He blinked on the swift change of topic.“Yeah?Me too.Sinn and I wanted space for the club to come and hang out.We always cook up a feast for almost all the holidays.Christmas and New Years are a little too cold so we celebrate that at the club.”
“You’re lucky to have so many people in your family,” she murmured.
“You don’t have family?”
“No.Not anymore.Not for a long time.Well, except for Joe.He’s like my big brother.Or favorite uncle.”
“Teaching you to box.”
“Actually, teaching me self-defense through boxing,” she corrected.
“I can teach you practical ways to defend yourself, if you’d like.Boxing is not going to do fuck-all if a man attacks.Like that dude from last night.He had his arms around you before you could blink.”
She touched her scraped cheek.“Yeah, I did panic in that moment.Two years of training and I froze like an ice cube.”
He stood up, tossed the cigarette onto the chair he just sat in, then held out a hand.“Well, come on.I’ll teach you some ways to bring down a man.”
She stared at it for a long moment, then tentatively placed her hand in his.He could feel the slight tremor and wondered if she was scared, aroused, or both.
“You have pretty eyes,” he murmured.
“They’re just brown.”
“They’re cinnamon with flecks of gold.”
Unable to resist, he ran a finger over the scrapes on her face.The asshole had smashed her head against the unyielding brick wall.Saint really wished he’d caught the guy, because he wanted to mangle the fucker.
He led her down the deck steps until they were on grass.He let go of her hand and turned so they faced each other.“Some people call what I’m about to show you down and dirty, but there’s no dirty about it if you’re defending your life.Now, I’m sure you know the best way to immediately take out a man is through his balls.One good knee, or a kick, or even grabbing his junk and then twisting with all your strength will have him blubbering for his mommy.”
She smiled at that, and he realized he wanted to make her smile more often.
“There are other ways, of course,” he continued.“Pulling hair.Gouging eyes.Biting.One of my favorites is if you’re knocked down, grab some dirt or rocks or anything and then throw it into the asshole’s eyes.But the most important way to defend yourself is to run like hell.So, incapacitate him and then get the hell out of there.”
He practiced with her for a while, pointing out different scenarios and what she could do to save herself.He liked she was focused and dedicated to learning, because he sensed something horrible happened in her past that made her think she needed to fight.This wasn’t just a woman who wanted to learn a few moves.She didn’t flirt with him, or rub herself up against him in an effort to get his attention.
When the sun started its decline, they headed inside to prepare dinner.Spaghetti with meatballs, his favorite.He made it every time it was his turn to cook.They maneuvered around one another as if they’d been doing it for years.Why did it taste better with her sitting with him?Why was he so comfortable around her?
After dinner they then cleaned the kitchen and headed into the living room.Kira walked over to the bookshelves.
“Most of those are Sinn’s,” he said.“His self-help and betterment books.”
“Nothing wrong with trying to make yourself better.”
“I didn’t mean for that to sound snarky.”
“Do you think I could borrow a couple?”
“Yeah, of course.I know Sinn won’t mind.”
She pulled out a few and continued going down the spines, then pulled out a puzzle he’d forgotten they had.“That was a Christmas gift from one of the guys.”
She bit her lip as she stared at the cover.Puppies frolicking together.“Can I put it together?”
“Uh, sure.”He looked around and spotted the table.“We can work on it there.”
“We?”
He tilted his head.“Yeah.We.Is that okay?”
