I unlock the door and we scramble our way inside, feeling way too vulnerable to be outside.
Cami takes a quick shower and I dig through my drawers for something she can wear to bed. I jump in after her and get myself dressed to find she’s made me a hot chocolate. “Thanks,” I smile as I grab the cordless phone off the counter and climb into my bed. Cami slips into the other side and we get started on calling our banks.
Half an hour later, we’re both exhausted but neither one of us can manage to close our eyes. “I still don’t feel safe,” Cami murmurs as she hugs my pillow into her chest.
“I know,” I tell her as I reach out and take her hand. “What would make you feel better?”
“I don’t know,” she sighs. “I just felt helpless when he had that knife at your neck. I couldn’t help you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her. “It’s over now.”
She lets out a little huff and even though we’re in complete darkness, I can tell she’s deep in thought. “What’s on your mind?” I ask.
“What if we took a self-defense class?”
“Really?” I grunt, not liking where this is going.
“Yes, really,” she says as she sits up in bed and flicks on the lamp. I groan as the sudden light in the room assaults my eyes. Cami scrambles over me and reaches my laptop which lays on the floor beside me. Though, I don’t know why she couldn’t have just asked for it. She sits back against the headrest and opens the laptop. “This shit is a lot easier when I can use my phone,” she murmurs.
“Agreed,” I say as I scooch over to get a look at the screen.
The laptop powers up and she gets started on her task. She looks up self-defense classes in the area and clicks on the very top one. “Hmm, Rebels Advocate,” she says as she looks through their website. “This looks good. It looks like they specialize in fighting so they’d be good at self-defense,” she muses as she looks up the class schedule.
I search through the schedule with her and I must admit, I’m pretty impressed. It looks like this gym must be doing pretty well. They have a constant string of classes on offer and I briefly consider joining the damn thing before thinking better of it. The last thing I need is another gym membership that I’m not going to use.
“Ah, here, at 6 pm,” Cami says as she points out a Saturday afternoon class. “We could do this one tomorrow. It gives me enough time to close up the store and plenty of time for you to finish the class before you need to be at The Dark Room.”
I let out a breath, knowing there’s no way I’m going to be able to get out of this, but then, maybe I shouldn’t even try. Cami clearly needs to do this to help her feel better about the whole mugging thing, and besides, who am I to say no? “Alright,” I groan. “Where is it?”
We look up the address and I have to scribble it down, where I’d usually take a snapshot on my phone. Geez, I’ve never quite realized how reliant I am on my phone. I‘m going to have to head out in the morning and grab a new one, though, I guess it came at a good time. I dropped my phone last week while I was trying to carry all the groceries bags in at once. I’d shoved it in between my teeth and bit down on it while I made my way up the stairs to my apartment and the fucker fell straight out of my mouth, shattering the screen.
Feeling better, Cami closes the down my laptop and places it back down on the floor, though, at least she puts it down on her side, rather than climbing back over me. She flicks off the lamp and scoots back down in bed. With a sigh, she snuggles back into the pillow and closes her eyes.
Finally.
With a sigh of my own, I roll over in bed and get comfortable. Anyone would think my mind would take me back to the knife that was pressed against my neck, but it doesn’t. Instead, I have a replay of the supply closet playing over and over again, sending me into a very happy and well-needed sleep.
Chapter 4
Cole
“Come on, Xander. Push it harder,” I say as my top fighter puts his all into his training. He slams his fists into my pads over and over again. I know he’s done for the day, but I’m not going to stop until he has pushed himself to his absolute limit and more. That’s why I’m the best MMA trainer in the fucking country. “Five, four, three, two, one.”
“Fuck,” he grunts as he falls to his knees and drops down onto his stomach in the ring. He’s been working his ass off in the professional league. Last year he was the heavyweight champion, and this year, he needs to defend it. The whole world is waiting to see if he got lucky or if he truly is a champion.
Though, there’s no question in my mind. I held that same title three years in a row and I know exactly what it takes to make it happen, which is how I know that Xander Phillips will do it again. He has what it takes and more, and ever since that girl of his came into his life, he’s been on fire.
I walk to the edge of the ring and grab Xander’s water bottle before passing it down to him. He flips over and sits up. “Thanks,” he grunts as he takes the bottle and practically annihilates it.
“Yo,” Luke says as he jogs up to the side of the ring. He loops his arms over the ropes and looks down at Xander. “Looking good, kid,” he says before looking up at me. “Can you cover the self-defense class with Jace tonight?” he questions.
I scrunch up my face. He knows I hate doing that shit. I have my own fighters to worry about, rather than teach a bunch of chicks how to deliver a beat down, even though when it comes down to it, they’ll most likely freeze and chicken out.
“Please, man,” he says, clearly able to see the hesitation in my eyes. “Something came up.”
I let out a breath. Luke would never ask me to cover a class unless it was important. He loves doing his classes. “Fine,” I grunt, wondering what could have possibly come up in such short notice, but if Luke wanted me to know, he would have said so.
“Thanks, man,” he says in relief. “What time is it?” I ask even though I should already know this shit.
“Six,” he says as his eyes flick up to the clock. My own eyes follow his movement and I take in the time. It’s four now which would give me enough time to do another round with Xander, put him through his cool down, and get myself something to eat.
Two hours later, Jace comes strutting into Rebels looking like king fucking shit. “What’s up?” I ask as I take in the smug look on his face.
A grin rips across his face and the answer is practically stamped on his forehead. The fucker just got laid. I roll my eyes as I get back to setting up the studio room for the self-defense class. “Dude, you should have seen her,” he tells me. “I swear, she had the finest ass I’ve ever seen.”
I grin to myself as the comment makes me think back to The Dark Room last night. Now, that was definitely the finest ass I’ve ever seen. Fuck, that chick was incredible. I’ve never been so turned on in my life. She came around me like she was on fire and then she went and bit into me to hold back her screams, and fuck, it was good.
She’s fucking wild and I can’t wait to do it again.
I told her to call me and it was clear that she has absolutely no intention of doing that, but she will. She’ll hold off for as long as she can, but she won’t be able to get it out of her mind. The same way I can’t.
Between Jace and I, the room is set up in no time and the class starts trickling in. “Hey, ladies,” Jace says as a few of his regulars come in. They all give him flirty smiles and it’s no wonder this class is so popular.
I lean back against the wall as the rest of the class arrive.
A wicked grin spreads over my face as the chick from last night comes in with one of the other waitresses. She wears a little training crop that shows off her defined stomach and a pair of tights that, once again, reminds me just how perfect her ass is. The girls talk among themselves as they dump their bags at the side of the room, take a quick drink of water, and put their hair up.
My arms cross over my chest and I can’t help the smugness that comes through me, especially as she turns around a
nd notices me. Her eyes widen and her mouth forms the perfect ‘O’ before she pulls it together and averts her eyes as if last night never happened. She does everything in her power not to look up, but she can’t help herself and glances up. I have to stop myself from laughing at her performance.
Her friend looks up at me and I watch in amusement as her eyebrows pull together before recognition hits. Her eyes widen and I can practically see the laughter in her eyes. But that changes as she swivels her gaze to Jace and looks at him as if she’s about to jump him. I can’t help but laugh, looks like Jace is going to be a busy man.
My gaze flicks back to supply closet girl and I watch as she looks longing at the door and I can practically read her thoughts as she scrunches up her face, clearly wanting to get out of here. I take two steps to the entrance and close the door before turning to face the class. She narrows her eyes at me and it’s then I decide I’m going to have a little fun with this.
“Alright, looks like everyone is here,” I say as I look over to Jace to see him finishing chatting up some girl. He comes and stands by me at the front of the room and we get started on the class.
I let Jace take point as this class is his and Luke’s thing and I’m not here to step on any toes. He starts by asking who’s a first timer and I love the question as it forces her eyes back up as she raises her hand alongside her friend. Jace’s eyes swivel towards them and he stops on her friend. “What are your names?” he asks.
Supply closet girl cringes and I rub a hand over my face, trying to stop the grin from ripping across my face as I recall her specifically not wanting to answer that question last night. Her friend, however, doesn’t have the same reservations. “I’m Cami,” she says almost proudly to Jace then indicates to her friend. “This is Rylee.”
Ahh, Rylee. It suits her.
Jace smiles at them with wide arms. “Welcome. I’m Jace and this is Cole,” he says, waving a hand towards me. I nod to the girls and watch as she stares right back at me. “From experience,” Jace continues. “People generally come to this class for a specific reason. What brings you ladies here?”
Cami can’t remove the flush from her cheeks as she talks to Jace. She indicates between her and Rylee. “We were actually mugged last night and I just kind of felt super helpless, so I guess I just want to be able to defend myself if it happens again.”
Well, fuck. This must have happened after she left the club. Well, now I feel like an ass. I saw her leaving the club last night and I was going to go after her for round two, but then she ducked out the doors. I can’t help but feel that could have been avoided had I gone to her.
“Shit,” Jace grunts, mimicking my thoughts. “If you don’t mind me asking. How did you react?”
“Um…,” she cringes. “I freaked out and cried.”
I scoff to myself. Just as I thought. It’s the same with so many people. They freeze. They get put into a shitty situation and they don’t know how to handle themselves. Fight or flight kicks in and only a handful of people would choose to fight.
“What’s that look for?” Rylee suddenly speaks up as she looks at me with narrowed, pissed off eyes.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“You scoffed,” she accuses.
Shit. I didn’t think anybody saw that. I should have known she was watching me. “I didn’t mean to,” I explain. “I just think you could have helped yourself in that situation if you weren’t busy freaking out. You need to keep a level mind when dealing with shit like that.”
“I didn’t freak out,” she defends.
I narrow my eyes at her. “So, you fought back?” I question.
She shakes her head.
“Help me out here,” I say as I indicate for her to come forward. She lets out an annoyed huff but comes to join me at the front of the class. I take her by the shoulders and place her in front of me as I look up to the rest of the class. “I’m the mugger,” I say as I pull her body into mine and wrap my arm around her, holding her close.
Her body relaxes into mine and I can’t help but press her harder into my body as my fingers on her waist splay across her skin. The movement has her sucking in a breath followed by the softest needy moan and I know for a fact that she’s thinking about last night. “You didn’t call,” I say softly, for only her to hear.
“I told you I wouldn’t,” she responds just as quietly. “Besides, I kind of had something going on.”
She’s got a smart mouth. I like it.
I avoid grinning as I speak up for the class to hear. “Alright, Rylee,” I say, purposefully using her name. “Show me what you did last night.”
She nods her head and stands patiently. “Anytime, honey,” I murmur beside her.
“I thought I told you I wasn’t your ‘honey’,” she says quietly before speaking up. “This is what I did last night,” she explains.
“What? You just stood there?” I question. “Were you too scared?”
“I guess,” she says, averting her eyes.
“Alright. New plan,” I say. “Show me what you would have liked to do in this situation.”
“Ok,” she says with a smugness that puts a sparkle in her green eyes. She makes her move and slams her elbow back into my stomach before grabbing my arm and twisting herself out from under my hold.
The girls in the class gasp and give her a round of applause as I look at her with an impressed grin while doing everything in my power to avoid rubbing my stomach where she nailed me. “Impressive,” I tell her. “Why the hell didn’t you do that last night?”
I look at her with a strange curiosity. From her performance, it’s clear she already knows basic self-defense. Hell, I’d even go as far as to say she has training in fighting. Maybe she was a wild child who used to get in fights. I don’t know, but it has me wondering why the hell she wouldn’t have put those skills into practice when she needed them most.
“Because that’s not how it happened,” she tells me before she walks across the room to her bag, making me briefly wonder if I’ve crossed some imaginary line and she’s about to leave, but she rifles through her bag and pulls out a pen. She struts back towards me and hands me the pen. “Alright, mugger, here’s your knife.”
Oh no. Don’t tell me this woman was held at knifepoint.
She folds herself back into my body and I wrap my arms around her as I had earlier, only she adjusts my position so the pen is at her neck. The movement makes me feel sick and I have this sudden need to find out who did this to her and kick his ass. “Alright,” she says. “Tell me how the hell I was supposed to get out of this without getting myself or Cami killed.”
I let out a breath. Seems today’s lesson is going to be a bit more advanced than I had originally thought, but none-the-less, I give her some pointers and take note of how Cami is paying extreme attention. Shit, I can only imagine how frightened they were last night, all while me and my boys were sitting on the other side of the brick wall having the time of our lives and getting wasted.
That’s so fucked up.
I send Rylee back over to Cami and they pair up, practicing the moves on one another while Jace hands out a bunch of pens to the rest of the class so they can join in on the same thing. Jace and I get to work and walk around the room, helping the pairs with their moves and giving pointers on how to best defend themselves.
I watch Cami and Rylee and it’s clear that Rylee doesn’t really need this class, she’s here to support her friend. But Cami, on the other hand, she could really use the help when it comes to defending herself. As the class goes on, I see confidence coming into Cami’s eyes and I have a feeling she’ll become a regular here. She won’t be allowing a repeat of last night to happen again.
The class wraps up and I watch as the girls head out of the room and turn down the hallway towards the bathroom.
I quickly pack up the room with Jace. I can catch her on her way out.
I sit with Jace and Caden in the office going over an order when I see th
e girls walking up, about to walk out the door. She’s in a pair of black jeans and a back tank that has ‘The Dark Room’ stretched across her perky tits. I get up and head out of the office. My arm flies out and I catch her around the waist as she passes. I press her up against the wall just like I’ve been wanting to since the second she walked out of the supply closet last night.
She gasps as my body presses up against her. Her eyes close for the slightest moment before opening again. I look down at her and the need to taste her flies through me. “What are you doing?” she murmurs as she brings her hands up and places them on my chest.
I press my hips into hers and she sucks in a breath. “You working tonight?”
She nods her head ever so slightly and I love that she’s so affected by me. “When do you finish? I’ll pick you up.”
She scoffs as she pushes against my chest. I take the smallest step back but don’t release my hold on her. She pushes up onto her tippy toes so her lips hover just below mine, all she would have to do is tilt her chin up to meet mine. Hell, I could easily close the gap myself. Her eyes become hooded as looks at my lips before looking up at me. A grin rips across her lips. “I’m not interested,” she whispers before pressing a kiss to my cheek and pushing me back again. “See you later.”
She escapes from around me and before I know it, she’s pushing through the door.
She glances back over her shoulder and those green eyes hold me captive.
She doesn’t know it yet, but she’ll be mine.
Chapter 5
Cole
It’s way past midnight and I lay awake in bed with the image of Rylee’s fine ass in my head. I’ve got to get a grip. She said she isn’t interested even though I know she was downright lying. I should be moving on. I’m not one to fuss over chicks who make me work for it.
Watching her in the self-defense class today was one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever experienced, you know, apart from screwing her up against the supply closet door. But seeing her in action, having fun with her friend, and just being herself… I don’t know. It pulled something inside me. It made me want to get to know her.
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