Ty

 

No-freakin-way! Ty looked around, stunned stupid like everyone else. Well everyone appeared astonished except Quick. Kell really was the truth. He was a master. He’d stayed composed the whole time Jake was giving him crap, as if he wasn’t a threat, until that horny idiot had made one error that had him face down on the mat and humiliated before he could blink. Ty noted that Kell didn’t like anyone touching him without his permission. It seemed as if he didn’t like to be flirted and toyed with, either. His partner obviously wasn’t going to take Jake up on his offer of drinks. Ty didn’t know if Kell was gay or not, he wouldn’t assume because of his beauty.

Beauty?

Ty cast those puzzling thoughts to the side and put his full attention back on the next round. Jake got up and checked his lip for blood, which Ty thought was amusing, since the man had only been hit in the chest and back. The idiot was already confused.

Jake made the mistake of attempting the same takedown maneuver. Going for Kell’s body. If the man could get his hands around Kell he might get somewhere. But, as soon as Jake went down to ram his shoulder into Kell’s midsection, Kell rotated again, using Jake’s own forward movement to sweep his feet from under him. He hit the mat with a loud thud, arching his back as if it stung where he’d impacted. The men standing around gasped and cursed again. Kell wasn’t breathing heavily, not even a fine sheen of perspiration on his face. While the other men cheered and clapped, some came over and slapped Quick on his back for a job damn-well-done.

“I guess I’m not concerned about him getting hurt anymore. He can handle himself very well. Never took Jake’s bait, either,” Duke said, shaking his head, still watching Kell on the mat as he effortlessly avoided Jake’s tired attempts to get his grubby arms around him. Duke elbowed his partner beside him. “Damn, he’s lightning-quick. I think you’ve lost the rights to your name, Grandmaster.”

“That kid is badass, Rome, for real,” Brian added. “He ain’t even flinching at an almost three-hundred-pound man rushing at him. He’s fuckin’ fearless, man.”

“No. He does fear.” Quick said solemnly. “Just not on the mat.”

Ty would save that tidbit he’d overheard for another day. For now, he was so beyond impressed with his new partner that his insides danced with excitement and intrigue. Kell was amazing, his moves so fluid and calculated. Ty loved that. Loved how he could call on any one of his styles that he’d mastered to suit whatever situation he was in. Ty even liked how Kell’s hood stayed in place the entire time, as if it was custom made for him. Kell wouldn’t give Jake the satisfaction of feasting his beady eyes on all Kell had to offer. Ty held his head higher because he knew what was hidden there.

“All right. Enough playing around. I been too easy on you, little one.” Jake grimaced, putting his fists up again. Ty realized that Jake knew no style. He was a ’squabbler. A wrestler. Liked to get his hands around a man and tussle him down, using his size. He couldn’t do that with Kell. He was too damn fast to catch. So what did Jake-the-snake do when he was met with an opponent who was smaller, faster and smarter than him? He pretended like he was allowing all this to happen.

I’ll call him the ‘great pretender’.

“Jake. For shit’s sake stop going for his middle. You won’t get him that way.” Quick tried to help Jake out.

“Did I ask for your goddamn assistance, Quick? I got it!” Jake growled in annoyance, causing another round of laughter and ribbing from the fellas standing around. “I’m not afraid of you, and I’m damn sure not afraid of this “master” you brought to my gym.” Jake used air quotes when he said master.

He frustratingly stood one more time and locked his fist in front of his face. Jake’s brows were drawn down, his upper lip slightly raised in the left corner, and an unsettling tightness in his scowl. He looked determined to land at least one hit. This time around, Jake didn’t lunge, he stayed upright, moving around Kell in a boxer’s circle. Ty swallowed a lump of nerves when ‘the pretender’ swung a meaty fist toward Kell’s cheek. The way Kell reared backward, making Jake hit nothing but air was beautiful. He kept making him swing and miss, never engaging as if he was toying with him. When Jake had been spun in so many different ways by Kell’s swift direction changes that he tripped over his own foot, Duke called out ‘enough’. Jake was a hot mess of fury. Having not laid his hands on Kell even once.

“Hey! It’s not over,” Jake snapped. “I’m not finished.”

“Yes, you are. And so is Kellam. He’s done fighting. I brought him here to show my team what he can do. Nothing more,” Quick intervened. “This isn’t a challenge, Jake. I won’t let you fight him out of anger.”

“I’m not asking you.” ‘The pretender’ got up in Quick’s face. “This time I don’t want him to hold back.”

“Come on, man. How was he holding back and you still lost?” Dana deadpanned. “That should tell you something.”

Quick frowned at Jake. “You can’t be serious. Nobody even asked you to participate, Jake. You volunteered for that embarrassment. If you get back on that mat with him, I’m not gonna restrict him this time. He’s a master of four styles, one of which you better hope he doesn’t show you.” Quick towered over Jake and snarled. “Believe it or not, I was protecting you.”

“I think it’s time we leave. We appreciate your time, Jake. We’ll continue this session on another day.” Duke pulled on Quick’s elbow, trying to diffuse the tension, but Jake was still steaming.

Ty supposed it was quite a blow to a man’s ego that he couldn’t walk what he’d so sleazily talked. Instead, he’d thought mind games would work. He’d treated Kell like he was child, mocking and teasing him instead of treating him like an equal on the mat. Jake played himself and now he was pissed; not to mention mortified.

“Come on, kid. There’s more than four rounds in a bout. If you’re trying to be ready for these streets you gotta bring more than that. Motherfuckers a lot bigger than me will not hesitate to end you. Let’s go. Me and you. I ain’t tired, are you?” Jake spoke out of desperation, struggling to preserve his dignity.

Ty couldn’t believe this man was ’frontin’ like he wanted more.

“That’s it, Kellam,” Quick said definitively.

“No wait a minute,” Jake argued.

Kell stood straight with his feet together and his arms at his sides, he made a quarter-turn and bowed to his master. Quick gave him an appreciative nod. Then Kell squared his shoulders and turned his back on Jake’s ramblings. It was a cold, disrespectful gesture when Kell didn’t bow to Jake. He hadn’t earned any respect today.

Kell walked directly toward Ty, his light eyes boring right through him. Ty’s chest was just as puffed-out as Quick’s. He was proud. Proud to have Kell as his partner. He understood he’d done just what Jake had—whether he’d voiced it out loud or not—assumed because of Kell’s delicate features and build that he couldn’t hold his own. That he would need constant protection.

He was glad to be proven wrong. So very glad.

Kell was almost to him, his face still holding his battle expression—a cautious frown and narrowed eyes. He acted as if he was still on high alert for any sneak attacks.

That won’t happen with me. He tried to tell his new partner with just a look. Ty watched over Kell’s shoulders as he approached him. Watching his back for him.

Kell

 

His stomach was doing that thing again when it felt like something was living and moving in there—as he stood in front of Ty, his adrenaline slowly retreating. He wasn’t shy staring up into those warm eyes, eyes that were overflowing with respect and a whole lot of shock and awe. God, he felt amazing. He’d wanted to teach that asshole a lesson so badly his insides burned. His fingertips still tingled. Jake had better be glad that his sensei had put a limitation on him, because otherwise he would’ve leveled that bastard with a roundhouse kick to his jaw that would’ve had it wired shut for the next six weeks. Then he wouldn’t have been able to talk trash.

He’d also wanted to show Ty and the rest of the team his skills, and his new-found calmness. Because if that exact scenario had happened to him a week ago, Jake would still be on his ass… unconscious and drooling. However, Kell wanted to be truly worthy of being called his sensei’s protégé. So, no ’hotheadedness.

Speaking of hot, Kell was getting rather heated under his collar at Ty’s gaze on him. At first, Ty had been looking over his shoulder, he was Kell’s eyes in the back of his head. Did we just do that naturally?

The rest of their team began to file out of the gym and into the locker rooms to get their stuff while Jake’s fair-weather friends hustled him through the opposite door. He and Ty stood alone, the silence of the now empty gym swallowing them. When Ty spoke his voice was like the sun on Kell’s face during his morning meditation, pure warmth.

“I’m rarely speechless, but I am now.” Ty’s voice got lower, “Kellam. I have no words. Your discipline is inspirational.”

Kell didn’t clutch his chest, but he wanted to because his heart suddenly felt like it was going to leap out of his rib cage. No one had ever said anything to him like that before. His sensei commended him all the time, but this felt different. His sensei had watched him grow up, and raised him to manhood, he knew Quick also possessed a kind of fatherly love for him as well. But, never had a person met him as an adult and treated him with respect… only his young students. It meant more to him than Ty could know.

“That might be the best compliment I’ve ever received. Thank you,” he admitted. Then with a slight smile, he added. “Since it was so nice, I’ll let it slide that you were also worried I wasn’t going to be able to make it out here when you first laid eyes on me.”

“We’re partners. And this job has the potential to be very dangerous. From what Brian tells me, it’ll probably get real at one point. So, we can’t half-step. I’ll always keep it ’a’ hundred with you, Kell.”

Kell frowned and Ty grinned. “Meaning I’ll always be honest. One hundred percent real. So, yes, I admit when I first saw you I was concerned… but I wasn’t worried.”

“Well, are you still concerned?” He glared unconvincingly.

Ty laughed softly. It was calming instead of patronizing. It had such a melodic sound, a smooth bass-filled rhythm that made Kell’s glare loose most of its heat. He straightened his back, pushing any distracting thoughts away. Kell had to stay professional. He must have a wife at home or, at minimum, a steady girlfriend. He was too amazing and handsome not to. Kell was about to open his mouth to demand an answer until Ty said as smooth as molasses…

“Oh, I’m concerned all right. But it’s not about your skills.” Ty reached up and slowly removed Kell’s hood until it rested on his back. He seemed to do it just because Jake wasn’t permitted to. Ty’s look turned smug and beautiful at the same time. “Don’t bother asking what those concerns are. I’m not ready to let you in my head just yet, Kellam Knight.”