WITSEC

Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

For the most part, school was peaceful this week and flew by. With Amber suspended for a few days and Cassy and her friends being closely watched by Mr. Morgan, I was left alone for the most part. People still whispered about me when they saw me, but my scars were considered old news now that some girl had gotten caught blowing a football player behind the school gym. My lunch detention last Friday had been uneventful. I’d spent the entire time getting ahead on homework.

It was already the weekend. Keelan and I were attempting to spar again. This time I actually made it past the front desk and was in the room where Keelan taught his classes. The room was large and long. The walls and floor were lined with padding. By the door there was a small section of hardwood flooring and shoe cubbies. Keelan had me remove my shoes there before stepping on the padded floor.

“Why don’t we start by going over what your uncle has taught you? I know you know some jiu-jitsu. Do you have any other training?” Keelan asked. He was standing in front of me, with his hands on his hips. He was wearing his gi pants and a form-fitting black shirt.

I had chosen to wear red leggings with the Flash’s lightning bolt running down the side of the leg and a matching shirt. I liked how I’d gotten a smile from Keelan when he had seen what I was wearing.

“He taught me a little bit of boxing and some judo,” I said. “But the majority of what he taught me was jiu-jitsu.”

Keelan nodded. “Why don’t we start off with holds and how well you can get out of them?”

“Okay.” I watched as he came up to me and grabbed my wrist. I frowned up at him. “Really?”

He smiled. “Try to get free.” His grip tightened and he started to pull me. With my free hand I grabbed my other and easily yanked my wrist free.

“Good,” he praised.

Next, he put me in a standing rear choke hold. To escape, I twisted my body to the side, threw my thigh behind his, and with all my strength, because he was a lot bigger than me, I pulled us backward to the ground. With my thigh behind his, he had no choice but to take the brunt of the fall. As soon as we hit the ground, I was able to slide my head out from under his armpit and get free.

He chuckled as he got back to his feet. “You don’t hesitate or hold back. That’s good.”

His gaze jumped to my ponytail.

I cut him off before he could suggest what we would do next. “If you go for my hair, Keelan, I’ll have you face down on this floor and begging in less than five seconds.”

My threat only made him grin. “Alright, baby girl. I won't pull your hair…this time.”

His tone suggested something other than sparring and my mind filled with filthy thoughts.

My face must have shown what I was thinking, because Keelan smirked. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t tease you, but the way you react is so adorable, I can’t seem to help myself.”

I put my hands on my hips and tried to look perturbed. “Shall we continue?”

Keelan got back into serious mode and we moved to the floor. I was to lay on my back as Keelan straddled my hips. He started off by pinning my wrists above my head. “Get free,” he said, staring down at me.

I brought my feet as close as I could to my butt and thrust my pelvis up, propelling him forward, as I slid my wrists to the sides at the same time. Keelan had two options. One: refuse to let go of my wrists and nosedive into the floor above my head. Or two: let go and catch himself. He chose to save himself. I threw my free arms around his exposed middle, used his body as a way to pull my butt out from between his legs to gain leverage, then hooked my upper arm over one of his as I bent one of my legs again and rolled us until he was the one on his back. I gave him a bright smile. “What’s next?”

Keelan tested me again and again until he got a good idea of how advanced my training was, and then we switched to sparring. That was when the fun began. We were both sweaty, breathing heavy, and I had my legs wrapped around his arm and neck. “Quit holding back on me,” I growled.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he strained to say. He was having difficulty getting free.

“I’m pretty sure I can take you, pretty boy.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Even you talking shit is adorable.”

“I’ll show you adorable,” I grumbled and squeezed my legs.

He tapped my thigh, signaling defeat, and I released his arm and dropped my legs to the floor on either side of him. Between my legs, he sat back on his haunches. For a while we both just focused on breathing.

I tried to sit up and fell back with a groan. “My legs and arms feel like spaghetti.”

“What you don’t have in strength you make up for in stamina,” he said. He cracked his neck. “Man, I’m going to sleep good tonight.”

“Does that mean you’re too tired for Game of Thrones tonight?”

“I won't skip out on our Game of Thrones date.”

I smiled up at the ceiling. “Good.”

“Alright, let's get up,” he said, leaning over me. His hands slid under my ribs and up my back a little. I gripped his biceps as he lifted the upper half of my body until we were sitting face to face.

“Can you carry me home, too?” I joked.

He grinned. “You should get with Knox a couple times a week to do some strength training.”

I groaned again, this time a little exaggeratedly, making him chuckle. He climbed to his feet and held out a hand to help me to mine.

“So what's the verdict?” I asked.

“I think jiu-jitsu is your strong suit,” he pointed out.

“That was the class I wanted to take.”

“You have the training and discipline of a brown belt, possibly a black belt. I teach a class for that level. The issue is that it’s during the week right as you get off school. We have another class that I don’t teach that is an all-levels, but all the students in that are either white belts or blue belts. You won’t be challenged in that class.”

“I just want to be able to defend myself if I ever need to.”

“I’d say you know how to properly defend yourself. What your uncle got you to master in a year is remarkable.” He put his hands on his hips and went quiet for a moment. I could tell he was thinking something over. “I can work with you every Saturday at this time.”

I scrunched my nose. “One-on-one sessions with Keelan Stone, skilled MMA fighter and one of the owners of Desert Stone Fitness. Hmm, I don’t know. You sound expensive,” I joked.

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t charge you.”

I shook my head. “I was kidding, Keelan. Of course you’re going to charge me. I would feel guilty not paying.”

He shrugged. “You’re getting the girlfriend discount.”

“I’m not your girlfriend.”

“Want to be?” he asked with a charming smile.

All I could do was blink.

He laughed, shaking his head. “So adorable.”

He’s just teasing me , I mused as I slowly recovered from my stunned state.

“How about this?” he started. “I’m currently teaching a beginners’ jiu-jitsu class for just women, but the other instructor who usually teaches the class with me is pregnant and doesn’t feel comfortable sparring anymore, even in a teaching setting. I don’t have the time to find and hire someone else. I need someone who will demonstrate with me and help me make sure the students are maneuvering properly, because not all of them are comfortable with me being close or pinning them down. Some of them have been through some shit.” He paused to see if I caught his meaning and I did. “If you help me teach the class, we’ll call it even.”

I felt kind of put on the spot, but I was interested. “When is the class?”

“Mondays and Wednesdays at four.”

I mulled everything over in my head and couldn’t find a reason not to do it. “Okay.”

“Great.”

We put on our shoes before making our way to his office across from Knox’s, who happened to be sitting behind his desk as we walked by.

“What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” Keelan asked as I scooped up the gym bag I’d left in his office.

“I’m going to brave the showers here so I can go to the grocery store,” I said.

“Just use the shower in Knox’s office,” Keelan suggested.

Not wanting to impose, I was getting ready to decline when Knox’s voice came from across the hall. “Just use the damn shower, Shiloh.”

Keelan snorted and followed me into Knox’s office. As we entered, Knox didn’t look up from a form he was filling out.

“I’m thinking of making homemade pizzas for dinner. Any requests or can I surprise you?” I asked them and that got Knox’s attention.

He looked up and studied me with narrowed eyes. “That depends, are you planning on making something weird you saw on the Food Network and it’s going to have ingredients we’ve never heard of?”

I gave him a sly smile. “Have I made something you’ve not liked?”

“She has a point,” Keelan said. “And I doubt anyone could mess up pizza.”

Knox waved his hand flippantly. “Fine, do your thing.”

“Yay!” I beamed. “You guys like octopus, right?”

They both went silent and Knox glared at Keelan, like he was at fault. I spun on my heel to head to the bathroom before they could see me smiling.

“Shiloh,” Knox said.

Unable to contain it, I laughed as I dashed inside the bathroom.

By the time I was done with my shower and came back out, Keelan and Knox were gone. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to all four of the guys in our group chat that I was leaving and that I would see them tonight.

As I stepped out of Knox’s office, I ran into Stephanie. “Hi,” I said, trying to be friendly.

She looked from me to Knox’s office with a frown. “What are you doing back here? This area is for employees of the gym only.”

“Excuse me?” I gaped.

“You heard me. Please leave,” she said, before squeezing past me into Knox’s office and slamming the door.

Confused, I walked down the hall toward the front desk. “What in the H…E…double hockey sticks was that?” I mumbled to myself. I was so befuddled and lost in my thoughts I ran into another person as I came out from behind the front desk. This time I actually collided with them—or more specifically, their chest.

Their hands gripped my hips. “Whoa, there.”

“I’m sorry!” I said quickly and glanced up. I fought not to cringe when I saw that it was Jacob, the creepy guy, who I’d met running the track upstairs not that long ago.

“No harm. No foul,” he said, smiling. “How’ve you been, Shiloh?” He said my name with familiarity that didn’t sit well with me and he had yet to let go of my hips.

I stepped back until he had no choice but to let me go. “I’m good.”

“I haven’t seen you running here as much anymore.”

“I run at home most of the time.”

That made his smile dim a little. “Running on a treadmill just isn’t the same.”

“I don’t have a treadmill.” I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth. Why had I been raised to be a polite person?

The spark in his smile returned. “Oh, you run around your neighborhood. It’s getting too hot out to be doing that. You must go early in the morning or at night.”

The hair on the back of my neck rose. Why did he need to know that? There was a warning going off inside me. It pulled at me to get away from him. I’d ignored that warning with Mr. X. I would not make that mistake again.

I felt a hand touch the small of my back before Colt appeared next to me. “Hey, babe, what are you still doing here?” he asked as he looked from Jacob to me.

I was so happy to see him I could have kissed him. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. “Hey!” I said, a little high-pitched, pushed up on my tiptoes, and kissed him. He was surprised at first, but he quickly recovered. I slid my hand into his before I broke our kiss with a fake smile. “I ran into Jacob here and we got to talking.” I turned my fake smile on Jacob, who didn’t seem happy with Colt’s presence. In fact, he scowled at him. “I should really be going, though,” I told Jacob, regaining his attention. “It was nice talking to you.”

Jacob nodded curtly and headed for the exit. I didn’t take my eyes off him until he was through the door and walking into the parking lot.

“You’re squeezing my hand, babe,” Colt said.

I turned to face him. “Please walk me to my car.” I hated how there was a hint of fear in my voice.

Anger brewed like a storm in his beautiful aquamarine eyes. “Has that guy been bothering you?”

“No.” I grimaced. “He gives me a bad feeling. It’s the way he says things like how he’s watched me run and brought up how long I run. I run for hours. Does that mean he watched me for the entire time? Then he brought up how I haven’t been using the track as much and fished to know what time of day I run around our neighborhood. I know I probably sound crazy, but my instincts are screaming at me that he’s no good.”

He pulled me close so he could wrap his arms around me. “I don’t think you’re crazy. If he gives you a bad feeling, that’s all that matters to me.”

I buried my face in his chest and breathed him in.

“Hey, everything okay?” The sound of Creed’s voice made me smile and I turned to lay my cheek on Colt’s chest so I could see him.

“We’ll talk about it later. Want to take off early?” Colt asked him.

“Sure. We can go with Shiloh to the store and make sure she doesn’t buy an octopus.”

I giggled. “Did Knox tell you that?”

“Keelan,” they both said at the same time.

Colt kissed my temple before reluctantly pulling away from our embrace. “I’m going to go find Knox and let him know.”

Creed threw his arm over my shoulders and we watched Colt walk off. “What do I have to bribe you with to get a meat lover's-style pizza?” Creed whispered in my ear.

I laughed. “Hmm…my price would be physical. I don’t think you’ll want to do it.”

He shifted so that we were facing each other. “I think I’ll be the judge of that.”

I circled my arms around his waist as I stared up at him. “What I want would involve your hands.” I brought my voice down to a whisper. “They’d have to do some rubbing and massaging and they might even get a little dirty.”

The more I talked, the higher his brows rose. For a moment all he did was study me and it was taking all the willpower I had to keep a straight face. I got to bear witness to his lightbulb moment just before his shoulders slumped a little. “You’re talking about kneading pizza dough, aren’t you?”

I grinned up at him innocently. “Of course. What’d you think I was talking about?”