He’s practically handing my future to me on a silver platter. I’d be stupid not to accept his offer, though I know spending more time with him isn’t going to help me get over him, but on the other hand, it’s a risk I’m willing to take if it means I will actually get where I want to be. “Okay, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Rylan gives me a brief nod. “I’m serious. If you start to slack off, the deal is off.”
“I got it. I won’t let you down,” I promise.
“Good,” he says as his dark eyes flash with pride. He starts to leave and I follow behind. “Bianca?” he asks, stopping and turning back to me. “How come you never told anyone about your dad?”
His question catches me off guard and I have to think about my answer. “I don’t know. I guess, mom was dealing with enough already, my sister was way too young to know something like that, and I just couldn’t bear telling Jacinta something so awful, her heart would have broken.”
Rylan’s face is thoughtful as his eyes meet mine. “That was very brave, protecting your family like that, and dealing with it on your own, especially at such a young age. It’s very selfless.”
I give Rylan a sad smile as I consider his words, the thoughts of being brave or selfless never once having entered my mind. To me, I was just doing what I thought was right. I look up at him, hoping I’m not about to cross any lines. “Is that girl you were talking about your sister?”
His eyes widen in surprise. “Yeah, it is,” he says. “How did you know?”
I cringe, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “There’s a lot of rumors going around about you. You’re kind of the campus celebrity,” I inform him.
“Great,” he groans, quietly.
“If you don’t mind me asking…” I say slowly. “What happened to your sister. I mean…after?”
I see the regret in his eyes almost immediately. “I don’t know,” he admits with a slight shake of his head. “I haven’t seen her in ten years. Don’t let that be you.”
“I won’t,” I say, giving him a small smile and heading for the door. I stop and turn back to him, immediately catching his eyes. “I know I haven’t known you long, but for what it’s worth, I imagine you’d be a pretty cool brother and I think she’d be happy to have you in her life again. Don’t give up on her.”
He gives me a small nod and I turn and walk away before I say something else that would potentially cross the line of student/teacher relationship.
“Bianca,” Rylan calls once more. I turn back to see a smile lighting up his face. “7 am in the gym. Don’t be late.” I give him a quick nod and turn to leave. I exit the combat room with my emotions running wild as I try to process everything that’s happened this afternoon.
Chapter 21
I dash around my room as excited as can be. I feel giddy at the thought of meeting with Rylan one-on-one. My body fills with nerves as I wonder what his sessions will hold, and not to mention, how he’s going to treat me. Will he be the tough love Instructor that I’ve become so used to in Combat Training or the kind friend that I shared my secrets with yesterday?
I get dressed in my workout clothes and throw my long hair up before leaving the room in search of the gym. I make it out into the cool summer morning air with the breeze feeling magical on my skin. I walk further into the center of the quad and stop myself. Now, if I were a gym, where the hell would I be? On the Junior Campus, it was pretty well hidden way behind the training rooms so I’m assuming it might be around there somewhere.
I stand on the spot and circle around when I hear the distinct noise of a door closing. I look over to where the sound came and find Rylan exiting out of the staff housing looking as glorious as always in his t-shirt and track pants that hang dangerously low. He sees me standing in the middle of the quad and stops in his tracks, giving me a questioning look.
“What are you doing?” he calls, making his way over to me.
I start towards him, burying my hands into my jacket pocket. “I was just admiring the beautiful brickwork of the academy,” I say with a smile like it was the most obvious response.
He lets out a laugh that wraps my body in pure joy while shaking his head at me in disbelief. “You have no idea where the gym is, do you?” he asks, smirking.
I break into a huge smile, shaking my head, which has him laughing once again. “Come on,” he says, heading off in the same direction as the combat room. We make it to the gym, which I'm pleased to find is literally right next door to the combat room, and to tell the truth, I feel like the biggest idiot for not knowing this earlier.
Rylan holds the door open for me and I make my way in. The very first thing I notice is that we’re completely alone. I take a good look around and find the room is full of mirrors, everywhere I look, I see not only myself but Rylan’s reflection as well. There’s no hiding in here. The room is packed with all the typical gym equipment, treadmills, weights, benches, and bars. All of which I have no idea how to use. I walk deeper into the room, giving everything a good look and trying to work out what the hell they are used for.
“You look lost,” he says with humor.
“Would you be surprised if I said I’ve never actually stepped foot in a gym before?” I say, realizing there’s no point hiding this information from him, he’s bound to work it out for himself.
Rylan doesn’t answer, he just gives me another shake of his head, though he’s clearly amused. He pulls a bench up and sits down while instructing me to stretch. I sit on the floor and begin my stretching routine as he gets started.
“Okay, so what is it that makes you different from the boys?” he asks as if it is a trick question.
I raise my brow, a cheeky response dying to come out. His lips tighten and he fixes me with a serious look, knowing me a little too well for my own good. Okay. Time to be serious.
Hmm, let’s see, apart from my great rack, toned ass, and lack of penis? “I’m small and not packed with muscle.”
“Exactly, so you need to learn how to use that to your advantage and the best way to do that, apart from sparring, is to work on your strength, endurance, and agility,” he says, giving me a solution to all my questions.
“That easy, huh? And how do you suppose I’m going to do that?”
Rylan digs into his pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper before handing it to me. “You’ll do all that by following this,” he says as I open up the piece of paper, studying what’s inside. “Now, this is just an outline, but apart from when you’re meeting with me, this is the stuff I expect you to be doing. I’ll take you through it all so you know what it involves.”
“Hold on a second,” I say, interrupting him. He stops what he’s doing and fixes me with an impatient stare. “It says swimming on here. Now, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the senior campus doesn’t have a pool.” Rylan’s impatient stare quickly turns into a full-blown grin. “What am I missing?”
“There’s a full-sized Olympic pool two buildings over,” he says as smug as can be.
I get back to looking at my training schedule and avoid any eye contact with Rylan as I nurse my ego back to health. I finish stretching and hop up, ready to get started with whatever Rylan has planned for me on this fine morning.
“Okay, are you good to get started?” he asks.
He takes me around the gym, pointing out the few things he wants me to work on today, stopping at each, to make sure I know what I’m doing. I get started on his work as he watches and gives me pointers and tips along the way. Once he’s confident that I am doing more good than harm, he takes himself over to the other side of the gym and gets started on his own workout.
I focus on what I’m doing, watching myself in the mirror and making sure I’m doing it all correctly. I feel powerful and energetic and can’t understand why I’ve avoided this place so long and stuck to running laps around an oval and the occasional sit-ups beside my bed. I work hard and feel amazing.
I take a quick break in between sets to get mysel
f a drink of water and catch Rylan’s reflection in the mirror. He’s laying down on one of the benches, lifting weights above his head. I’ve never known what that exercise was called but seeing Rylan in action like that with his muscles out on display and his arms glistening with the slightest bit of manly sweat, has my body wanting him in a way that I’ve never wanted anybody before.
“Everything okay?” he asks, catching me looking at him, a small smile playing on his lips. “You need help?”
Crap. Busted checking out my instructor.
“Nope, all good,” I say, quickly turning as a grin spreads across my face, which I realize a little too late he can see in my reflection. Damn it.
I get back to my workout, doing everything in my power to avoid looking in his direction. Fighting the temptation is harder than the exhausting workout I’m putting my body through.
After an hour, I have completed my workout. Rylan comes over to see how I went and excuses me to get ready for my day. I leave the gym feeling amazing and exhausted at the same time. I head up to my dorm room and get straight in the shower, letting the hot water rush over me, getting out only when I hear Jacinta banging on the door.
“About time,” she says as we switch places in the bathroom.
A half-hour later, we make our way down to the cafeteria with my mood still ecstatic as I fill her in on my morning. Jacinta meets up with Trey and we all sit down to eat breakfast together, still no sign of Daniel.
By the afternoon, my body is aching and exhaustion is starting to take over. I make my way to the Combat room, dreading another workout. I enter the room and am not sure what I’m going to get from Rylan. During our combat training sessions he’s always been a bit of an ass, though the handful of times we’ve been alone, he’s treated me as a friend. I make my way deeper into the room.
He sits on the stairs waiting for the class to saunter in as Tessa explains something with as much animation as possible to Luke and Alex. He gives me the briefest glance and immediately looks away. I guess during Combat training, he’s nothing but my hot, jerk instructor.
Daniel and Trey make their appearance and Rylan is immediately on his feet with Tessa following behind. “Alright guys, we’re shooting today. Let’s go,” she calls as the room erupts into excited noise.
My body fills with relief knowing I won’t be expected to fight this afternoon. I make myself a mental note to go to bed earlier tonight as there’s no way I will be this lucky again tomorrow. We follow behind our instructors to the shooting range and get started on the day’s session with Daniel standing in the lane beside me being way too obvious about the fact that he’s ignoring me like the plague.
With my long day finished, I curl up in my bed and let the exhaustion claim me as I fall into a heavy sleep.
----------
The next morning I’m up and ready for my next session with Rylan. My body aches from yesterday’s workout, but that doesn’t stop the excited nerves flooding through me as I push through the gym doors, wondering what today’s session will hold.
I’m ten minutes early, but I’m not surprised when I find Rylan already here, finishing up his own workout. “Good timing,” he says mostly to himself, grabbing his water bottle and taking a quick drink.
The sight of his glistening body, muscles on full display makes me weak in the knees. I give him a smile and head straight for the floor, starting on my stretches to remind him just how serious I am about being here.
Rylan takes a seat on the same bench as yesterday. “How are you feeling today?”
“Sore,” I say honestly.
“Thought so,” he smiles. “It’ll take a few weeks, but you’ll get used to it.”
Rylan sits patiently while he waits for me to finish stretching and warming up then hops up and heads over to a bag, pulling out a pair of boxing gloves.
He walks over to me and holds the gloves out. “Now, I’m assuming you know what these are?” he asks with sarcasm dripping from his tone.
I take the gloves from him. “Ha…Ha…very funny,” I respond flatly, sliding them on.
“Good,” he smiles. “No better way to work on your strength, agility, and endurance all at the same time.”
Rylan gives me a brief explanation on how the session is going to work, but after growing up with boxing as one of our main forms of learning about fighting, I’m feeling very confident. Rylan grabs himself some pads and we get straight into it. He pushes me harder and faster than I’ve ever worked before, testing my limits. Adrenaline pulses through me with the need to prove my worth and keeps me going until I can’t physically push myself any longer.
My hour with Rylan is over way too quickly. I lay down taking advantage of the cool floor on my back, tossing my gloves to the side. “Is it always this quiet here in the mornings?” I ask, not ready for our time to be over.
“Yeah, most of the boys tend to come in the afternoon, after training,” he says, picking up the gloves and pads and putting them away. He walks back over to me and stretches his hand out before me. “Come on,” he says. “You’ve got to get ready for class.”
I reach up and take hold of his hand, taking absolute pleasure in the feel of his skin on mine. He pulls me up off the ground in one easy go and before I know it, we’re standing face to face. His proximity has me frozen in place as he holds onto my hand for a fraction longer than necessary. He looks me in the eye. “You did good today,” he says, his voice like velvet on my skin as he gently releases my hand.
I give him a soft smile, wondering just how inappropriate it would be to throw my body at him and crush my lips against his. “Thanks,” I say, grabbing my things and heading for the door before I do something stupid.
“Bianca,” he calls. “Take it easy today, we’re sparring this afternoon and you’ll need your energy.”
Oh, no. After this morning’s effort, there’s no way I’ll be able to beat the boys. “Will do,” I say with a salute, hoping to God that I make it through the day.
Chapter 22
As I had expected, the afternoon was awful. I got my ass kicked by Trey, though I could tell he was taking it easy on me. Which is pretty much how the next few days went. I met with Rylan in the mornings, who worked me harder than I thought possible while I swooned over his glorious good looks and took pleasure in his newly discovered amazing personality, which I’m yet to completely figure out. Then the afternoons were filled with exhaustion and disappointment as Daniel continued to avoid me, Rylan went back to his tough instructor role, and of course, getting my ass kicked.
So, after I spent my Saturday morning running laps, I was more than happy to stand with Millie at the gates of the visitor parking as Mom pulled up for her weekend visit.
“Hi girls,” she calls, running over and throwing her arms tightly around us at the same time, then all too quickly, stepping back to study our faces. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much,” she says, giving me a concerned look as she, no doubt, notices the collection of bruises I have covering me from my head to my toes.
“We’ve missed you too, Mom,” I say, giving her another tight squeeze, reassuring her that I’m okay. I head over to the car and grab her things as she holds onto Millie for dear life.
“Thank you, darling,” Mom says, taking her bags from me. “Now, shall we get settled in my room?”
We walk down to the guest housing where Mom will be staying and let her unpack as we chat endlessly about all the important things happening in our lives. Millie fills Mom in on her classes and I let her know about my arrangement with Rylan. She seems surprised but knows it’s going to help me get to where I need to be.
An hour later, we hear a knock on the door. I rush over to find Jacinta and her parents, Phillip and Marie Cooper, the absolute spitting image of Jacinta, waiting on the other side. “Hi,” I say, barreling past Jacinta to give her parents a welcoming hug. “Come in,” I smile, stepping back and holding the door open for them.
Jacinta gives me a look that tells me just how thrille
d she is to have her parents here. “Gabrielle, how lovely to see you again,” Marie says, walking deeper into the room. They spend what feels like a lifetime catching up with mom and swooning over how grown up Millie has gotten.
We make our way down to the cafeteria for lunch with the conversation still in full force. We sit and chat about the ins and outs of our lives, catching up on every detail we can possibly think of.
“Hey,” we hear from a nervous voice behind us. Jacinta and I instantly turn to face Trey who wears a very unsure look on his face. Oh, no, this is not good. Jacinta’s eyes immediately zone in on her father’s, knowing all hell is about to break loose if she doesn’t play her cards right.
“Hey Trey,” I say as Jacinta sits motionless beside me. “What’s up?”
“Oh, I ah, saw you guys sitting here and thought I’d introduce myself,” he says, sensing the unease swarming in the air around us.
“Right,” Jacinta says, jumping into action. “Mom, Dad, this is my, ahh…my friend, Trey.”
Oh, geez, she could have done that better. This is awkward.
Phillip begins to regard Trey with a furious glare, obviously catching on a lot quicker than her confused mom, who offers him a smile. “Oh, how lovely, I’m Marie and this is my husband Phillip. We’re Jacinta’s parents. It’s always a pleasure to meet her friends, would you like to join us?” she asks, indicating to the empty seat next to Phillip.
Trey, ever so politely declines Marie’s offer, mumbling some excuse about needing to catch up on homework while Jacinta and I notice the fear lacing his tone. He makes his getaway as fast as he can while Phillip transfers his furious gaze onto Jacinta.
“What was all that?” Phillip demands, a little too loudly for our small cafeteria. “You’re in your final year. You don’t have time for messing around with boys,” he adds as the vein on the side of his head turns into its very own planet. “You’re going to stop this nonsense, focus on your studies, and graduate top of your class as we planned.”
Soul and Disaster: Slayer Academy (Book 1) Page 16
