Chapter 5 #3
Nervously, Ebony stepped forward and reached for her zipper.
For weigh-ins you were allowed to wear as little or as many clothes as you wanted, depending on what weight class you were trying to get.
And since the Dobok uniforms were made out of heavy fabric she had always opted to wear as little as possible.
Unzipping her hoodie, Ebony let it fall away into Gavin's waiting hands before slipping out of her sweatpants.
Standing in only a sports bra and a pair of track briefs, which essentially were just panties, she stepped onto the scale.
Behind her Gavin said nothing. He was just a void of silence behind her as she stood on the scale.
For a brief second, it felt like the whole world stopped breathing as the numbers dialed into place.
"Okay, thank you. Next," the attendant said crisply as she scribbled Ebony's number onto a sheet.
Large arms wrapped around her from behind, encasing her in her hoodie jacket and pulling her gently from the scale.
Turning around and feeling somewhat like a burrito, she looked up at Gavin who grinned down at her.
His eyes flashed wickedly. "No having to fight Godzilla."
Movement behind Gavin caught her eye and Ebony leaned over to see a familiar figure walking into the room as Winifred walked out. Covering his eyes with one hand, Cameron blindly walked inside the room.
Gavin handed her the discarded sweatpants and turned with his back toward her, shielding her as she changed back into her clothes.
"Everyone decent?" Cameron called out even though they all knew he was mainly talking about her.
Dressed, Ebony walked past him to her bag lying on the floor. "Yep. I'm about to change."
Uncovering his eyes, Cameron grinned at her just as the attendant gave both guys a demanding look. With her hands on her hips, she shouted. "Are you two going to weigh in or not?"
The thick fabric of Gavin's uniform rustled as he stepped onto the scale. His sleeves were custom fitted and shorter than other students’, showing off his thick defined arms. The black belt at his waist accentuated his narrow hips, pulling in the billowing fabric of his pants.
With his number recorded he stepped back to allow Cameron forward and raised a brow at him when Cameron didn't remove any of his clothes like he normally did. Like her, Cameron didn’t enjoy fighting above his weight class.
With his tall swimmer's build, any extra weight could easily put him into the heavier weight class—the class Gavin happily fought in.
"You're not going to strip off some weight?" Gavin asked.
Cameron shook his head and returned a challenging smile. "Nah, I'm going to keep mine on."
For a moment, Gavin paused. His head cocked to the side as if computing what Cameron was saying. His aqua blue eyes sized up his friend. Standing nearly as tall as Gavin, Cameron didn’t have Gavin's bulk but he did have speed, something Gavin knew firsthand from training with Cameron.
Ebony thought of the second time she had met Cameron years ago.
He had shown up to one of their pool parties.
Ethan had talked him into going around the party pushing everyone into the pool.
He had tried to push her in but Ebony had seen their game and had caught him in a pretty standard joint lock.
Cameron had surprised her and reversed the entire move on her in a blink of an eye. She was still processing what he had done when the water swallowed her whole. Thankfully, Gavin had avenged her and simply lifted Cameron up and tossed him into the deep end.
Gavin grinned in satisfaction at Cameron as he stepped onto the scale. "Oh shit. You want to jump up a weight class," his voice brimming with excitement. "Does my precious son want to fight his sire?" he said, grabbing Cameron and pulling him into a headlock.
Cameron ducked out from under Gavin's hold with a laugh, his eyes briefly flicking to her where she stood now fully dressed in her white Dobok, using their distraction as an opportunity to dress.
"Okay," Gavin warned as he tilted his head left to right, stretching out his neck. "But I need you to speak loudly and clearly into a camera and explain to your coach why you won't be able to come to swim practice due to your impending coma."
Ebony rolled her eyes and turned away from the two. They could and would spend every second up until their match shit-talking one another. With her black belt tightened around her waist and her feet bare, she walked out into the main hall and immediately stopped at the sight in front of her.
The outside doors swung open, revealing a silhouette framed by the bright sunlight.
Outlined sharply against the glaring light, she recognized the unmistakable shape of a cowboy hat and the lean, strong body it sat atop—Garrett Kreager.
A longtime friend who lived in the neighboring city Holter and a long-ago secret crush of hers.
Garrett's eyes met hers, and a slow smirk spread across his face as he stepped into the hall.
Without hesitation Ebony stepped forward and hugged the giant cowboy.
Although no one could ever tell by his face and overall demeanor, Garrett was actually only a year older than her but still a senior.
Due to starting school late and his naturally older appearance he often confused people and especially fellow students.
Firm hands suddenly latched onto her waist and pulled her backwards. Ebony only flinched for a moment before the familiar warm scent of cologne alerted her to who it was.
Ebony tilted her head up to glare at Gavin. Gavin smiled meanly back at her. "You need to focus."
She pulled away from him as he turned to Garrett. Their gazes locked, intense and unyielding, the kind of stare only old rivals turned friends could understand. "Hey, but if you want a hug, I got one right here for you." Gavin opened his arms wide and stepped closer to Garrett.
Garrett's smirk turned into a sharp smile. "Touch me, and I will enter this tournament and beat you in front of your parents."
"Parents?" Gavin paused, dropping his arms.
Ebony turned to see the door open again, two people stepping through with the bright sunlight.
Just as the door closed, cutting off the light, her parents came into focus and Grant's glittering gaze settled onto his son's broad back. "All that training and you can't sense when someone is coming up behind you. I want my money back."
Gavin turned with a heavy sigh and eyed his father. "That’s why the hair on the back of my neck was standing up." He rubbed at the back of his neck and winked at their mother.
Whitney Rosebank just smiled indulgently at her stepson before her eyes coolly settled onto Ebony. Ebony debated walking off and leaving them.
Grant wasn’t done. He leveled a look at Gavin. "Don’t worry, it's just your body realizing someone better and stronger has come onto the scene."
Ebony wanted to groan while next to her Cameron visibly perked up.
Nothing made Cameron happier than having Grant Rosebank come to the occasional practice in his own all black Dobok and spar with his son.
It was always a near brutal event but more importantly her father was always the victor.
But a fight between the two hadn't happened in years although clearly Cameron and even Garrett judging by the lift of his brow was keen on seeing it again.
Gavin continued as if he hadn't heard his father’s dig. "Nope," he refuted. "It was seeing this goddess here. Hello, my one true parent, you look stunning as usual."
Doing her best not to roll her eyes, Ebony slid past Gavin and hugged her father around the waist. "Hi, Daddy."
Grant's thick arm settled protectively around her back and hugged her to his side. His cool blue eyes warmed as he looked down at her. "Hello, my love. Just know that everything goes to you after I'm gone." He threw a caustic look to his son.
Gavin's expression brightened. "Joke’s on you, we already discussed that plan. I'll have you know, I'll be her secretary."
"Secretary?" Her mother laughed.
Putting his arm around her shoulder, Gavin guided their mother down the hallway with Garrett trailing after them as he explained. "Yeah, she's a little outdated, but we'll work on that."
Grant watched his son and wife leave before turning to Cameron. "I saw you on the roster to fight Gavin."
It didn’t matter how many years Cameron had been friends with Gavin and hung out at their house, Cameron always managed to turn into a statue around her father.
Cameron nodded stiffly. "Yes, sir."
Grant was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Remember to be light on your feet and move laterally. Don’t get stuck in a line. And remember to always block your head and don’t rely on your dominant foot."
He didn't wait for a reply but strode to where her mom was no doubt waiting for him in the arena.
Cameron let out a big sigh once they were alone and Ebony couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. "Don’t worry. Just remember to block and keep moving and you'll be fine."
Most of her team members that belonged to the Stardust Martial Arts Center won their matches that day.
Master Chun had congratulated her as he always did when he presented her winning medal.
Ebony sat between her mother and Garrett as they all watched Gavin and Cameron walk onto the mat.
Each was wearing the puffy protective chest piece and matching helmet, Gavin in red and Cameron in blue.
Ebony smiled at the wave of nostalgia. She could still remember her and Gavin arguing as kids who would get what color while Master Chun stared daggers at them.
Maybe it was the rare presence of her parents sitting next to her or the tension of watching Cameron actually going up against his best friend but Ebony's thoughts began to drift.
It brought back memories of the car rides home, with Gavin excitedly boasting about his victories, or the celebratory ice cream along the way.
But as the present melted away and the past came hurtling to the forefront of her mind, another memory leapt forward, one she hadn't thought of in years, of how she first met her step brother years ago.
Eleven years ago.
The thud of feet hitting the padded mat echoed inside of Ebony's padded helmet.
She shifted her stance, eyes fixed on the boy in front of her.
His eyes peeking through the helmet were a shock of sky blue, small and cruel like a baby alligator she had seen on a field trip.
His movements were quick and confident—too confident actually—she could see at least three openings so far.
Arrogantly, he bounced on his toes waiting and watching for her to move first. She wouldn't. She would do what her coach taught her and let her opponent make the first move, the first mistake.
This was her first regional taekwondo tournament.
It took a lot of pleading to get her mother to make the drive from Houston down to this town hosting the tournament, but Ebony finally convinced her.
Around her, the air buzzed with shouts and cheers as other tournaments on other mats were steadily progressing, yet all she could hear was her own heartbeat thundering in her ears.
The boy's patience wore off and he moved forward, launching a rapid series of kicks aimed at her torso.
But he made a mistake; in his attempt to do the overly complicated move he dropped the arm guarding his head.
Ebony seized the moment, pivoting swiftly and delivering a precise kick to the red padded helmet.
The impact sounded off with a loud slap.
Before she knew it the referee's whistle cut sharply through the air, signaling the end of the match. Ebony stood and watched as shock mutated into anger on the boy's face. Ripping off his helmet, the boy charged her despite the referee's warning shout.
But another deeper sound cut through all the noise.
"Gavin!" The word felt like the lash of a whip in the air while the next words came out like short punctuated gun shots. "Don't. Even. Think. About it."
The boy froze, flicking a worried look to the source of the voice before settling back onto her with pure hatred.
A large—no make that giant—man came over to stand next to the boy. He glared down at him before looking at her with a slow widening smile.
Nervously Ebony looked to the bleachers and saw her mom walking toward her, her sharp eyes steadied on the man. Feeling a little more comfortable knowing her mother was coming over, Ebony took off her helmet.
The boy's eyes widened into shock as he watched her puffy curls pop from the helmet, and the man laughed at his expression.
"You're a girl?!" The boy, Gavin, shouted, clearly distraught by the revelation.
Ebony looked at him as if he were dumb or something. "Obviously."
Before he could say anything else the man spoke up. "I'm sorry my son is such a poor loser," he glared at his son as if this would not be the last time they spoke of this and then smiled back at her. "You're quite good."
Ebony didn't want to say anything. Even though the gigantic man had a kind smile and bright blue eyes, all she wanted was to shake the referee's hand like you were supposed to do after each match and get her trophy.
But she could feel her mother's presence behind her and knew she would scold her in the car on the drive home if she didn’t act appropriately.
"Thank you," she forced herself to say.
The man looked from her and traveled upward and stopped, his bright blue eyes settling on her mother. Something warm and unreadable passed over the man's expression as he extended a hand. "Grant Rosebank," he offered and waited until her mother gently put a hand in his.
Ebony watched as his pale hand seemed to swallow her mother's hand whole.
"Whitney Landry," she answered. "And this is my daughter, Ebony."
As the boy burned a hole into her head with his glare and the referee shook her hand and handed her the blue and gold trophy, Ebony watched as her mother smiled and talked with the giant man with the kind smile.
She could never have known that the tournament she had begged to attend would be the moment her life would change, and that the boy with the mean eyes would come to redefine it.