“So yes,” I said, “you get to be annoyed, but you don’t get to—”
He snatched the wrap out of my hand without even breaking eye contact, then rolled it into a neat ball. “You’re right. I’m annoyed. I did not foresee that Finn would want us working separately, and I don’t like that. I should have expected she would, though—it’s good strategy—and that’s also annoying me. But mostly I’m annoyed that even though I thought I had progressed beyond this point, I have not. I still want to protect you. I can’t help it. It overrides logical processing.”
He moved even closer, toe to toe. I didn’t back up. He stuffed the handwrap into my waistband, leaving a piece dangling over my right hip.
“Today the class is working on back choke,” he said. “You, however, are working on close quarter weapons retention.”
And then he reached for the wrap. I moved away before he could get his fingers on it, but I knew he hadn’t really been trying. He was giving me a chance to get in gear. It wasn’t a courtesy a criminal would extend, but Trey did, at least in the first phase. The zone of proximal learning, he called it.
“Fine.” I adjusted my stance, opened my hands. “Let’s do this.”
No helmets. No shin guards. This wasn’t going to be rough. It was going to be fast, though.
Trey dropped his shoulders and took one step backward. I lowered my hands to waist level, angled my hip away from him. He was going for the weapon, in this case a balled-up piece of elastic on my hip, right where I’d side carry. He had speed and expertise on his side. Also agility. I had grit and sheer meanness, plus a few other tricks up my sleeve.
“So you got fired from the Ritz Carlton,” I said.
He flexed his fingers. “I did.”
He moved quickly, a sidestep and snatch. I back-pedaled, almost tripping, but the wrap stayed on my hip.
I tsk-tsked as I circled him. “You said you didn’t have any secrets.”
“This isn’t a secret.”
“Then tell me about it.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he lunged. I moved to block, but he fooled me with a feint, and I was off balance when he caught me from behind. He had me pinned before I could blink, both arms wrapped tight as a vise. I cursed under my breath. I hated it when I fell for an obvious trap.
I struggled to keep my feet planted. “Don’t act like you’ve won. You have to move your hand to get to my hip.”
“I know.”
“And I’m breaking this hold when you do. Plus I’m being real sweet because you’re not protected. Because if we were really training right now, I’d donkey kick you in the groin.”
“And if that didn’t work?
“That always works.”
He tightened his grip. “If it didn’t?”
“Fine. Just to make sure, I’d take out your knee.” I tapped his kneecap lightly with the heel of my foot, then brought it down slowly. “I’d squash your instep next. Slam the back of my head into your nose for good measure.”
I moved my head backward until I felt it touch the bridge of his nose. He didn’t move to avoid me, but he didn’t let go.
“All good options,” he said. “But what if you’re fighting an armored opponent?”
I swiveled my head and looked up at him. “Tell me why you got fired. I won’t laugh.”
He loosened his grip just the slightest. Not enough for me to break the hold, but enough to give me some leverage. That was how I knew it was another trap. He was wearing his bland innocent face. He fooled a lot of people with that.
“Do you really want to know?” he said.
“I really want to know.”
He adjusted his stance, redistributing his weight. Something was coming, and I tensed for it before I remembered that I was supposed to stay flexible. There would be no tussling, so I needed to come up with a break, not an attack. I wanted to attack, though. Offensive maneuvers were my specialty.
Trey’s mouth was warm against my ear. “Because if you really want to know, I’ll tell you. If you ask the right way.”
My heart did a backflip. I heard female conversation at the door, the first of the students. I could feel his chest rising and falling against my back.
I relaxed against him. “If I coax it out of you syllable by syllable, you mean.”
“Yes. That is exactly what I mean.”
I dropped my center of gravity. He almost moved to catch me, but caught himself. I hooked my foot around his ankle to throw him off balance, then hit the mat butt-first and pivoted, kicking both feet toward him. To get to me, he’d have to come through a flurry of heel strikes to the face.
“Ha!” I said. “What are you gonna do now?”
He put his hands on his hips, not even breathing hard. “Yield, I suppose.”
The words were utterly satisfying. But I hadn’t won yet, not entirely.
“Why couldn’t Finn find a record of it?”
He shook his head. “If you want me to tell you—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember how to get things out of you, don’t worry.” I hauled myself up, dusted off my backside. “But I can find out without resorting to a honey trap.”
“You can?”
“I can. You think otherwise?”
“I didn’t say that.”
I gave him a thorough examination. He was calm, curious. Whatever he had hidden, it wasn’t something dark and melodramatic. He was dangling it like bait, playing with me.
“Care to make a bet?” I said.
“What are you wagering?”
“When I find out—”
“If.”
I tapped a finger on his chest. “When I find out, you have to come camping with me. In a tent. On the ground.”
He flinched, tried to cover it. “And if you don’t?”
“Then I will consent to getting the information the old-fashioned way. Word by word, straight from your lips. Even if it takes all night. Deal?”
He considered. “Deal.”
I stuck out my hand, and
