CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I don’t make it to Sully’s class until the next day. In the driveway, Liam kissed me hard and told me to have fun at class before he left for work.
No jealousy. No warning me not to flirt with his friend. He encouraged me to go by myself. It’s clear Liam trusts me. Trusts that he’s the only man I want.
This is how love should be.
A serious vibe infiltrates the gym when I arrive. You have to be a determined person to get up this early on the weekend to punch, jab, and kick stuff, I guess.
It’s intimidating and I squirm with unease.
Sully joins us and greets me warmly in front of everyone, which helps me relax.
“I’m glad you came back, Bree. I never know if I helped someone out or scared them off,” Sully says.
His easy demeanor makes me laugh. “You definitely helped.”
I straighten up and look more people in the eye after he moves away. Not that I’m here to win approval from strangers. No, I’m here to learn how to defend myself from them.
Liam says his dad was so excited that I’m finally willing to learn how to shoot. He can’t wait for me to come back for more target practice. I have a feeling I’ll be testing every gun in the Hollister arsenal at some point.
By the time I start graduate school, I won’t even recognize myself.
Sully claps his hands at the front of the room, startling me out of my Zena-the-warrior-princess daydreams.
“Partner up.”
I’m momentarily lost while people who’ve already been coming here for a while gravitate toward their friends.
“Need a partner?” a deep voice behind me asks.
“Keegan? What are you doing here?” I ask, smiling at the friendly face.
His mouth quirks. “Liam didn’t want you working with Jake,” he explains in a conspiratorial way that makes me laugh.
“And you just happened to be here?” I ask. I can’t believe Liam went out of his way to make sure someone he trusted would look out for me today. This is what it’s like to be genuinely cared about. Chad only pretended to care about my safety when it was convenient for him or as an excuse to control me.
Keegan jerks his head in Sully’s direction. “This dope makes me come help him out at least twice a month.”
“In return for free gym time,” Sully mutters.
“How’s Kimber doing?” Keegan asks.
“She’s awesome. You’re not getting her back.” Even though I say it with a smile, I think Keegan senses how serious I am.
“I’m glad you’re getting along.”
“Time to work, people,” Sully says, clapping his hands again.
“Wait, Sully, we’re not evenly matched.” I take in Keegan’s towering form. “Like, at all.”
Keegan turns his head to the side and laughs.
Sully takes a few steps closer, his face slipping into teacher-mode. “An attacker isn’t going to be a woman your size, Bree. More likely it will be a guy. I want you to learn how to take someone of his size down.”
“So start with the biggest guy in the room?”
“Think how empowering it will be,” Keegan says with a straight face.
“Okay.” Doubt creeps into my voice. “I don’t want to hurt myself.”
“You’ll be fine,” Sully assures me before walking off.
“Sorry,” I mutter to Keegan.
“Nothin’ to be sorry about, darlin’. Just watch the important bits.”
I snicker as I promise not to strike him anywhere too hard.
I’m not laughing for long.
Once Sully has our attention, we start with how to get out of a wrist hold. “Now, this can be as simple as someone grabs you in a night club and tries to pull you onto the dance floor. Your instinct is to pull back, pull away, right? But his grip will only tighten if you do that.” With a warm smile, and crooked finger, Sully lures a short, wide-eyed girl to the front of the room to demonstrate. She looks mortified.
I shift back and forth on my feet. Sully better not even think about calling me up there to show off any moves.
“Here’s what I want you to do,” he instructs. “Yank toward his thumb, where his hold is the weakest. You can also bend your elbow toward his forearm. Hit him hard.”
Sully repeats the directions a few more times before turning us loose.
“No fair,” I say to Keegan when his hand encircles my wrist. “Your whole hand fits around my wrist.”
“You’ll just have to work harder.”
Keegan plays the bad guy part well, dragging me away like a proper barbarian. I plant my feet into the mat and try to twist the way Sully showed us, but it’s no use, I can’t break free.
“Don’t give up,” Sully encourages. “Here.” He comes closer. “Use your other hand to assist you in getting free.”
He demonstrates and, when I’m ready, Keegan grabs me again.
This time, after a genuine struggle, I manage to get free.
“Good job,” Keegan congratulates.
Pride wells up inside. I did it.
“Thank you for not going easy on me.”
He cocks his head as if the thought never occurred to him. “It’s meaningless otherwise.”
Sully goes over all the soft spots where we should poke, jab, and kick an attacker next.
“Let’s take a break and then we’ll try the chokehold.”
The young woman Sully called to the front earlier makes her way over to us. “Hi, I’m Aubrey. Is this your first time here?”
“It’s my first official class. Sully gave me a private lesson the other day.”
Her cheek twitches—as if that bothers her. “My boyfriend is friends with Sully. He brought me in for the lesson,” I explain.
“Oh,” she says, smiling brightly.
Wait, did I just describe Liam as my boyfriend? Out loud? In front of other people?
Keegan, who overheard everything, winks at me. “Finally work that out?”
My cheeks heat up and I just nod my head.
“About time,” he mutters.
Sully doesn’t provide us with too much downtime.
“All right, class.” He claps his hands together to grab our attention. “Chokehold time.”
I guess I wasn’t paying attention or thinking about what chokehold time meant.
The second Keegan’s hands settle on either side of my neck, cold tingles race down my spine. “Bree, you okay?” he asks, immediately removing his hands.
“I’m fine,” I whisper.
“Too much?”
“No.” In a stronger voice I add, “Let’s do it.”
He returns to the position, and I thrust my hands up, exploding outward, breaking his hold.
“Good,” Keegan praises, even though I’m pretty sure he went easy on me.
“Let’s do it again.”
He narrows his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, and don’t puss out on me this time,” I challenge.
Keegan’s not the kind of guy to fall for a challenge like that. He still takes it easy on me, but some of my fear ebbs and I’m really able to concentrate on the movements.
“All right. Good work, class,” Sully calls out. He checks in with most of his students before working his way over to us.
“How’d you do? Too much?” he asks.
“No. It was good. I feel like I learned a lot.”
Sully crosses his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to give you a false sense of security, Bree. I want you to learn to react quickly. So it’s instinctual. In an attack situation, you don’t have time to process what’s happening, it’s all reaction.”
“That makes sense.”
“Think you’ll be back?”
“Absolutely.”
His lips curve up and he unfolds his arms. “Good.”
I glance at the front desk. “Do you need me to…”
“Nope. All taken care of.”
He glances up at Keegan, then back to me. “Liam working today?”
“Yes. Must be something big going on, he was gone all night.”
Sully raises an eyebrow, and it occurs to me how domestic I just made our relationship sound.
Aubrey approaches the three of us slowly. “A bunch of us go to Friendly’s after class. Do you want to come, Bree?”
I hadn’t exactly been looking forward to going home to an empty house.
“Sure!” I answer a little too enthusiastically.
Aubrey shyly glances over at Sully. “Will you join us?”
“Yeah. I’ll meet up with you later. I need to finish up here.” He pats her shoulder as he walks by.
“Bree, I need to head out,” Keegan says, drawing my attention away from Aubrey. “It was fun working with you.”
“Thanks, Keegan.”
Aubrey loosens up once we’re in my car. “So, you know Sully outside of the gym?” she asks in a casual way that’s obvious as hell.
“Not really. I’ve met him one or two times.”
“Oh.”
I glance over. “You have it bad for him, huh?”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Shit.” She turns and grins at me, not offended by my honesty. “If I’d known he had a ‘no dating clients’ policy, I would have tried a different gym.”
“He seems like a good guy. Give it time.”
“Do you mind stopping at a salon after lunch?” she asks, flicking the ends of her hair with her fingers. “I need a trim and it’s in the mall right next to Friendly’s.”
I glance at myself in the mirror. “Sure. I might even join you.”
“Good.” She flips down the visor on her side and makes pouty faces in the mirror. “I need something that doesn’t make me look like I’m still in high school.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
Even though she’s tiny, she doesn’t look or act like a high school girl. “Well, you’re twenty-two and you have a crush on your gym teacher,” I tease. “Maybe the high school look works for you.”
She bursts out laughing.
Lunch is fun. Aubrey introduces me to her friends. Overwhelmed, I forget most of their names and can’t keep up with their conversation. It’s still a relief to be out and around other people without fear. Chad wasn’t above having his brother or one of his friends sneakily follow me whenever I told him I was going out with friends. I never knew what completely innocent thing they’d report back that he’d twist to use against me as soon as I returned to our apartment.
It’s over.
After an hour, Sully still hasn’t arrived. Disappointed, Aubrey tilts her head toward the mall. “Want to go?”
“Sure.”
It turns out Aubrey’s older sister, Celia, works at the salon. It’s a slow afternoon, so Aubrey asks to have her golden-brown hair dyed a deep chocolate-cherry brown and trimmed into long, swingy lawyers. I tuck myself into a chair with a few magazines and watch the process.
Maybe two hours in, I run down to Starbucks and grab iced coffees for the three of us. I’m waiting for my order when I swear I see a set of broad shoulders I recognize hustling through the mall. A brief glimpse and then he’s gone.
A chill tingles down my spine.
“Miss?”
“Huh?” I turn and find the barista holding out a fistful of change.
“Thanks,” I mumble, tossing it in the tip jar. “I’ll be right back.”
Darting into the mall, my gaze scans everything. I’ve only made it a few stores away from Starbucks when I spot my prey. Chad’s brother, Chris, cowering behind a rack of clearance sneakers.
I’m so done with this shit.
I march right into the store. “Are you following me, Chris?”
His face turns red as soon as he makes eye contact. “No. I’m following the order. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“What order?”
“Oh.” He flashes a smug smile way too similar to his brother’s for my comfort and I back up a few steps. “Your boyfriend didn’t tell you? Yeah, he had me served at my parents’. So, thanks for that.”
I’m beyond tired of people blaming me when their shitty actions get them into trouble. “Maybe you should have thought of that before sending me all those emails and leaving me nasty voicemails.”
His gaze darts away. “I’m sorry, okay? He’s my brother. I was upset. He’s never been in trouble before.”
“That’s because your parents always cleaned up his messes.”
He grinds his teeth and doesn’t respond.
“Just leave me alone, Chris,” I snap. Courage gone, I turn and run back to Starbucks. Grabbing the coffees, I hurry back to the salon.
“Were they packed?” Aubrey asks, accepting the plastic cup dripping with cold sweat.
I nod and hand a coffee to Celia and sit so I can sip my own.
When it’s my turn, I tell Celia to go nuts. “Okay, not too nuts, I may be going on some job interviews soon.”
She sifts through my long, thick hair. “A lot of my clients would kill for this.”
“It grows back, right?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
“I like your spunk, Bree. So, if you’re feeling brave, I think you could totally pull off a long, inverted bob that’s shorter in the back with longer layers in front.”
“How short?”
A quick grin says she’d expected that question.
“Skimming your shoulders. A little higher in the back.” She touches a spot below my neck.
“Do it.”
With every snip, chunks of my hair tumble to the floor like all the bad years of my life falling away.
When it’s finished and styled, Celia hands me a mirror and I admire her work. “I love it.” Totally worth it. I admire the long, sleek layers that seem to make my round face look thinner and more mature.
“That came out beautiful, Bree,” Aubrey says.
Feeling a little silly, I hold out my phone and take a quick selfie, then send it to Liam.
While we’re ringing out, he replies:
Wow.
My girlfriend is hot.
Can’t wait to see you later.
I guess Liam likes it.
“Is that the boyfriend?” Aubrey asks. “The one who’s friends with Sully?”
“Yes.” I suppress my laughter.
“Does he have any hot cop friends?”
I’m laughing so hard as we step outside, I almost stumble, catching myself on Aubrey’s shoulder. She laughs with me for a second or two. “I’m serious. Don’t hold out on me.”
“Probably. I’ve met Sully’s brother.”
“Ooo, is he as hot as Sully?”
My shoulders lift. “I guess. In a smooth-guy, player sort of way.”
“No thanks. Had enough of those.”
“His friend Keegan is a fire fighter, but he’s too old for you.”
“I like older men. At least they know what they’re doing and have their shit together. Usually,” she adds. She glances over, big brown eyes, full of mischief. “You only have eyes for your man, huh? I can tell.”
“Pretty much,” I confirm.
I almost don’t want to drop her off at her house.
“Thank you so much, Bree. This was fun.” She hesitates before sliding out of my car. “If you want to hang out, call me.”
“I will.”
There’s no sign of Liam when I return home. It makes me dread going back to school. We’ll probably never see each other.
Kimber does her subdued version of a happy-doggy-dance at the door, her nub wagging so hard her whole rear end sways. After loving on her for a few minutes, I take her outside for a short walk around the back yard, then feed her a light dinner.
Still no sign of Liam.
Why am I obsessing over this? I think Liam made it clear this is more than a few rounds of hot sex. If it’s meant to be, distance won’t come between us.
Still full from lunch, I end up in front of the bathroom mirror playing with my new haircut. Staring at my reflection isn’t as horrifying as it was when I first came home.
My phone buzzes, and I pull it out of my pocket.
LIAM: I miss you like crazy.
Wow. Five simple words do a number on me.
A few minutes later, I receive a follow-up from him.
Send me another pic.
I step out onto the porch for the natural lighting and snap a picture, sending it off to Liam.
He writes back. Just made my night 1000x better.
As I turn to go inside, something on the hood of my car catches my attention. Heart hammering, I push inside the house, locking the door. Kimber senses my anxiety and tries to nudge me over to the couch.
“No, girl.”
I clip on her leash for the second time and take her out the back door. We circle around the house, and in the driveway she puts her nose to the ground like she’s caught a scent. Once or twice she lifts her head to growl.
When we reach my car, a line of fur on her back stands straight up. She lets out a few deep barks, scaring the shit out of me. “Easy, girl.”
The command dies in my throat as my gaze lands on my car.
Someone left four pink carnations on the windshield.
I hate carnations.
Especially pink ones.
Just like the ones Chad gave me for our anniversary every year.