Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
“Thank you.” I smile, feeling so much safer and at home as I place the pack on my cheek.
“Nina, what happened!?”
“Riley, you are not going to believe this.”
I go over the events of the night, from the bait and switch pulled on me by Brian to him straight-up attacking me in the alley after I tried to bail on him at the restaurant, to the universe somehow intervening and saving me with a bit of luck when those four older guys showed up and scared him away. When I’m finished, she’s got both of her hands on my knee and is staring at me like she can’t even believe I’m alive.
“What have I told you about carrying mace on you?” she asks.
“I know, I know,” I laugh. “And I should have listened.”
“I’m buying you some after this. Tomorrow.”
“Fine. That’s totally fine.”
“You know what else you’re doing?” she asks.
“What?”
“Self-defense classes.”
I frown. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
“Nope.” She shakes her head. “You’re like a hundred and fifteen pounds, Nina. You need a guy to teach you some tricks to defend yourself if this ever happens again. And I know just the guy.”
“You don’t mean…”
Riley nods. “I sure do.”
I groan. “No way. He’s cocky, abrasive, he’s sexist, he’s full of himself, he thinks every woman in the world wants to have sex with him–”
“He’s one of the toughest men on the planet,” Riley interrupts. “He’s a former middleweight MMA champion and could probably take a lion apart with his bare hands. He’s just what you need to show you how to handle yourself, and you should consider yourself lucky that you even have access to him through me. If my cousin wasn’t friends with him, there’s no way we’d even get to set foot in the gym where he trains.”
I sigh and lick the blood from my lip.
“Fine.” I smile. “But if this ends up going off the rails, it’s gonna be you I’m blaming.”
2
GUNNAR
“Come on, you pansy-ass little toothpick! You call those arms? You throw punches like my mother! And she’s dead!”
I grin and watch as my shit-talk sinks into my opponent, Pablo, one of the guys at the gym who’s agreed to spar with me today. Probably not the best idea for him considering he only started fighting recently, but I respect him for having the balls to step up anyway.
His eyes flare, and I watch the tell-tale signs of him preparing his next strike.
“You think I’m just a nobody, don’t you?” He grunts. “Well think again, fucker!”
He comes in with a right hook, just like I was expecting. He throws it well, but he telegraphs like the young fighter he is, and I dodge it easily and counter with my own right to the ribs and follow up with a left to the jaw, which drops him to the mat.
If this was a real match–a title bout–I’d drive my knee right into his face, mount him, and start pounding him with both fists until he was mashed potato. But it’s not. We’re just doing a bit of friendly sparring, so I slip down and wrap my bicep around his neck and show him how easy it would be to choke him out from here, get him to tap, and let him up.
“Not bad, Pablo,” I say. “But even a blind man could see those punches coming. You gotta start throwing them tighter or opening up with jabs first and then following up with your heavier hits.”
Pablo nods. He’s a cocky fighter with a lot to prove, but he does listen, especially after he’s been beaten.
“Thanks for the advice, Gunnar.”
“Yeah, well the beers are on you today.” I grin.
“Deal,” he chuckles.
We both step out of the ring, and Pablo starts unwrapping his gloves. “Where you wanna go? Jenkin’s? Stewart’s?”
That’s when I hear a voice call my name out from behind me–a female voice too, which is odd in this gym.
I turn around and see Riley, my buddy Jason’s cute cousin, standing by the door waving at me. She’s got another girl standing beside her, a total hottie by the looks of her, and that’s when I remember that I committed to teaching her some self-defense moves this afternoon.
“Ah shit, Pablo, I forgot. I can’t go with you. Got plans already I forgot about.”
Pablo looks up at Riley and her friend walking over toward us, then glances over at me and raises an eyebrow.
“Plans, huh? I’ll bet you do.”
“Ah, fuck outta here,” I reply with a laugh. “Training. Gotta teach this girl how to not get assaulted by big, bad men in dark alleys.”
Pablo nods. “What a nice, kind, considerate man you are, Gunnar.”
“First time I’ve heard myself described that way.” I smirk, wiping my face with a sweat rag. “You go on ahead. I’ll text you if I’ve got time to meet up later.”