I look past him at the shattered pieces of the radio that could easily be my insides and exhale. “Try. I have to try.”
AURELIA
Khalil and I go to the lake a short hike away.
I eye the punching bag that’s hanging from a low-hanging branch on the shore. Khalil drops his much larger pack before helping me out of mine and dropping it next to his.
“So, what are we doing here?” It obviously isn’t to swim because we aren’t wearing swimsuits. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t for him to answer by attacking me.
Khalil tackles me from behind, and all the breath is knocked out of my lungs when I hit the ground. I only manage to flip onto my back before he seizes my wrists and pins them to the ground. I feel like it’s exactly what he predicted I’d do.
“What the—what the hell are you doing? Get off me!”
“You want me off you?Move me.”
I twist and shove and grunt to no avail. “I can’t,” I say when I’m out of breath and feeling weak. “You’re too heavy.”
“My weight has nothing to do with it. You’re panicking. Focus.”
“Okay, then.I’mnot strong enough.”
“Maybe. But your weakness isn’t coming from your body,” he says. “It’s coming from here.” He taps the side of my head. “You’ve already decided you’ve lost the fight without even trying.”
“Okay, so tell me what I should have done and make it quick. It feels like a planet landed on me,” I squeeze out. The bastard sits up until he’s straddling me, and I realize he’s much heavier than I thought. “Oh, God,” I groan. “I can’t breathe.”
“Good. That should motivate you to listen, focus, and react quickly. Use your left leg to trap mine but make sure to keep your feet planted.” Willing to do anything to get him off me quickly, I do what he says, hooking my ankle tightly around his to trap his right leg. Khalil demonstrates that he can’t reposition himself now and my interest is immediately piqued. “Good girl. Now drive your hips forward like you’re trying to throw me off.” Khalil moves like he’s about to grab my wrists again, and panic strikes a sharp chord within me. Instead of it freezing me in place this time, I buck my hips as hard as I can, and Khalil pitches forward, losing his balance.
He’s still on top of me though, but I can breathe now and my heart is pumping wildly for a different reason.
“Perfect,” he praises, and I immediately want more. “Now grab my right arm with your left hand. Always do this immediately after throwing your opponent off balance.” I’m hanging onto his every word now, so I hook my elbow around his from the outside, and Khalil looks pleased but not all that surprised at my sudden eagerness.
It’s like he knew this was exactly what I needed.
“That’s it, Goldilocks. Very good.” I’m preening from his praise and almost miss the move when he says, “Now you can use your right hand to go for the eyes or use your forearm to strike the face, throat, or chest. You want to get me off you, so we’ll do the forearm strike. Use your arm, hip, and foot—essentially the entire right side of your body—to knock me off and gain the upper hand. Do it now.”
It takes me three attempts to knock Khalil over. My foot slips the first time, so I don’t have the traction to toss him off. The second time, I forget to use my hips, using only two-thirds of my power, which allowed Khalil to stay exactly where he was. It is my third attempt that lands Khalil flat on his back and me on top of him with my forearm to his throat, keeping him down.
“I did it!” I shrieked while grinning.
“Very good, Goldilocks, but there’s another lesson you should know.”
My frown snaps into place. “What?”
Khalil reaches up and yanks on my ponytail viciously enough to shock me into releasing him. I fall to the side to loosen his hold, and he lets me go and stands while I sit on my ass and rub my now sore scalp with a grimace. “Never drop your guard,” he scolds. “You may have briefly gained the upper hand, but all you’ve done is make your enemy desperate. The fight isn’t over until your opponent is truly incapacitated. Never. Stop. Attacking.”
I sigh and shake off my frustration, knowing he’s right. “Understood. What else?”
Khalil’s pride is palpable as he wordlessly holds out his hand. His teachings are already sinking into my core though, so I hesitate, wondering if it might be another trap. “For the moment I’m just your man,” he assures me. “This isn’t a test.” I take Khalil’s hand, and he squeezes mine in a wordless apology for the hair pull before he hauls me to my feet.
“Follow me.”
I trail Khalil over to the tree, and he instructs me to put my back to the trunk.
“Earlier, I had you pinned like this,” he reminds me and then demonstrates by grabbing my throat and trapping me against the rough bark of the tree. “You didn’t even try to break my hold. Why?”
“Because even though you’re lucky to have me—theAurelia George—as your girlfriend,noneof you ungrateful assholes have thanked me yet by buying me jewelry. I’ve had to settle for the occasional hand necklace.”
Khalil’s mouth twitches and his brown eyes glow with amusement. “It’s amazing how your sheer lack of humility still surprises me.”
