Chapter 16 - Westley
I tossed my bag onto the ground and turned around toward Gabriella.
She stood a few feet away from me, bending over as she stretched.
She was wearing long, stretchy pants and a thin jacket today.
She wore a hat that kept her hair back and out of her face.
I stared at her legs, taking them in. It felt like it stirred something deep down, and I shook the thought off.
Focus, Westley. She needs your help with training, not watching her, thinking about how to get into her pants again.
“Are you warm enough?” I asked, rolling my own shoulders. I bounced on the heels of my feet, trying to stay moving.
“It could be warmer out,” she grumbled as she curled and uncurled her fingers, shaking her shoulders. “It’s fucking freezing out here.”
I smirked. “Well, once we get moving, you’ll warm up. You’ll be grateful for the cold.”
Gabriella and I had been practicing each morning before either of us did anything else.
We’d been doing this for a couple of weeks, and we were seeing some good progress from her.
She was able to hold her hands steadier and pull her magic out a little quicker.
She still struggled at moments, but better than before.
She worked with Jade or Nora in the afternoons when they had time. She was working hard, and I could tell just how much she was enjoying it.
“Alright, today we are going to work on resistance.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “What? Why would we do that?”
“You can bring it to your fingers, but now I want to see if you can move past things that will stop it. You need to be able to push through even when something is in your way.”
“That sounds like a lot of mind work, Westley.”
“It is. But it will make you a stronger witch after.”
She groaned, and I smirked.
We started as we always did. I ran at her. Gabriella dodged me, pulling her magic to her hand. But I moved before she could even touch me.
We went in circles, where Gabriella tried to throw her magic at me but could never reach me. I could see Gabriella was getting tired, so I switched the plan.
“Alright, now I want you to pull your magic into your hands and hold it.”
She leaned on her knees, looking at me like I was crazy. “Are you fucking insane?”
I waved my hand, waiting for her. She shook her head, but pulled her hand up, and I watched as sparks formed in it—but they disappeared as quickly as they started.
I watched her try several times before she finally managed to hold it. I watched her eyes sparkle with happiness, and I knew we were just beginning to learn how powerful she was.
We did this for the next couple of days. I wanted to see how long she would hold the magic. I figured the more she tried, the easier it would become.
“Can we change this up?” she asked, turning toward me. Her entire body was shaking, and I knew it was because I was pushing her.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked as I leaned onto one of the punching mats I’d pulled out.
She pointed into the trees, and I raised an eyebrow at her, confused. “The woods?”
“No, the lake.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You want to go into the lake?”
She nodded. “Yes. You said it helped you, so I figured, why couldn’t it help me?”
I couldn’t deny that I was a little surprised at this. I thought she would never want to go near water in winter after how cold she was from the last time. “You want to go in the water? You do realize that’s like a shock for your system.”
“You do it.”
“I’ve been doing it for years. You looked miserable last time you were in it.”
“Oh, I was. It was fucking cold. But I want to go back. Besides, it was actually refreshing when we went. Sure, I froze my ass off, but after that shock set in. It was nice.”
I was a little surprised. “Just to make sure I’m hearing you right, you’re wanting to go into the water?”
She nodded. “And water is resistance. So, it goes with my training.”
I had to give her that. I waved my hand. “Alright, after you.”
I followed Gabriella as we walked. When we got to the lake, she paused. I pointed at her shoes and her jacket. “Take those off. You’re going to want to put those on when we get out and head home right after to warm up. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”
She snorted as she started to tug her shoes off. She yanked off her jacket and turned to me. “Should I get naked?”
“God no,” I said too quickly. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I forced a smile. I was already having a hard enough time keeping my cock in my pants. I didn’t need to have any slip-ups. “Stayed clothed. Unless you want a repeat of what happened last time I was naked.”
Her face went red, and she quickly turned around and started stepping into the water. I watched her shiver. I slipped off my shoes and jacket and followed her.
She got up to her hips, her arms wrapped around her middle as she shook. “Keep going,” I said, moving past her. “Otherwise, you’re going to get stuck in that spot.”
I dove under, allowing the water to soak through me and the cold to hit me. I felt every nerve in my body come alive. I popped back up to the surface and found Gabriella still frozen. She was shivering as she stood there, and I chuckled. “Ella, just go under. Get it over with.”
“I’m regretting this. I’m pretty sure I lost feeling in my toes already.”
I laughed. “You’re already half in, just do it.”
She stayed still for a moment longer before finally diving down. I watched her hair float up, and five seconds later she popped back up. She gasped for air, her eyes wide as she spoke. “Holy shit, it’s cold! Oh my god, it’s worse than last time.”
I laughed as I watched her. “I did warn you.”
“I forgot how cold it was,” she said as she moved closer, still shivering. Her hands were shaking as she tried to calm her breathing.
“Alright, I’ll move to the other side of the lake, and I want you to aim at me.”
She frowned, her eyes widening at my words. “I’m not doing that.”
“No, you are.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hit you.”
“You won’t.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Don’t let your ego get in the way of this, Westley. I don’t want to accidentally hit you while you’re underwater. I can’t drag you out of the water if I do.”
I laughed. “I’m not. You are going to have to push against the water, and your magic is going to move slowly. I will move before it can hit me. This will be good practice because when you get back in the air, your magic will move quickly.”
She shivered. “Okay, fine. But I’m only agreeing because the sooner we get going, the sooner I get out of this.”
I moved to the side of the lake and dove under.
I stared over the water, watching as Gabriella dove under as well.
She stared at me, pulling her hand up, and tried to push her magic out.
I watched bubbles form, but nothing moved out of her hands.
I could see the frustration cross her face as she tried again.
This time, a light came out of her, but it only moved a few inches from her hand under the water.
She popped back up for air, and I slowly moved up. I broke over the water, hearing her cursing. “God damn it.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle watching her. “You okay over there?”
“No,” she snapped. “I’m frustrated.” She ran her hands over her face, anger flashing over it. “This is impossible to do!”
“Gabriella. This is going to take practice. It’s not just going to happen overnight. Just like everything else you’ve been doing. Small steps.”
She looked at me.
“Just getting your magic to go a few feet is still good. You’re not in the air, you’re in the water. It has to move through more than just particles. It takes more strength. You knew this was going to be hard.”
“I didn’t think it was going to be this hard. It’s like I’m pushing against a wall.”
“Take a deep breath, and try again.”
She nodded, took a deep breath, and dove under.
We did this a few times, her magic hardly moving from her fingertips.
I was watching, waiting patiently. I could see she was really trying, putting her mind into it.
And suddenly, I watched her magic come shooting at me.
It was sloppy, slowly descending as it came toward me before stopping just a few inches from me.
I stared at the bubble trail it left behind.
I smiled as I moved back toward the surface. She popped up her eyes wide. “Did you see that!”
I swam toward Gabriella. “Gabriella, that was amazing!!
I pulled her into my arms and spun her. “That was great! You almost hit me!”
She looked at me, a little embarrassed. “You think? It was still really sloppy, and it didn’t even get to you.”
“This is day one of you doing this. You’ve been struggling to get it out, and you managed to almost get it to me under the water. That was a lot of improvement for one day.”
She blushed, and her fingers rested on my shoulder. She felt warm, even though I could tell she was shaking from being cold.
“We should celebrate,” I said, pulling her closer.
She scrunched up her nose. “Celebrate? I don’t know if I agree with that.”
I nodded. “Yes. This is big. We could go out somewhere. This is a big milestone.”
She didn’t look pleased; if anything, she looked like she could vomit.
I quickly realized she probably didn’t want to go around town after everything that happened last week.
She was probably trying to lay low until everything started to blow over, or at least until everyone stopped whispering about it.
“Or, just dinner at home instead,” I offered. “I have some nice steaks in the fridge, and you could take an extra hot shower while I cook. We can watch a movie afterward.”
She smiled. “I’ll take that offer. A hot shower sounds like heaven right now.”
I felt the tug to hold her closer, wanting this moment to last a little longer.
I liked this path we were on. We were getting along, and she was starting to trust me again.
I found myself constantly wanting to spend more time with her, wanting to see her progress and watch her bloom into this new person.