He tilts his head. “What’d you mean then?”
Maybe I can distract him and break away. “I was talking about how you must be glad this is your last class before we head to the fire department.”
His grip slips.
I make my move. I’m free. “Yes.” I pump my arms in the air and bounce around until I’m facing him again.
His arms cross but there’s still one corner of his lips curving up. “As much as I’d love to be rid of you, I suppose I should tell you about the announcement we made before you got here.”
I pause. He’s going to willingly tell me of a way to see him again? Maybe this budding friendship has the potential to blossom into something more. “What’s that?”
He sighs as if I’m such a burden. But he’s playing. And it’s fun. “Anybody who makes it through all four of our classes can sign up for a ride-along.”
He wants me to go on a ride-along with him? I wish I could play it as cool as he does, but even as I think this, my mouth is opening, my eyes are bulging, and I’m imagining the two of us on a car chase with sirens blaring. Oh, the true crime stories I’m going to write.
“Okay, team,” Drew calls. “Let’s take it to the wall and practice how you get away from a choke hold against a barrier.”
I’m still grinning as I turn to face the wall, and Karson falls into step beside me. This is what it will be like in his cop car. We’ll be side by side. Maybe in the dark if it’s nighttime. We’ll have lots of time to talk and get to know each other better.
There goes my overactive imagination. I don’t even know that my ride-along will be with him. “Will my ride-along be with you?” I ask.
He plucks at the front of his T-shirt, and it reminds me of the time in eleventh-grade gym class when Shawn Fox asked if I’d invited anyone to the Sadie Hawkins dance yet. I’d said no and asked who he thought I should take. That’s when he’d done the shirt-pluck thing. Except he’d cleared his throat too.
Karson clears his throat. “Only if you request me.”
He just told me I could request him. He didn’t have to say that. He didn’t have to pluck his shirt and clear his throat. He didn’t have to tell me about the ride-along at all. “Okay.”
“Once you find a spot …” Officer Harris uses one hand to slowly press Wolfman to the bricks by his throat. “One partner needs to pin the other against the wall with their hand.”
Karson backs up, hands raised as if in surrender. While I had a crush on angry Karson, I am enjoying this side of him so much more. This side is likable.
I step in and pretend I’m going to strangle him, though I feel like he could break from my hold simply by flexing his neck muscles. He is a picture of controlled strength. Our eyes meet, and I wonder what else he’s holding back.
Officer Harris continues our lesson. “All you have to do to escape this hold is pivot toward the attacker’s fingers, breaking the thumb’s hold.”
I’m pretty sure the officer also demonstrates the move, but my gaze is locked on Karson. What’s changed? Why is he suddenly willing to look me in the eye without his standard scowl?
“If you want to add onto the pivot, you can push your attacker’s hand away at the same time. This actually sets you up to wrapyourarm aroundtheirneck.”
Karson’s eyebrows jump.
Now it’s my turn to shake my head at him. “You’re not going to put me in a headlock.”
That one corner of his lip curves higher. “You’re going to have to squeeze really hard then.”
I lock my arm straight and lean into him with all my weight.
He is the calm before the storm. “Ready?”
Very ready. In fact, I’ve been waiting for this moment all month. As much as he’s been waiting for it to be over.
“Oh man,” Drew’s voice booms from behind me as he’s coming by to personally coach us. “She’s really going for it, Karson. Did she find out about your date with the redhead last week?”
My fingers tingle. My grip slips. Then there’s a blur, my arm goes flying, and I’m bent over with my head locked in the crook of Karson’s elbow.
We’re closer than we’ve ever been, yet it’s only because our proximity doesn’t matter to him anymore. That’s what’s changed. He doesn’t have to defend himself from me because there’s no threat.
He’s in a relationship with someone else, and once again I’ve been too distracted by my daydreams to notice.
