I shake my head and stand by the tires.
“Lena.”
“Just tell me to go.”
Suddenly, his fingers grip my chin, and he makes me look up at him. His eyes are hard, his jaw firm.
“What’s wrong?” he asks in that growly voice.
“Nothing. Let’s do this.”
“Lena.” I hear the warning, but I don’t really care.
“We don’t have all day, remember?”
He sighs. “Talk to me, Rebel. I know you too well, and something’s wrong.”
My chest softens with his voice, and now I want to cry.
I will absolutely not cry.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
“Stop it.” I tug out of his grasp, making him scowl, but I don’t really care. I pace away from him and unzip my hoodie, toss it aside. It’s cold out here, but I’ve been running my ass off, literally, and I’m a sweaty mess. “You’re confusing the shit out of me, Gideon.”
“Why?”
“You’re sweet and sexy in the house, and as soon as we get out here, you’re back to being a bossy jerk, barking orders, with that scowl on your face.”
“We’reworkingout here.”
“Right.”
“This is how I treat all trainees.”
I don’t want him to treat me like everyone else.
And I don’t want his hard attitude, or his stern face.
I want the sweet affection back, because I haven’t had it inso longand it feels like heaven.
“I can’t go easy on you out here,” he continues, “because you learning this stuff could be the difference between life and death.”
“Yes, I can see how being unable to walk a balance beam could mean my demise.”
His jaw flexes, and his hands ball up into fists.
“What if you’re running away from someone who’s trying to take you, and you have to run over something small, like a tree trunk or a board or something? You have to have the balance and the skill to get across safely.”
“Whatever, let’s just do this.”
He’s quiet as I stand in front of the tires, ready to go again, but he doesn’t give me the signal.
“We’re done,” he says.
“No, we’re not. I didn’t make it through without failing.”
