Rob stumbled back for effect.June grabbed his wrist twirled under him and twisted his arm behind his back.Rob felt the pull on his shoulder and her thumb pressed against a pressure point.“Good.”
June released him and came back around in front of him with a giant grin on her face as if she had just defeated him for real.She should be proud.June was learning rather quickly.Soon, there wouldn’t be a reason for lessons.What would they do then?Hang out like he did with his teammates on the rare weekend they did a cookout?
“What about my knife?”she asked, eager to learn as most students.“When do I learn to use that?”
“So bloodthirsty.”He chuckled, loving her enthusiasm.
“Hardly, I just want to be able to protect myself.”She looked away shyly.“I know you won’t always be there to protect me, or someone to hear my cry for help.”She stood up taller as she looked back at him.“The more I can do for myself, the better.”
“I get it.I was only teasing.We’ll cover a few different scenarios for frontal and rear attacks.”
“Will they have a knife or just me?”
“We’ll cover both.”
Chapter 20
June soaked up all the new knowledge like a sponge.She couldn’t think of another time she would need to learn hand-to-hand combat, let alone knife skills, but it was time spent with Rob.She was also having fun learning something new.
June was worried that things might be awkward after the barbeque.There had been a sort of amnesty between Rob and Jack, and she couldn’t help but feel she was the cause of it.Not that she had done anything.She had only talked to Jack.He was an outrageous flirt.Her brother used to be the same way, so she was used to it, but never on the receiving end of it.
More than once, she had caught Rob scowling at him as if he were beating Jack to a pulp in his mind.She didn’t know why he would feel that way about him.
She had only texted Rob about dinner ideas.His response had been short and to the point.He was always like that, so she didn’t think too much about it, but he could be so different when she saw him.
Rob had been his normal self, luckily.He had only brought up Jack once.June had kept her response neutral, but the truth was, she loved Rob, not Jack.She wanted Rob to teach her, not Jack.He would be more flirtatious than a teacher, and that wasn’t what she wanted.
Jack was gorgeous, don’t get her wrong.Casey would probably beat her over the head thinking something was wrong with her if she knew June had turned down lessons from him.Casey would probably sign herself up for lessons with him.
But he didn’t evoke the same reaction Rob did.He didn’t make her heart race or cause butterflies to flutter in her stomach.Jack was firmly a friend only.Whereas with Rob, she wanted more.But without outright throwing herself out there and risking embarrassment because he didn’t feel the same, she was a friend only to Rob and would have to keep her feelings to herself.
“Alright, now your opponent comes at you from behind.”
Rob slid behind June.His chest pressed against her back, his arm sliding across her chest more like an embrace than a threat.June closed her eyes and imagined—just for a moment—this wasn’t a lesson on how to protect herself, but he was holding her.They were standing on a mountaintop watching the sunset or at another cookout.Greg and Zoe were on one side and Luke and Shay were on the other as they talked in a circle.Each pair holding the other.Love reflected in their eyes.
“June, you with me.”Rob’s voice pulled her out of her daydream.
“Yeah.”She cleared her throat and adjusted her stance.Her free hand was placed on his forearm, purposely ignoring the hard muscle under her.Rob was a lethal weapon.From his training with Special Forces, he was prepared for all types of combat situations.Besides her brother, she couldn’t ask for a better teacher to learn to protect herself.
“Now, how would you get out of this?”
June slammed her head back toward his as she reached for her knife in her back pocket and brought the sheathed knife down on the top of his thigh.Rob had shown her where to miss the femoral artery and risk killing her opponent.
Rob’s arm released her, and she spun away with her knife ready in front of her chest.Her other hand at her side.
“Very nice.”He applauded, and June stood up in a relaxed stance and tucked her knife back into her pocket.
“Thanks.”
“You feel more comfortable?”
“Yeah.”They had gone through enough scenarios, she felt ready for the real thing should it ever happen.
Without warning, he came at her, wrapping his hand around her neck lightly, and marched her back toward the wall, pressing her against it.June almost stumbled at his quick pace.She had to grip his hand holding her neck with both of hers as her feet scrambled to keep her upright.She grunted when her back slammed into the wall.It would have been harder if it had been a real attack, but it still stunned her.
Rob leaned forward, their chests just brushing, his face just next to hers.“I thought you said you were ready,” he murmured in a teasing voice.
“I didn’t realize you were going to do that.”
