Marius tried to follow and soon discovered that Harlow had been right. He hadn’t even been aware of it, but the exercises were far harder when his weight was on his left leg. Soon, he was panting hard and sweating profusely. The worst part was that Brantley made it look easy. His hair was still perfect. If anything, he looked bored.
Where the hell did she find this guy? Was he a lover? A friend? How did they know each other? When they’d spoken, they’d stood too close to each other to be just friends. Harlow was stunning; of course he was her lover or wanted to be. Perhaps he was the one who had taught her to fight. Someone must have, and it wasn’t another woman.
The thought ate at him as he attempted to pivot and face the opposite direction. His shoulder slammed into the gravel. When had he lost his balance?
Harlow’s face appeared above his, and she held out her hand to help him up.
He avoided it and scrambled to his feet.
“Get some water and we start again.”
Dark clouds pressed in around him, and he shot Brantley a deadly look before walking to the water station to pour himself a glass. Fucker. If he was her lover, he hadn’t done the honorable thing and married her. He was probably using her. His dragon chuffed and twisted. He couldn’t wait to fight the bastard.
Marius chugged his water and returned to his spot, more determined than ever. He was going to get strong, and he was going to fight Brantley. And the first time he was good enough to pound the guy’s head into the stones, he was going to enjoy it.
But after two more rounds of exercises, Harlow glanced at the clock and clapped her hands together. “That’s all for today. We’ll meet again tomorrow.”
“You’re paying me a lot just to dance next to this guy,” Brant murmured at the start of their third session. Harlow shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. She knew Marius was doing his best, but whatever damage his situation had caused was taking more time to heal than she’d expected.
For three training sessions, they’d practiced the same exercises. On off days, Marius was supposed to be doing the exercises Colin had given him. Marius was so close to mastering this routine. She could already see his left hip had loosened significantly since they started. Brantley’s voiced impatience was echoed in Marius’s angry glances. But she knew what she was doing. She had to wait until it was perfect. The groundwork for everything she would teach him lay in this footwork.
“He’s close, Brantley. Stick with the program. The fundamentals are important.”
“If you say so. Honestly, his balance might be better if he pulled the stick out of his ass.”
“Brant,” she hissed. “Stop it.”
“He hasn’t broken a smile in three sessions, Harlow. Goddess. I get why you find him attractive—”
“I don’t—”
“He’s a Greek god. A dark and brooding presence. Hell, he turns me on, but—”
“That’s not what this is about—”
“He’s a royal pain in the ass with that attitude. What did you sign us up for?”
She nudged him to shut him up when Marius returned from the water station. Brant was right. Marius’s scowl was more pronounced than ever, and he was looking at Brant like he wanted to pull his spleen out through his nostril.
“One more time and we’ll break for the day,” Harlow said. “As we’ve practiced. I’m going to observe.”
The two men fell into line and started the exercises. As he had day after day, Brantley performed the moves perfectly, effortlessly. But she had to smile when Marius did the same. His performance was not effortless. His muscles flexed and shook with his exertion. At the turning points when he had to switch his weight onto his weak leg, she wondered how he held it together. But he stayed on his toes, hips low, gritting his teeth and ending the routine in perfect position.
She clapped her hands and bounced on her toes. “Perfect, Marius! Excellent. You’ve officially graduated balance.”
He rose from the crouch he was in, and for the first time that day, a smile flitted across his face. It didn’t stay there for long.
Brantley slapped his shoulder. “Nice work, man.”
The look Marius shot him could have soldered iron. She announced the end of class and that they’d start sparring the following session. Brantley abandoned the arena for the locker room.
“What is wrong with you?” She grabbed Marius’s elbow before he could follow after him. “You’ve been rude to Brant from the moment you stepped into this arena.”
He scowled. “We wouldn’t want to be rude to Brantley. Might injure his fragile self-esteem.”
“Seriously? Marius, what in Hades is your problem with Brant? You’re acting like a child.”
“You should have cleared a potential sparring partner with me,” he said accusingly.
