let me show you why this works. First, get out of your head. You’ve got a lot of preconceived notions floating around in there that we need to purge.”
“Um, okay?”
“Do you mind?” Jenny turns to Axel.
“At your disposal.” Axel gives a semi bow.
“Kid, watch closely.” Jenny proceeds to reenact her fight with Axel, only this time, they move at half the speed as before.
Jenny shows me how she uses her body’s momentum to flow into the next move, and how she used the same thing to take Axel’s hits and let them slide right over her. When she shows me how she tossed him on the ground, my mouth gapes.
“No way! Does that really work?”
“It does, but why don’t we have you practice?” She snaps her fingers. “Get in here, kid. Let me show you a thing or two.”
The next hour blows my mind.
I meet two other people from Delta team. A pretty blonde that looks every bit the blonde bimbo with her double D’s, perky smile, and cheerleader attitude. It’s hard for me to take her seriously. When Jenny puts Charlie up against Mack, a man who looks like a Mack truck and makes Griff and Axel look small, I feel like I’ve entered the twilight zone. Charlie takes a licking from Mack, but she puts him flat on his back—twice.
There may be something to this momentum thing after all.
And the only good thing about all this sparring is the deal I made with Griff. Each night before I crawl into bed, he has to kiss all my bruises and rub out the aches in my muscles. Bedtime sex is quickly becoming my favorite kind of sex.
We spend four hours in the gym, Griff, Axel, Mack, Charlie, Jenny and I. At first, they let me rest, showing me—proving to me—how both women can meet the men equally in a fight. They show me one other thing that terrifies me. This momentum thing only works if I can keep my opponent from grabbing hold of me. Once that happens, brute strength wins.
That means I lose.
I practice first with Jenny. She shows me a few things, then attacks me. We do this several times until I finally spin her around and throw her to the mat.
“There you go, kid.” She dusts off her hands, then points to Mack. “Now you get to play with him.”
At some point, we lose Axel. Griff stays with me but allows Jenny to take over my training.
The next morning, it’s just me, Jenny, Charlie, and Mack. Griff is off meeting with the vascular surgeon about his leg. Jenny and her teammates don’t go easy on me, but I learn more in the next two days than I did in the past two weeks. Instead of trying to get me to quit, like Griff did, Jenny coaches me to win. I’m no expert, but I’m getting better.
The following day, Griff’s not there either. He and the rest of Alpha are in some meeting. I asked but he gave me that look that said I was on a need-to-know basis. It’s hard. The longer I’m here, practicing with half of Delta team, the more I wish I was one of them. Their sense of camaraderie feels like the family I never had.
At the end of practice, Jenny wipes the sweat from her neck. I’m drenched head to toe. Charlie barely broke a sweat, and Mack looks like he could go on for days. I’ve yet to toss Mack on his back, but I did evade his grappling hold for nearly an entire match. That’s big for me. Like huge. I celebrate the win.
“Wanna join us for lunch, kid?” Jenny wraps the towel around her neck.
“I’d love to, but I’ve got an appointment with Skye.”
“Gotcha.”
“I really want to thank you for taking time to help me with this.”
“No problem.” Mack places his massive hand on my shoulder. “You’re not horrible anymore, kid.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Mack is fun. He’s huge, massive, and yet his smiles are the absolute best thing in the world. They take all his ferociousness and erase it, leaving only a wonderful man behind. He’s like a scary teddy bear, and I love how he and Jenny flirt. They think they’re not obvious about it, but there’s something simmering between those two.
Charlie is simply amazing. She’s a couple of years older than me, and I completely underestimated her, which is a bit disturbing. I’m blond, beautiful, and well aware of the stereotypes levied against me. Yet, I did exactly