Dylan

 

“Come on. It’ll be fun.” We were in the parking lot at the gym and I was at the door on the passenger side where Eden sat. She didn’t look at all like she wanted to go in.

“Getting punched doesn’t sound fun, Dylan.” Eden crossed her arms over her stomach.

“We discussed this- you’re punching me. How about that?” I grinned hopefully.

She pretended to consider it. “Punching you does sound kinda fun.”

Laughing, I picked her up and out of the truck and set her down on her feet. “Let’s go, E-dawg. I’ll let you punch out all of your angry elf aggression on me,” I said, resting my elbow on her head as we walked into the gym.

She ducked out from under my arm. “You don’t have to irritate me to get me to want to punch you.”

Making a sad face, I clutched at my heart. “And here I thought we were becoming such good friends.”

“We were until you called me an angry elf,” Eden sulked.

I wish this girl wasn’t so adorable to me. It was awesome bringing her to the gym. Not only did I get to hang out with her in her cute little tank top and spandex shorts, she was just so fiery, she did look like an angry little elf.

Opening the door to the MMA gym, I looked forward to working out with Eden. I hoped she’d have fun and maybe learn a couple things, too. Maybe I could even convince her to take some self-defense classes the gym offered. She was so tiny, it made me feel nervous about leaving her. She wouldn’t have Josh or I to look out for her in a couple of weeks and for some reason thinking about that made me feel uneasy.

“Hey, Dylan, how’s the construction business,” Daisy, the girl at the front desk, asked as we walked through the door.

“Same as always- exhausting,” I answered with a friendly smile. Daisy had a thing for me and was obvious about it. She’d even asked me out a while ago, but I wasn’t interested in getting involved with anyone before leaving for basic. The last thing I needed was a new relationship before heading out for three months. Besides, who knew where I would get stationed after basic. No. I didn’t need girls right now.

“Who’s your friend?” Daisy sized Eden up. It was obvious Eden was a lot younger than me even for all her charms.

“Josh’s sister. We were looking for something to do this morning and I offered up my face as punching bag.” I swiped my card through the reader to sign myself in.

“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” Eden piped in, speaking to Daisy as she slugged my shoulder. I barely felt it. We were going to have to work on that. I pulled my wallet out of the pocket of my gym shorts. As my guest, Eden got in for half price for a single visit which was only a couple of dollars. I dug through receipts and sticky notes from my step-dad about work until I found some cash.

“You don’t have to pay for me, Dylan,” Eden whispered, tugging on the hem of my shirt.

“It’s no big deal, Ed, it’s just a couple bucks,” I replied handing the money to Daisy.

“I didn’t know it was going to cost you for us to come here.” She looked cute with her face all scrunched up like that. Reaching out, I smoothed my fingers over her wrinkled brow.

“Don’t worry about it. I have a job, you know.”

“Still…”

“Still nothing.” Turning to smile at Daisy, I thanked her for getting us situated and then led Eden down the hall toward the locker rooms. Eden didn’t have any gear with her, but I always brought my own gloves and a towel.

“Hang out here for a sec and I’ll put my bag away.” She nodded, and I headed into the locker room. It only took a few minutes and then I was back beside her. “Okay, what do you want to do first?”

Startled, she glanced up at me. “What do you mean? I thought I was going to punch you in the face for a while.”

Rolling my eyes, I opened the door to one of the training rooms. “Punching it is.” I led her to one of the supply cabinets and took out a pair of gloves and tapes. “Give me your hand.”

She tentatively held out her right hand.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you all set up and you’ll be mangling my face before you know it,” I told her with a wink.

A little frown pulled her lips down. “I don’t know about mangling your face.”

My eyes snapped from the tape I was wrapping around her hand to her eyes. She looked a little worried and I had to hold back a grin.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think you can punch hard enough to do any real damage.” That probably wasn’t all true, but she was so tiny and short, I wondered if she could get enough power behind her hand to hurt me.

Her eyes narrowed to little slits and I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

“We’ll just see about that, Coulter,” she challenged.

Before long, we were both ready, Eden in her gloves and me with pads in my hands for her to punch.

“Okay, so you want to stand on the balls of your feet with your feet apart and your dominant leg back a little,” I instructed, demonstrating with my own feet and legs.

Eden adjusted her stance to match mine with her hands hanging limp at her side making me want to laugh. A fighter would have immediately put their hands up but then, Eden wasn’t a fighter. I glanced at her feet and her hips. “Good. Now, keep your fists up by your cheeks and your elbows tucked close to your body.” Again, I demonstrated. Eden put her hands up and suddenly, I wanted to teach this girl how to fight for real. She looked so little and fierce. It was such a turn on.

Swallowing down those kinds of thoughts, I focused on teaching her how to punch. “First, a jab.” I punched the air straight out in front of me. “It’s quick. Out and back.” I jabbed the air again, balancing on the balls of my feet and using the force from my feet through my hips and upper-body until it manifested in the jab in front of me.

“Got it,” I asked.

Eden nodded.

“Good. Now, you try it.” I held up the sparring pads and squared up in front of her.

Eden imitated the footwork and punch I’d shown her. I barely felt the impact through the pad even though her form was pretty good.

I nodded encouragingly. “Alright, that was good. Think about this, though. All the power is coming from your feet and moves through your body and out your fist. Concentrate on focusing that power through your legs, hips, shoulders, and arms.”

Eden nodded, her body taut with concentration.

“Here, wait.” I set the pads down on the ground and reached for her hands. Shaking her arms, a little, I tried to help her loosen up. “You’re too tight. Don’t bunch up your muscles. Just keep loose, okay?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, and I dropped her hands. She shook out her arms and legs on her own and rolled her shoulders.

“Ready,” I asked, picking up the pads off the floor and positioning them in front of me.

Instead of answering, Eden hit the pad with a quick jab.

“That’s it!” She jabbed again, and I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. She punched again, the hardest yet and the force of it moved my arm back. “Yes!”

Eden smiled, her eyes dancing with satisfaction. “This is awesome. Teach me more.”

“You got it.” And so, I did. For the next hour, Eden beat the tar out of those sparring pads. I taught her the jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. By the end, she was combining two punches and landing them with speed and force. Her control needed work, but she was loving it.

“You loved it, didn’t you,” I asked as we walked out of the gym to my truck. We were both tired and dripping with sweat.

Her smile dropped, and her face assumed a mask of indifference. “It was alright.” She shrugged.

“You are such a liar.” I ran at her and tackled her in my arms, lifting her off her feet.

“Dylan,” she cried out, but she was laughing. I ran her to my truck while she clung for dear life to my shoulders.

“Tell me the truth,” I demanded, pinning her against the door, her feet dangling a foot above the asphalt.

Eyes sparkling, she shook her head. “I hated every minute of it. You didn’t even let me punch you in the face.”

“Oh, yeah?” I nudged my chin out. “Go for it,” I offered.

She made a fist and cocked her elbow. Her laughing eyes met mine and held. Emotion passed between us and she sucked in a gulp of air.

I’d been teasing her all morning, but it was there beneath the surface, this tension between us. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to do anything about it, but now she was in my arms and she looked hot and sweaty and tempting. The electricity bouncing between us was almost palpable.

Her smile faded as she studied my face. Unclenching her fist, Eden reached out and touched my cheek. Her touch was feather soft and my eyes closed of their own accord as I turned my face into her palm.

“Dyl-,” she whispered a moment later.

The sound of her voice woke me up from a trance. An Eden induced trance. Slowly, I lowered her to the ground and opened her door.

I cleared my throat. “I should get you home.” Good thing her parents loved me. Although, they might change their mind if they knew all the indecent thoughts I’d been having about their daughter for about the last year.

Without a word, she climbed into the truck. Rushing around to the other side, I did my best to act normal as I recited in my mind all the reasons it was stupid to have feelings of any kind that weren’t downright brotherly toward Eden.

She was so young.

She was so beautiful

She was Josh’s sister.

She was so feisty.

She was inexperienced.

I felt things for her I’ve never felt for another girl. Ever.

Her parents would never approve.

I wanted her.

SHIT.

I had to get her home. Now.