I hate this guy.
She got that loud and clear.
Josie read the situation too. “Go spar with the Great Pyramid,” she told Nick and pointed at Gabe.
Riley watched the two men size each other up as they pulled on boxing gloves.
“Since you’re such a peaceful flower child, let’s start with the basics,” Nick said. “A jab is a—”
Gabe’s gigantic fist flashed out and sucker-punched him right in the nose, snapping Nick’s head back.
“Fuck.” Nick swiped his forearm under his nose. “Yeah. That’s a jab, smartass.”
Gabe grinned. “I have been wanting to do that for a long time.”
“Riley, right?” Canon said, drawing her attention back to the mat.
“Yeah,” she said, reluctantly turning away from the hot, sweaty guy show to face Canon. He skimmed in just under six feet tall and was very muscley. His mustache and dark hair were both trimmed with a precision that definitely made her think military.
“Let’s start with you in the hold, and we’ll work on it step-by-step before working up to full speed.”
They got down on the mat, and Riley wrinkled her nose as the breeze carried with it the now familiar disaster of scents from next door. She wondered if Burt had been sneaking out at night to poop at the abandoned mansion.
When Canon’s beefy forearm came around her neck, she forgot to worry about Burt’s poop.
“I’m applying just enough pressure to make it scary,” he explained to her.
“Gah. It’s working,” she gargled.
He smelled nice. Expensive. She, on the other hand, smelled like she’d forgotten to apply deodorant all summer.
“How come we don’t get to wrestle with that cutie?” Lily asked.
“Less flirting. More stabbing,” Mrs. Penny ordered, taking the elders through their self-defense moves again.
Canon walked her through a few escape techniques, but as soon as her oxygen was cut off, Riley panicked and started flailing.
After a fourth disastrous attempt, he gave her a break and consulted with Josie.
Riley crawled to the edge of the mat and picked up her water bottle. This scenario reminded her a little too much of being held under the water while another man’s hands choked the life out of her.
She felt Nick’s gaze on her and gave him a wave a second before Gabe’s fist drove into his torso.
Maybe Nick wasn’t the only one still freaking out over past events.
“You’re not using all your tools,” Josie told her as Riley guzzled water.
“What tools do I have left? Whimpering for help?”
Josie flicked her in the forehead. “You’re a psychic, dummy. You know what your attacker is going to do before they do it.”
Riley blinked. “Can I really do that?”
“I’m not the psychic. But if I had that talent, you can guaran-damn-tee I’d be using it to get inside my opponent’s head. If it’s a life or death situation, you want to use everything you’ve got at your disposal.”
Riley sat with that for a minute and decided it wasn’t the worst idea in the world.
She put down the water and climbed back on her feet. “Okay. Let’s try this again.”
