Kiss To Forget (Blairwood University #2) - Anna B. Doe Page 0,71
get back some control over her life and taming the storm inside her.
“Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Taking a step back, I go to the bag hanging from the wall in the corner. I stand behind it, placing my hands on either side and holding it close.
Yasmin moves forward slowly. Her lips are pressed in a tight line as she looks contemplatively at the bag.
I wait her out quietly, not wanting to force her if she’s not ready. She needs to be the one to do this in her own time.
When she’s within a hand’s reach, I say, “You should…”
But she’s already holding her hands up and close to her head in a classic fight stance. Yasmin lifts her gaze, her eyes meeting mine. The fire that was gone is blazing once again, only this time, she’s the one owning it. A small, barely discernible smile tips her lips. “I think I know how to throw a punch, hotshot.”
I lift my arms in surrender. “Then go at it.”
And that’s exactly what she does.
The first punch comes faster than I expect it, startling me. The bag sways toward me, and I grab it at the last second, holding it still as she throws a series of punches.
There is no fitness to them, just a pure, raw strength. She’s not fighting her storm, she’s become it. Beautiful in unleashed anger.
Her eyes are glued to the bag as she lands punch after punch. Left, right, right, left, left. Her body moves with every punch. A sheer layer of sweat coats her skin as she speeds up her movements.
One lock of hair slips from her bun and falls into her face, but it’s as if she can’t see it. Her breathing is ragged, the pulse in the crook of her neck beating furiously underneath her skin as she attacks without mercy, landing punch after punch dead center.
“Ugh!” Her gloved fist connects with the bag, the firm slap echoing in the room. The force of the punch is so fierce that she pushes me back, if only an inch.
Yasmin crashes against the bag, her fist pounding the hard surface, but the anger is no longer there, only sadness.
Letting go of the bag, I step around it and pull her into my arms. Yasmin goes willingly, pressing her forehead against my chest as she sniffles softly. Something wet falls on my skin. Tears or sweat? I can’t say for sure, but whatever it is, I pull her closer to me, holding her tighter.
“Are you feeling better?”
Her fingers grip the edge of my shirt. “I just feel empty.”
“Want to talk about it?”
The silence is so long that I think she won’t say anything, but once again she surprises me.
“It’s Tuesday,” she whispers, her warm breath touching my skin. She says the words like that’s supposed to mean something, I’m just not sure what.
“And?” I run my hands over her back in a soothing manner, like I did with Jade when she was little and afraid of something.
“On Tuesdays I have dinner with the coach.”
Oh, fuck.
Coach. Not dad. Not even father. Or sperm donor.
Coach.
She couldn’t have detached herself more from him even if she wanted to.
What the hell happened between the two of them to cause such a rift? I’ve known the guy for two years, and in all this time I’ve never heard him mention a family. Hell, if it weren’t for the rumors about him and Mrs. G, I’d think the dude is gay or some shit like that. But he has a daughter. A kid he never mentions, and I’m sure nobody knows about. So what’s with that?
“How did it go?” I ask carefully, wary of the direction this is going. So far every time we came even close to touching this subject she got closed off in a heartbeat, and I didn’t want that to happen now.
“Fucktastic, per usual.” Yasmin tries to chuckle, but it comes out more of a sniffle.
“You don’t get along.”
“We’d have to talk to get along.”
She pulls back and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. Avoiding my gaze, she goes to her bag and pulls out a towel to wipe her face.
Giving her the space she obviously needs, I go to the fridge we have hooked up down here and pull out two water bottles. I give her one after she tugs the gloves off her hands, and then I take a pull from my own.
Yasmin nibbles at the edge of the bottle, so I sit down on