LAILAH
TWENTY-SEVEN
Mr. Creed went over a few more things with us and gave me two more books to start looking over before we left his study.
Now I needed to go back to my room and change to meet with Tony for my assessment down in the humongous gym.
There was a full weight room, a boxing ring, basketball court, and even an indoor track.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me there was an INDOOR TRACK??” I demanded when I caught sight of it, turning to glare at the guys.
“Ah…” Parker said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry Trouble, I totally forgot we had that down here.”
Jay walked up to me and pulled me against his chest with a little smirk on his lips. “I didn’t tell you because I like having alone time with you. If we run here, they’ll turn up.” He motioned with his head.
“Okay, that’s kind of really sweet, but it’s been two months since I’ve been able to run outside! Why didn’t you tell me then?” I countered, trying to still be irritated with him but failing.
Jay shrugged his shoulders and looked at the track. “I hate running underground.”
“The gang’s all here. Hmm, I don’t remember telling you guys to come for an assessment?” Tony smirked as he entered the gym with Cami right behind him.
Tony was a large, buff black man with warm brown eyes. His thick black hair was cut to the skin on the side and left about an inch on top. Today, he looked much more relaxed in his basketball shorts and t-shirt, versus his security uniform.
“I believe you owe me twenty bucks, big man.” Cami grinned, holding out her hand.
Returning her grin, he slapped her hand and kept walking. “I never said I agreed to the bet, short stop. I try not to lose money to you unnecessarily.”
“What the hell are you doing here, ankle biter?” Micah asked, arms crossed.
“Did you forget so soon, flame boy? We have a match to settle things between us, or are you too scared to lose?” Cami taunted.
“Oh, it’s on, bite-size. Prepare to get your ass burnt,” Micah tossed back.
I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing as they tossed insults back and forth, standing toe to toe, with Cami’s hands on her hips, glaring up at him. The size difference between them made it that much more funny.
“Easy now, you two. We’re going to deal with that a bit later, when I’m done with Lailah.
I’m glad you’re all here—I thought it might be fun to start the new year with a little tournament, test your skills and see what needs work,” Tony interjected, pulling Cami away by the back of her shirt.
“Now, you guys entertain yourself until I get this assessment done.”
The group split off to do their own workouts, leaving me with Tony.
“Alright, now Cami tells me you were on the track team. Did they have you working with free weights or just drills on the track field?” Tony asked me, looking over his clipboard.
“Typically, we did a lot of drills on the field, but when it was winter we worked out more in the gym. Hard to run in snow and ice.”
Tony nodded his head and stopped at the edge of the stretching floor. “Let’s warm up and see what your flexibility is like. Kill two birds with one stone. First, I have to ask—are you okay with me assisting you and adjusting your form?”
“Yup, not a problem,” I answered, waving off the question. “I’d rather you help me fix something that I’ve done wrong before I hurt myself than freak out over an assist.”
“I hear ya, but I want to make sure you are totally comfortable, and I don’t need five pissed off dudes with magic powers coming after me.” He laughed. “Alright, follow my lead.”
It was nice to be back in the gym and working out, and I really needed the stretching after all the crazy of the last few days.
Then, once I was warmed up, we headed to the weights and worked out my whole body.
We didn’t push it too far, just tested to see when I reached my limit.
Finally, we got to the best part—Tony wanted to see how fast I could run.
“Look, I know you’ve been off a few months and haven’t really been training, so don’t go crazy.
I just want a gauge of where your stamina is.
We’re going for distance, not just speed, although I would be lying if I didn’t tell you I was going to time your 200 meter dash,” Tony said as he pulled out his stopwatch.
I lined up and got into position on the starting block, my body all too willing to fall right back into the swing of things.
The sound of a buzzer signaled the start of the race, and I took off down the track.
I felt myself let everything fade away as I focused on the goal at hand, the sound of my feet on the ground accented by the beating of my heart all I could hear.
This was my safe place, the one thing I could do to let the world fall away and just be.
I didn’t worry about time or how long I was going to run.
I just let my body’s instincts take over, trusting it to know just how far I could push myself.
Finally, when my legs started to burn and my breath was sawing out of my lungs, I started to slow down and did another lap at a more leisurely pace so I didn’t cramp up the moment I stopped.
“Holy shit Lala, that was crazy!” Cami exclaimed when I returned to the starting point where everyone was waiting. “What distance was that, even?”
Tony looked down at his clipboard, adding something up before he looked at me wide-eyed. “You just ran a 10k in a little under an hour without any prior training. Woman, what were you like on your track team?”
“Oh, well that time would be a little slow for me when I was competing. I typically could do that in forty-five minutes, sometimes a little less. Before you guys get really impressed, the Olympic level is like thirty minutes, okay,” I said blushing.
“Well, I surely don’t need to worry about you being able to run away fast enough if something bad goes down,” Tony said with a smile. “Now, go stretch out while I get this little tournament figured out with these idiots.”
Nodding, I headed over to the side and flopped to the ground to start my cooldown.
When I sat up from a stretch, a water bottle was hanging in the air by my face.
Grabbing it, I looked around and saw Jay with a smirk on his face.
Had he just used his air powers to send me over a bottle of water?
Then he winked. Yup, that confirmed it—Jay was showing off, and I quite enjoyed it.
Confident that I wouldn’t cramp up from my workout and the run, I headed back over to the group, heading right to Jay.
I bumped him with my hip, causing him to look at me. “Thanks for the water.”
“I noticed you forgot to bring one, and it isn’t smart to let yourself get dehydrated,” Jay mentioned, cocking a scolding eyebrow at me.
This made me smile even more. “Thankfully, I have a very attentive boyfriend to make sure I’m well looked after.”
A cough sounded, pulling my attention back to the others, who were watching the two of us with amused looks.
“If you two are done flirting, we have a tournament to start,” Tony admonished.
Feeling my cheeks heat with embarrassment, I looked down at my feet. “Sorry.”
Jay slipped his hand into mine and gave it a squeeze but didn’t let go; instead, he threaded his fingers through mine.
“Alright, we’re going to start with Micah and Cami.
The rules for you two are simple: no powers and no nut shots.
The first one to get their opponent to tap out wins.
Oh, and try not to kill each other, alright?
” Tony instructed, holding the ropes apart for the two of them to enter into the boxing ring.
Cami and Micah already had their hands wrapped and were wearing knuckle gloves. Micah bounced on the balls of his feet, shaking out his arms as he waited while Cami did some last-minute stretches.
“Fighters meet,” Tony called, and they came to the center. “Fighters ready… and fight!”
Micah started out swinging, but Cami ducked low and elbowed him in the gut.
“Not off to such a good start there,” Cami taunted as they broke apart, beginning to circle each other, watching and waiting for the next move.
Cami charged at Micah and he braced himself for a hit, but she leapt at him like a puma taking down its prey.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and took him down to the mats with a resounding THUD.
Cami started to wail on Micah, hitting him where she could reach, but Micah was able to shield himself for the most part.
“What the fuck is this?! You’re fighting like some angry drunk chick at a bar,” Micah spat as he tried to hold his own. “This is how you’re going to prove to me that you can keep Lailah safe?”
Having had enough, Micah kicked his legs up and was able to trap her around her neck, pulling his legs down and bending her backwards while he rolled, dislodging her. He swept her away, giving himself time to stand and prepare for the next attack.
They came together in a flurry of kicks, blocks, and punches so fast it was hard to tell what landed and what didn’t.
Then Micah took Cami down to the mats, but that didn’t mean the fight was over.
Cami refused to allow Micah to take whatever hold he was trying to, squirming around like an eel.
Then, somehow, they both ended up in this impossible knot of limbs neither one of them could get out of.
A whistle blast sounded, and both Micah and Cami released each other. “That’s a tie!” Tony called.
Micah helped Cami to stand.
“Guess we’ll have to try again next year,” Micah grumbled.
Frowning, I looked at them both. “Wait, you’ve done this before?”
“Hell yeah girl, we have a rematch every year!” Cami explained as she hopped out of the ring.
“Why do I feel like you guys totally played me on this?” I asked, and I couldn’t help but pout just a little.
Cami hugged me around my waist so her head was resting on my chest. “Don’t be like that, Lala. It helps us get past the shit that builds up between us, otherwise one of us would explode on the other.”