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I turned, seeing Cash walking out from a room to the side.
"Oh, hey," I said, a little annoyed at having to see that cut on him, having to be reminded of Sugar.
"I didn't know you come here."
"She doesn't," another voice chimed in as Lo walked up behind me to join us. "What brings you in?" she asked, her eyes very... knowing.
"I'm feeling a little throat-stompy today. I was wondering if you can teach me how to... you know... stomp on throats."
"Ah, throat-stompy," she said with a nod. "I know throat-stompy well. I find a man is usually the culprit."
My gaze must have gone to Cash who shook his head at me. "Don't know what lies she's telling; I let her browse around Barnes & Noble for three hours yesterday without complaining. I am gonna head out. Catch you around, sweetheart," he told me, then pulled Lo in for an embarrassing, hard, long kiss before turning to head out the door.
"So," she said, making my stomach tense, worrying that she was going to go all girl on me and want to talk about it. "Have you ever taken any self-defense classes before?" she asked. I shook my head, and she went on. "Well, we have them all. You want to try some Russian Systema, some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, some Israeli Krav Maga..."
"Hmm, we don't have our own, huh?"
"Well, we have LINE. But, really, LINE is just bits of all the other ones."
"What do you recommend?"
"Well, that depends. If you are in the lifestyle," she started with an emphasis that seemed to say the outlaw lifestyle, "then you should learn Krav Maga. It teaches you a lot of disarming techniques. If rape is a concern, Jiu-Jitsu is the best bet. It has a lot of floor work, and since most rapes will happen with a woman on the floor, it has the best chance for results. We are going to start Tae Kwon Do classes soon too. There's a lot of emphasis on kicks which keeps an attacker further away from you..."
"I kind of want to hit things. That is my current mood."
"Well, for hitting things," she said, waving a hand out to the ring set up in the back of the center of the room. "We throw some headgear on you, stick a guard in your mouth, and let you beat the hell out of..." she looked around for a second, then her lips curved up. "Adler!" she called, making the man's head turn, inspect us, then move over.
"What's up, Lo? Mermaid," he said, giving me a smirk.
"Peyton here wants to get in the ring."
"Yeah?" he asked, looking a mix of surprised and almost... I don't know... standoffish?
"Yep. Get her a guard, gloves, and cover her head," Lo demanded, even though I was pretty sure Adler didn't actually work there, then moved off toward the back room.
"Why the ring and not a class?" he asked, holding an arm out, inviting me to walk with him toward the ring and the shelves of stuff piled behind it.
"I want to hit something."
"Fair enough," he agreed, ripping the gloves out of my hand when I reached for them. "No."
"Lo said..."
"Ya want to hit things, ya fucking hit things," he said simply, putting the gloves back. "But we'll wrap up yer hands. Heard ya got family that won't be too happy if I let ya rip up yer knuckles."
I stood there, arms out, as he wrapped up my hands and wrists.
"I ain't hitting ya, so ya don't need a head guard either. But I'll give ya a mouth guard in case ya fall or some shit."
"Wait," I said, ripping the guard out of the packaging as he just moved casually to the ring. "Don't you need some padding or something?"
"If ya are gonna put yer hands on me, duchess, I want to feel it," he declared with a wicked smirk as he ducked under the ropes, holding them open for me to do the same.
"Alright," I said once we were in the ring, feeling a bit silly about the whole situation suddenly. "So..."
"So, whoop my arse," he suggested, holding out his arms.
"Arse," I snorted, feeling some of the anger drain, annoyed with myself for letting it be there in the first place.
I was not that kind of girl.
The one who waited by her phone.
The one who was hurt when it didn't ring.
No.
Not me.
"Not that it's a chore to stand here and look at ya, we're supposed to be teaching ya to hit."
"This feels silly all of a sudden," I admitted, my voice all warbled from the mouth guard.
"Ya came in here in a mood, didn't ya?" he asked, tipping his head to the side, eyes mischievous. "Something to do with the screaming match I heard yesterday?"
"I didn't scream," I objected, small-eyeing him, embarrassed that I totally almost had.
