Taze (Rise of the Pride #11) - Theresa Hissong Page 0,56

in what seemed like two years.

It was like old times, and he wanted to point that out to her, but he knew better. Calla would run if anyone mentioned her former training. As it was, Taze had agreed to come with her to the gym for nothing more than a workout. She’d been the one to ask if they could spar, and he had agreed.

“Only for you, sweetheart.” He winked as they came back to their positions. Calla didn’t wait and made the first move, going for his jaw again, but she missed. Taze got her in the ribs as he came up on his rebound.

“Fuck,” she groaned as she shook her head and moved back in place. “Haven’t you heard it’s not respectful to hit a lady?”

“I can hit the lady when she shows up on the blue mats with fighting gloves in her bag,” he smirked. “Outside of this facility, I would kill a man for hitting you this way.”

“Good to know.” She nodded and bounced back on her feet. “How long are we going to go at this?”

“Until you tap out,” he teased.

“Me? Don’t you mean when you tap out?” she replied, a saucy smirk tilting the corner of her mouth.

The next hour, they worked through several of her old routines. Taze was impressed with her ability to recall everything she’d learned. He was sore but happy. The panther inside him was itching to touch her, but he held the animal back.

“I have an appointment tomorrow,” she announced as they walked back to his place. “It’s later in the day, and I want you to sleep. I can take myself.”

“Are you sure?” he worried.

“Yeah,” she replied, but her mind was elsewhere. He let her work through her thoughts until they arrived at his place.

“You can always ask your brother to go with you,” he reminded her. “It might be good for him.”

“He won’t,” she replied sadly. “He’s playing the macho bit, thinking he is handling things, but he’s not. He’s using his anger to deal with the things he saw in that cabin.”

“I’m so sorry, Calla,” Taze cursed. “Neither one of you deserve that.”

“I’m going to work hard at this therapy thing,” she swore, looking off into the distance. A noise brought his head around, and he narrowed his eyes when he saw her brother approaching as if them talking about Malaki made him appear out of thin air. In all reality, he probably saw them coming from the training facility since it was right across the new road from his house.

“Mal?” she asked in question. “What’s going on?”

“Can I have a moment to talk to you…in private?” he asked and jerked his head to the side. He wanted Calla back at her place, and when she sighed and hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder, Taze knew she was going to give in.

“Call me later,” he whispered, knowing Malaki had caught his words with his super hearing.

“I promise,” she answered and stepped off the porch. Taze watched until they were safely inside her house. He went to his fridge and grabbed two beers, returning to the porch to keep an eye on her tiny home. If he saw or heard anything that indicated she might be upset or they were fighting, Taze would be over there in an instant, and the truce he had with her brother would be broken along with his fucking face.

Chapter Fifteen

Dr. Lyons closed the door and took her seat across the coffee table from Calla. The human therapist had been welcoming from the first day. It was easier to open up to her about the bullshit in her life.

“Good afternoon, Calla,” the tall, brunette began. “How are things today?”

“They’re good…better,” she admitted. “I feel better, too.”

“That’s good,” the doctor said, picking up her trusty notepad. “Can you tell me why it’s better?”

“I actually trained with Taze today,” she stated, feeling a bit of pride.

“Did you two touch?” she pressed.

“Not skin to skin. I was covered from head to toe,” she supplied. “I don’t know what made me get up and dig out my old training gear, but I did.”

“What did Taze say about that?”

“He was shocked when he woke up and I was at his place fully dressed,” she laughed. “I couldn’t tell what excited him more; me showing up like that or the fact that I kicked his ass.”

“You sound very happy about your time in the training facility today,” Dr. Lyons noted.

“I felt…good,” she sighed. “I don’t know if