Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“Raisins are not even close to chocolate chips. You can’t sneak those little fuckers in food without warning people.”
She rolled her lips between her teeth.
“It’s not funny.” I turned and finished unpacking my bag.
A snort escaped her. “It’s totally funny. They’re just grapes. I’ve seen you eat grapes.”
“Dead grapes. It’s like digging up a corpse and trying to fuck it fifty years after burial.”
Another snort followed as she bent over, resting her hands on her knees, laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. “Oh … oh my … god. I found your Achilles’ heel.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. Cheeks red. Body still vibrating with laughter. “Raisins.”
Resting my hands on my hips, I let her work out her amusement for another minute or so. “Are you done?”
She swallowed hard, releasing her hair from her ponytail and pulling it back neatly as she nodded. “Yes. Sorry. That’s just too funny.”
“Last week, you were killing that bag in my garage. How would you feel about sparring me? Nothing too intense. I’m just curious how you are with an actual human.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I made you bleed.”
“Yes. But I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Jessica says to always expect it.”
Without a second’s warning, I grabbed her neck with both hands and started to push her backward. Not hard, but firm.
She instantly tipped her chin, took one arm across the top of my arms, latching onto my wrist while bringing her knee into me and cocking her opposite elbow to strike me in the face.
I released her just as quickly as I originally grabbed her, stepping back and holding my hands up in surrender.
“Why did you do that?” She breathed heavily like I scared her, eyes wide.
“I wanted to know if you’re always expecting it.”
She was. I didn’t let on just how shocked I was that she responded so quickly and accurately.
Livy rubbed her neck, face tense like she still couldn’t believe I did that to her.
I stepped forward and gently pulled her hand away from her neck, replacing it with my face, nuzzling into her and depositing kisses where my hands had been. “Good girl.”
Chapter Twenty
Livy
“No visible marks,” Jessica warned as we taped our hands at an empty training facility near her house the day before Thanksgiving. “Your dad will know, and there will be hell to pay.”
I nodded.
“How’s Deb?”
I shrugged. “She’s fine, but she’s not you.”
“I’m better?” Jessica lifted an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” I grinned for a second before it fell from my face. “A week ago, Slade grabbed my neck.”
“What?” Her gaze shot to mine, her voice hard with concern.
“He did it on purpose to see how I would react. He knows I’m working with you.”
Jess nodded slowly. “And?”
“I did what you taught me to do, but before I could land my elbow in his face, he released me and stepped back. I think he thought I was going to kick his ass.”
“No, Livy. Don’t ever make the assumption that your opponent thinks you’re better than them. That’s a huge weakness on your part.”
“You mean to tell me you don’t think you’re better than me?”
“Of course, I’m better than you. I just don’t want you to think I’m better than you. Nor do I want you to think you’re better than me. We are only as good as our weakest day.”
I took a step back and adjusted my headgear. “How am I supposed to save a life—mine—if I’m only as good as my weakest day?”
“We fight with the strongest parts of our bodies. We listen to the voice of reason in our heads. But on our weakest day, we fight with every single cell in our body. We fight out of a passion to live or to save another life. We feed off the pain. We give everything only when we feel like we have nothing left to lose.”
“So fear is strength?” I dodged her first shot at me, and she nodded in approval of my move.
“No. Fear is crippling. Desperation will keep you alive. That moment you realize you will do absolutely anything to survive. Men have lost their penises to women who desperately did not want to be raped. Men have lost their lives to women who desperately did not want to be raped.” She avoided my next swing, but then I landed one in her side.
Sadly, that landed me on my ass.
An hour later, all our bruises were contained to the torso area. Jessica called it “ribs and abs day.” I didn’t know what she meant until I eased into the vehicle hugging my midsection.
“So this Slade, is it serious?” She flipped down her sun visor and sped out of the parking lot.
“I think so. Not sure. It’s hard to explain.”
“Why didn’t you invite him for Thanksgiving? If it’s serious, you won’t be able to hide him from your dad forever. And introducing him to the whole family at once would have been a great buffer.”