“You think you could take me?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.
I shrugged. “If I had to.”
He made a noise that could loosely be interpreted as a laugh. “Do you even know any self-defense?”
“I have moves,” I said, concentrating on the sidewalk.
“Okay, show me.”
I stopped and looked up at him. “Show you?”
“Yes, show me what you got.”
I nodded and continued walking. “Okay. Just remember, you asked for it.”
We made it to the house a few minutes later and went into the backyard. The kids ran up to the sand pit, leaving me with Sebastian.
“Let’s do this,” I said, wringing my hands. Truth was I had no idea about self-defense. I didn’t know why I’d said it. Actually, I did. Sebastian had made me mad, and I’d just said the first thing that came to mind. Hopefully I wouldn’t regret it.
I didn’t get time to wallow in my stupidity before he was behind me. He put his arms around me and pulled me to him.
“Try to get out of my hold,” he said, his body plastered to mine.
My senses were suddenly on overload. My body tingled from the tips of my toes to my earlobes from being this close to him. I’d dreamed about being in this position for over a year and didn’t know how to react to the sensations overtaking my body.
The thought of him holding me so close. Caressing me. Protecting me. Worshipping at my feet.
Okay, enough, Nora. He’s pretending to attack you, not fondle you.
“You’re not moving. Why are you not moving?” Sebastian asked, his voice low.
I snapped out of my daydream and stepped on his foot. He loosened his hold, and I elbowed him in the stomach.
He grunted but didn’t let go. “Nice try, but you’re too small and weak for a move like that.”
Small and weak? Really?I lifted my foot again and kicked his shin with my heel. It helped that I was wearing wedges, and they dug right in.
This time his hold went slack, and I dropped down and turned around to knee him in the balls. He went down with a loud groan.
I stood over him with my hands on my hips, smirking and not feeling an ounce of remorse. “Small and weak enough for you?”
The kids came running when they saw Sebastian on the ground, and we all watched him as he lay on the grass, curled into a ball. Guess I hit him harder than I meant to. Whoops.
“Is his tummy hurting?” Luca asked.
Lena leaned down and patted his arm. “Seb sleepy?”
“He’ll be fine,” I told them. “Let’s get you guys ready for Stella.”
Stella had become one of my closest friends in the last year. We met in the apartment building where I used to live and had an instant connection. She lived there for a short while in her friend Willa’s apartment.
Sebastian heaved himself back up, swaying on his feet. I didn’t think I could stop him from toppling over if he couldn’t stand up on his own.
He was a six-foot-three giant, and I was a five-foot-two shortcake.
My dad was Swedish and huge. The only thing I’d inherited from him were his green eyes. I only knew a few Swedish words; my favorite wasSötnos, a term of endearment he used to call me, the direct translation of which was “sweet nose.” I got my height and looks from my Japanese mom. She never taught me a word of Japanese and refused to teach me anything about Japanese culture, except how to cook traditional food.
I never understood why tradition wasn’t important to either of them. They also didn’t care much about family and disowned me when they found out I was pregnant with Luca.
