“There are no fair fights,” I told her. “Got it?”
A tiny drop of blood had formed where she must’ve bit her lip. She wiped it with the back of a forearm and nodded anyway.
“You’re always going to be smaller than your attackers. Lighter. Slower.”
“Come see how slow I am,” she beckoned.
“So you cheat.”
I saw her pause for a moment, before smiling slyly.
“If someone grabs you from the back, don’t try to fight against it,” I went on. “You roll your arms forward, then drop down. You have to make yourself as small as possible. That’s how you slip away.”
“And what if they grab me from the front?” she asked.
“Then you goin.”
“In?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “They’re not going to give you enough credit, so they’ll underestimate you. They’ll let you get too close.”
I demonstrated by grabbing her from the front. The scent of her was, as usual, distracting.
Especially after last night.
“And that’s when you head-butt them right in the fucking face.”
She moved to do it, but stopped just short of my chin. The point was made, though.
“See? Nothing’s off limits,” I added, unnecessarily. “Eyes. Ears. Mouth.”
“Groin stuff?” she smirked, her gaze dropping.
“Yeah. That too.”
Peyton twisted in my grasp, dropped low, and swung her arm out at the elbow. This time though, she stopped short of nailing me in the balls.
“Let me show you some basic escapes,” I told her. “Then we’ll talk about your ground game.”
“Ground game?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” she challenged.
I threw another handful of snow, grabbed her by the ankles, and yanked them out from under her. She hit the ground like a sack of oranges.
“Because every single fight,” I smiled down, “ends up on the ground.”
Twenty minutes later we’d gone over a variety of unfortunate scenarios she could find herself in, and how to incapacitate her attacker in each. Peyton was breathing hard, in little puffs of white smoke. Her ponytail was disheveled, but in the cutest way.
“Now, lay down. I’m going to get on top of you.”
“Been there, done that,” she smirked.
“Do it again,” I instructed. “But this time, try your best to get up.”
After hesitating for a moment, Peyton dropped onto her back. I climbed over her slender waist and clamped down tightly, pinning her wrists to the frozen earth. Then I leaned forward, chest to chest, letting my weight settle onto her.
