Canon flashed her a grin. “Think you’ve got me this time?”
“We’ll see.”
Okay, spirit guides. Mama needs to not get choked out.
This time when Canon wrapped a beefy arm around her neck from behind, she saw cotton candy clouds instead of spots. As he slowly cut off her oxygen, she recalled an episode ofMade It Out Aliveon evading abduction attempts. A teenage girl had been walking home from her Taekwondo class when the abductor tried to drag her into his car and got an ass-kicking for his trouble.
Breathless, Riley made herself go limp. When Canon’s grip lessened, she reared her head back. He saw the attack coming but couldn’t completely dodge the blow. She caught him just under the eye, stunning him enough for him to release her.
She jumped to her feet and did a victory dance. “In your face, attacker!”
He grinned up at her. “Nicely done. But next time, wait to celebrate until after you’ve run away.”
“Solid advice,” she said.
He held up a hand, and she moved to help haul him to his feet.
Instead, she found herself flat on her back with Canon straddling her hips. “One more thing, Riley,” he said with a quick grin. “Don’t help your attacker up.”
“Get off her, Canon.”
Nick’s voice was deadly, and it was coming in hot.
She peeked up in time to see Josie stepping in front of Nick, slapping a hand to his chest. “Be cool, boss.”
Canon took his time getting to his feet, most likely to piss Nick off.
He held out his hand to Riley, and she took it. But as Canon was pulling her to her feet and glaring at Nick, Riley swept his legs out from under him.
He hit the mat with a laugh. “You’re a fast learner, Riley.”
“It’s my turn,” Lily shouted, tottering over to the mat and throwing herself on top of Canon. “Oh, no! I seem to have fallen down and can’t get up!”
Riley turned her attention to Nick, who was bleeding from the nose. His left eye was swelling. Beyond him, Gabe had a split lip and was grinning. “Why can’t you have normal friendships with guys? Why does everything have to be an anti-bromance with you?” Riley asked.
“It’s not my fault men are assholes,” Nick insisted, pulling up the hem of his shirt to swipe away the blood.
She sighed, enjoying the peek at his torso. “It’s really nice of you to do this for us.”
“I’m doing it foryou, Thorn.”
“I know.”
He nudged her chin up. “Promise me you won’t let some half-assed self-defense lesson make you think you’re invincible.”
“I promise. I also promise I won’t go looking for trouble.”
He blew out a breath. “That would make me feel better if trouble didn’t have such a knack for finding you.”
“Good thing I have you,” she said, grabbing him by the sweaty shirt front and yanking him into her.
A happy bark came from the house. Riley and Nick turned and spotted Burt’s face in the parlor window.
Crap.
“Lily, I thought you closed the parlor doors?”
“I did!” she said indignantly from the mat where Canon was trying to extricate himself from her surprisingly effective hold. “At least, I think I did. Maybe I just thought about it?”
