Leo whistled for the group to gather. “All right, Sparky, let’s see what ya got. Cole, you can join her,” he ordered.
He slowly stood and entered the area. Saint helped Sparky into a pair of hot pink sparring gloves and a helmet while Cole put his own on. She jumped around, throwing jabs into the wind as he drew closer.
“All right. We’re working on self-defense. Scarlett’s learning some of our techniques. It’s your job to take her down,” Leo informed him. “Give it all ya got.”
Sparky listened for a moment and then suddenly turned in his direction, sending the first jab. Cole bowled over and sent a light strike to her side. She giggled. “Stop fighting like a ninny. Bad guys go after blind people, too. If I get mugged, I’m gonna lie on the pavement and think to myself, if only Cole didn’t take pity on me and taught me how to take a punch.”
He barked out a laugh as he sent a slightly harder jab to her arm. Her leg struck out and swiped, sending him to the ground. Sparky punched him in the gut, hard.
“When will you stop treating her like she’s disabled?” Leo called out. “When we have tea, you can treat her with kid gloves. When she’s on the mat, she’s one of us.”
Cole rose and circled his foe, searching for the best place to strike. The team taught her well. She kept her body sideways and tucked in. A fist struck his nose, causing him to reel backward. Wap, wap, two more hits to the face put him on his ass. He jumped up and struck her in the thigh and then her stomach. It felt like he hit hard steel, and his eyesight became blurry as she came at him again.
“Are you sure you’re fucking blind?” he barked as he took her to the mat. Sparky’s elbow struck him in the chest as she rolled.
He swiped the blood running down his face as Sparky stood, bouncing around. Cole moved like lightning, sending her down on her face.
Scarlett didn’t move. She lay completely still, sending Cole into a panic.
“Dang, Dude. I can’t believe you hit her that hard,” Shadow said worried.
“Shit man, she’s blind,” Ragu growled.
Cole moved to her side. “Sparky, Sparky, shit are you all right?” he asked as he turned her over.
Her fist connected to his jaw and he weaved in place before things went from blurry and faded to black.
A few minutes later, Patch shone a light into his eyes. “Damn, she got ya good. Damn proud of ya, Sparky.”
Cole groaned and winced as the bright light hurt. “If you’re so damn proud of her, why didn’t you spar with her?”
“I can’t. I made a bet she’d take down the new guy,” Patch admitted.
Knight handed him an ice pack. “Dude, you have one helluva shiner.”
Sparky felt for his hand. “Will he be okay? I was only playing.”
The worry in her voice made him feel bad for her for two point five seconds before he got mad.
“You set me up, Sparky. I considered you my friend. You played me in front of my brothers. Did it feel good to humiliate me?” he ground out.
“I’m sorry. The team has coached me on how to take my disability and use it to my advantage. You’re the only one who didn’t know and we wanted to see if it worked. I didn’t mean to play you. We did it to grow my confidence in defending myself in larger crowds. Of course, Serenity doesn’t scare me, but I want to know if I can hack it in places like Seattle,” she explained.
“I’m sorry, Sparky. I’ve never fought a blind person before. I can’t help but feel I got set up,” Cole said softly.
“You’re damn right we set you up,” Taco said. “We sure as hell aren’t getting in there with her, we taught her.”
“You might’ve warned me. My eye feels like shit,” Cole complained, making Scarlett grin.
“Wait until I tell Hannah I took you down,” Sparky giggled. “I’m hoping she’ll come out of the chair and hit you, too.”
Cole rolled over and rose. His vision swam and he held his head.
“Whoa, Cole. Take it easy. Maybe I need to take you over to the hospital for a scan. Perhaps you have a concussion,” Patch suggested.
“No, I have a headache from your blasted flashlight, and my eye’s pounding,” he grumbled. “Yeah, welcome to the team. First, you sent me to the community center, where I attacked the Russian and his wife threatened to cut me into little pieces. Thenyou put me in the ring to be beaten by a blind woman. Somehow, I feel like I’m getting punished instead of welcomed.”
“Shake it off,” Leo placed a hand on his shoulder. “Kassie called. She wants to see you at 1500 on Friday.”
