Aaron studies for a long mont. Sothing flickers behind his eyes...anger, yes, but not fully directed at .
"You don’t understand how he thinks," he says finally.
"Then explain it to ."
He shakes his head. "That’s not my place."
Silence falls between us, as my gaze drops to the bruise along his ribs again. Guilt claws up my throat.
"I didn’t an for you to get hurt," I say,
"I know you didn’t."
"I’m still sorry."
This ti he nods once.
We stand there like that for a few seconds, the air slling like tal and sweat and sothing else....
I inhale slowly.
"I need you to train ."
He freezes.
"What?"
"I want you to teach how to fight."
For a split second, I actually see him question my sanity. He stares at like I just said I want to join the military tomorrow.
"You hit your head at the bridge pretty hard right?" he asks.
"No. Well yes but not in the context you’re thinking, I’m pretty fine."
"Then why would you say sothing like that?"
"Because I’m tired of being the weakest person in every situation and needing people to protect all the tim."
His brows draw together.
"I don’t want to be dragged around or restrained or dependent on soone else to survive," I continue. My voice doesn’t shake now, it’s surprisingly steady. "If sothing happens again, I want to be able to defend myself."
"This isn’t a self-defense class at a community center," he says. "You don’t just learn a few moves and call it a day."
"I’m not asking for a few moves."
He studies again, waitin for to say it’s. A joke, maybe?.
But it isn’t one.
"You don’t know what you’re asking for."
"Then tell ."
He runs a hand over his face, clearly irritated.
"Training hurts," he says bluntly. "You will get knocked down a lot of tis, you will get bruised and you will hate at least once a week."
"I already survived worse," I say.
His eyes flick to my wrists briefly.
"That’s not the sa."
"No. It’s not." I hold his gaze. "That’s the point."
"You think learning to throw a punch fixes what happened to you ?" he asks.
"No. But it fixes what happens next ti soone tries sothing."
Aaron walks a slow circle around , assessing.
"You’ve never been in a real fight," he says
"I’ve survived one though and my brother thought a few things so I’m not a novice.."
"That’s not fighting back."
"That’s why I’m here."
He stops in front of again.
"And if Zane says no?"
I don’t hesitate. "He doesn’t get a say in ths."
That answer makes his mouth twitch, just slightly.
"He won’t like it."
"He doesn’t have to."
Aaron exhales through his nose again.
"You’re serious."
"Yes."
"And you understand I won’t take it easy on you?"
"I don’t want you to."
His eyes narrow.
"You’ll train like everyone else, no special treatnt and no quitting halfway because it’s hard."
"I won’t quit."
"You’ll have to listen and we both know how hard that is for you."
"Yes, I will listen ."
"You’ll get hit."
"I know."
"You’ll have to hit back."
"That’s the goal."
The corner of his mouth lifts just barely.
"You really have lost a few screws," he mutters.
"Probably."
There’s a long pause then he jerks his chin toward the mats.
"Fine."
My heart jumps, but I don’t show it.
"We start now?"
"You wanted this, didn’t you?"
"Yes."
He grabs an extra set of hand wraps from a drawer and walks back over.
"Hold your hands out."
I do.
His fingers are careful as he wraps my knuckles firmly
"This isn’t about proving sothing to him," he says quietly as he works. "It’s about discipline and control . You lose your head, you lose the fight."
"I won’t lose my head."
He glances up at . "You already did once."
I don’t argue.
He finishes wrapping my hands and steps back.
"Feel shoulder-width apart," he instructs. "Knees slightly bent, guard up."
I mimic him.
It feels awkward so he adjusts my stance with a tap to my ankle and a little push at my elbow.
"Balanve first," he says. "Power later."
For the first ti since I walked into this room, I feel sothing different from anger.
Purpose.
I lift my chin.
"Show ," I say.
Aaron doesn’t ease into it. He circles once, watching my stance, then suddenly moves.
"Guard up," he snaps.
I barely get my hands up before he swats them aside and taps the side of my thigh with his foot just enough to throw off balance.
"Again."
I reset.
He cos in faster this ti and I try to jab the way he showed , but my timing is off. He slips past it and lands a sharp smack to my backside as he steps around .
I whirl around. "Are you freaking serious?"
"That’s where you were open," he says without a hint of apology.
"That’s not even fair."
"Fights aren’t ant to be fair."
He lunges again, I block badly and stumble, he taps my back side again in a corrective strike.
Heat floods my face. Not from embarrassnt...but from frustration.
"Stop hitting there."
"Then protect it."
I grit my teeth.
We circle again, the mats squeaking faintly under our feet. My heart’s already pounding harder than it should be which is embarrassing because he is not even going full speed and I can barely keep up.
He fakes lefr and I bite, only for him to duck under my arm and smack my other hip as he passes.
"Oh my God," I snap.
"Focus."
"I am focusing!"
"No, you aren’t yet."
He cos at again and this ti I shove him purely out of irritation.
He doesn’t budge. Instead, he grabs my wrist and twists just enough to make lose balance, then lets go befor I fall.
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