AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sara also becomes more analytical, watching Nolan, anticipating his every move before he makes it. This next round takes about seven minutes, but she pins Nolan again. They’re both panting and grinning at each other.
“My turn!” Matthew yells, shoving Nolan out of the way. Sara just laughs at the two of them.
Matthew and Sara grapple for a while, using mostly jiu jitsu holds. With Matthew’s size and athletic ability, Sara struggles to get the upper hand for a minute, but she finally does, pinning him with an armbar.
I swear she’s Wonder Woman, and I fall just a little more in love with her.
“Fuck, who is training you?” Matthew asks as they guzzle water.
“Dax Pierce at The Warehouse. He’s amazing.”
“Dax is good, but Sara has a natural talent for jiu jitsu, which makes her better,” I tell the guys. Sara beams at my praise, and I move closer to her. Taking my chances with her brothers, I wrap my arms around her. She leans into me, pressing her lips against mine.
“We may tolerate you being with our sister, but public displays of affection will not be allowed,” Nolan whines.
Sara flips him off, then kisses me again, making me laugh.
Natalie comes over to us, gushing about how she wants to learn self-defense so she can take down Tucker. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a little glimmer of insecurity in her eyes when she talks about wanting to take classes. The only reason I recognize it is because I saw the same look in Sara’s eyes when I first brought it up to her.
I don’t know what happened, but the burn scars on Natalie’s arms tell me there’s more to her story than I originally understood.
I guess that can be said for everyone. We all have backstories. Some we can be proud of, others we don’t really want the world to know about, and those stories affect how we present ourselves to the world. It’s just further proof not to judge someone based on the version you’re seeing at that moment.
“I’ve been talking with Dax about setting up a regular class for people to learn self-defense. He actually suggested I could help him teach it after I get trained up some more,” Sara says, which is news to me. I didn’t know she’d brought up the idea to Dax already. She’d be an amazing teacher, and I’m sure some people would prefer to have a woman instructor instead of the tattooed behemoth that is Dax.
“Really? That would be amazing. When you guys get it going, tell us so we can join,” Natalie says.
“Dinner’s ready, hoodlums!” Cindy calls from the kitchen.
We all pile into the dining room, cramming ourselves around the large wooden table. We don’t fit all that well, but I’ve never seen someone as happy as Cindy is right now.
“Seriously, we’re going to have to buy a new house if any more of us partner up,” Nolan says.
“I would gladly buy another table if you brought someone home, Nolan.” Cindy grins at him.
He rolls his eyes at her.
“He’s the least likely of us to find a woman,” Matthew starts. “Just look at him. Who’d want to be with that ugly mug?”
“Oh, fu—” Nolan’s gaze flicks to his mom, whose eyebrow is raised in judgment, “—udge off.”
The whole table erupts in laughter while Nolan pouts. The rest of dinner is spent loudly talking over each other until my ears are buzzing.
I finally understand what it would’ve been like to have siblings. It’s insanity, and while it would’ve been nice to have a buddy growing up, I’m sort of glad I was an only child.
Sara’s hand finds mine under the table, her soft fingers wrapping around my calloused palm. When I look into her eyes, I see my whole world reflecting back at me. I see everything I’ve always wanted right there, and I don’t think I will ever be able to look away.
34
SARA
“Ben, it’s like a billion degrees outside.”
“I still want chicken noodle soup and a BLT. Can we meet at the café?” Ben’s tinny voice comes through my Bluetooth speakers as I park my car in one of the few empty places on the street.
“Yes, but don’t complain to me when you’re too hot from the soup.”
“I’ll just take off my shirt.”
