.” His eyes rack over me from head to toe, as if assessing me. And I think that might be exactly what he’s doing.
“If you're interested, I can change your Monday kickboxing class to weights, and you can meet with the advanced class on Wednesday.” He looks back at his bottle, twists the cap, and heads to the locker rooms. “We can talk about meals when we get home, and I can show you which foods are easy and best to help you gain more muscle now that you have the choice,” he says, and for a moment, I don’t know what to say.
Roderick hasn’t been mean to me exactly, but this almost feels like an olive branch.
One that has me more excited than I want to admit.
“If you're interested,” he adds, no doubt taking my silence the wrong way.
“Of course I’m interested,” I tell him as excitement courses through me. “I’ve been fighting to stay in shape for years, but it wasn’t exactly easy when you have no idea when your next meal will be.”
He looks over at me and nods, his face set in a serious expression that wasn’t there a moment ago. We reach the doors to the lockers, and he turns to head into the guys.
“Roderick,” I say, and he turns back to look at me. “Thank you,” I tell him with a smile.
His lip twitches up the tiniest bit as he looks at me. “No problem. Now, get changed before we’re both late for English. We can talk about this more at home after school,” he says, reaching out to ruffle my hair just like he did this morning before he disappears into the men's locker room.
I turn to enter the girl's room, my hand on the door before my brain fully processes what he said.
Home.
Is that what their house is to me?
Can I let myself have a home?
I shake the thought away before I let myself get too far into it, before I let myself want that.
No, I don’t have a home, and until this shit is put to rest, I won’t.
I can’t.
The rest of the day is much the same. I go to English with Roderick, and he sits next to me.
People look at us with shock clear on their faces, and some look at me with anger.
I ignore them all. Roderick helps me with the lesson, and I tell him about the study session.
He offers extra assistance if I should need it.
I text Zander all day and Hazel a bit, too. Trent also checked up on me a few times.
After history, we head to the car, where Spencer and Zander are already waiting for us.
Zander asks me a million questions about my day and wants to know how I like classes so far.
I explain most of it. He seems less than thrilled about Leo and Trent but doesn’t say anything, so I keep going.
He laughs when I glare at him for knowing Roderick was my kickboxing instructor.
We head back to the house, and Roderick cooks while Zander and Spencer disappear for a while.
I stay and offer what little help I can while trying to watch what he’s doing in hopes of learning new things to cook.
Tonight, he’s making Enchiladas, which he said is a Mexican dish.
I’ve never even heard of it, let alone tried it, but I’m excited, especially with how good it smells.
After he throws it in the oven to bake, we sit down, and he walks me through things that are good to eat and snack on that we have in the house already.
He also promises to take me to the store this weekend to help me get more protein-rich foods.
According to Roderick, a huge part of muscle building is the protein you take in.
Which was, of course, the thing we got least of while being held.
I take in all the info he gives me because, at the end of the day, I have no idea about any of these, but based on his build, I'd like to think he knows what he’s talking about.
We eat and head to bed. I’m not sure about the others, but this day was a lot for me, and by the time my head hits my pillow, I’m out.