I push the towel over my face and scream into it. Then I wipe my face, stand up straight, realign my thoughts, and walk out of the gym. Right outside the door, I walk straight into Ben.
“Bear,” I stammer, biting my lip and hoping he can’t tell that I was crying.
“How did it…what’s wrong?” he blurts out. He doesn’t seem to miss a thing.
“It was horrible. Artur is an asshole,” I huff.
“I’m sorry, baby bird. I’ll teach you, okay? We can start tomorrow?”
I nod. “Thank you, Bear. I appreciate that.”
“Bear,” he mumbles under his breath through a wide grin. “I like it, too.”
Chapter 13 - Benedikt
Maria walks into the gym with a wide, gorgeous smile on her face.
“You look happy,” I muse, noting the cute gym outfit again. This one is blue and black in the same style as yesterday’s pink one. “And as beautiful as ever,” I add.
She giggles, a delightful sound that spreads my smile wider.
“Thank you, I’m really excited for this lesson. Thank you so much for doing this for me,” she says, putting her things down on the bench. When she bends over with her back to me, my eyes trace over her wide hips and the curve of her ass. It’s fucking sexy. Instantly, I’m thinking about bending her over that bench.
“What are you going to teach me today?” she asks without turning around as she finishes closing her water bottle.
I’ll teach you the pleasure you’ve ever imagined.
“I’m going to start with basic stances. Firm foot placement and targeting weak points.”
“Not boxing?”
“No, I think instead of teaching boxing, we should teach real self-defense. At least to start off with,” I explain.
“We?” she asks, turning to face me. Her eyes fall onto Kaz, who is now standing alongside me.
“We,” Kaz grins, holding out his arms as though he is the presentation.
I chuckle and shake my head. “He wanted to join. I said The more the merrier,” I tell her as I pull my shirt off and toss it aside, away from the training mats.
Kaz does the same and stands nearby, rolling his shoulders, stretching out his back. Maria walks toward us, and her expression is a little bewildered as her eyes trace over both of us.
“Trust me, it’s going to be fun,” I reassure her.
She nods, smiling. “Okay, but don’t be mean when I don’t get it right straight away.”
“Are you kidding?” Kaz blurts out, “I’m throwing you right over my knee and spanking you if you get it wrong.”
Her eyes shoot wide, and her mouth drops open in shock.
I burst out laughing.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing that,” I muse.
“Maybe I should get Artur back in here to teach me,” she grins mischievously. “He seems to be the safer option than you lot.”
Kaz’s phone rings just as I’m about to start instructing Maria. He groans and rolls his eyes. “Sorry, this might be the call I was waiting for. Give me a sec. Carry on in the meantime.” He jogs toward his phone and answers.
He’s talking in the background when Maria and I start the lesson.
