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Greg smugly remindedme about running with Tori the following day after he dropped me off.
Now, I roll out of bed with a frown on my face. I didn’t read anything about limiting my physical activity when I was searching the internet the other day, so I see no reason not to.
Other than the fact that it’s damn early. Dressing quickly, Orion glances up from his pillow. He started sleeping in the room with all of us, and I love it.
“There’s a phone for you on the floor,” he mumbles. “I have music you like uploaded into it, my number, and AirPods. Enjoy your run, little one.”
I lean over and see the items, smiling as I pick them up.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Go back to bed.”
I slip out of the room, quietly walking down the stairs so I can grab my water. Strapping my phone to my arm, I disarm the alarm so I can leave the house before it goes off.
Tori is stretching on the porch, glancing up in surprise.
“I’m surprised you decided to run again with me,” she teases me.
“Greg made sure to remind me to get my ass up when he dropped me off yesterday,” I sigh, rolling my eyes as I begin to stretch. “Knowing him, if I didn’t show up, he’d drag me out of the house.”
“He’s not that bad...” Tori begins before giggling. “Nope, he really is, you’re right. Greg has been ticking things off his to-do list and muttering a lot. It’s honestly kind of adorable.”
Shaking my head, I straighten. “I can’t keep up with a full on run, but I can manage to maintain a jog,” I rationalize.
“That’s doable. Still planning to spar?” she asks and I nod.
“I’m supposed to start the new class, so it should be fine,” I shrug.
Turning on my music after I pop in my AirPods, I follow Tori on the route as we jog. I’m pleasantly surprised by Orion’s choice of music, and I’m somehow less out of breath than I was the first time I tried running with Tori.
Drinking water, I turn off my music as I walk into the gym. Parting ways, I walk over to my class. The instructor pairs people up with different exercises to work through together, while assessing my skills.
“Don’t hold back,” he instructs and I take a deep breath and nod.
My hands are well taped, and I’m barefoot as I wait for him to begin. He comes forward, and I kick, punch, and lunge out of range of his arms. We spar for a few minutes, until he kicks me in the stomach out of nowhere, then sweeps my legs out from under me.
I gasp, the wind completely knocked out of me. A severe pain rips through my stomach and I whimper. “Fuck,” I whisper. “Damn, I wasn’t planning for that.”
“Shit, are you okay?” he asks. I didn’t even bother remembering his name, I was so excited to be able to attend a class that I didn’t expect a dick measuring competition would be a prerequisite.
“Nope,” I tell him honestly, slowly sitting up. I’m apparently doomed to being a shitty spar partner and parent. “I think I have to go to the hospital. Can you find Tori for me?”
“Isn’t that a little extreme?” he asks, turning ashen. This class is still mid-level beginner, and the man shouldn’t have been so intent on pulling the floor out from under me.
I’ll spar with the mercenary who could kill me with his eyes closed and chooses not to, thank you very much. Slowly standing, I wince as there’s a painful stretching in my side.
“You were supposed to assess her skills, not kick her ass,” another student yells at him and I smirk. I both love and hate when I’m right. Goddamnit.
Picking up my phone where I’d left it in a cubby, I call Orion. Tori rushed over to me as I wait for him to pick up.
“I don’t think this is the right gym for me,” I tell her ruefully. “Apparently, my skills intimidate the instructors here. I’m having really odd stomach pains, and I just didn’t think I’d have to worry about getting kicked in the stomach here.”
“You what?! Motherfucker, I’ve never had an issue here, I swear,” Tori complains.
Orion picks up on the first ring. “Lennon, are you okay?”he asks, his voice soft and soothing.
It’s so at odds with how I expected him to pick up, that I start to cry. “I’m… stupid,” I sniffle, swiping my eyes with the back of my hand. “I was kicked in the stomach at class, and need you to take me to a hospital. I know that’s complicated for all sorts of reasons, though.”
