“Why, Miss Matthews? Is that sweat I see gracing your face?” I take great pleasure in knowing right now that she’s probably regretting her little dig she took at me yesterday.
“About time,” she fires back and all I can do is chuckle as I stand and wait for the girls to finish.
When they’re all winded and resting on the mat with their water bottles in their hands, I move to start the lesson. These women came here for a reason—to be able to feel confident enough to defend themselves physically in a situation that warrants that response. And even though some instances leave you vulnerable and unable to do so, like my sister’s, at least having the knowledge of how to react in those situations can offer women peace of mind. Defending yourself isn’t just about using physical means either, which is something we will explore bit by bit during each class.
“Okay. So today, I’m going to show you a few moves that you can use if your attacker is coming at you from the front …” I stagger to my feet and get in position in front of Clay, one of the other coaches that helps me out with demonstrations.
Sydney’s hand shoots up the air, and with how she’s sitting cross-legged on the mat, I feel like I’m transported back in time, staring at an elementary version of the girl in front of me. I try hard to conceal my laugh, feigning irritation instead.
“What, Sydney?” I snap as she moves back in her posture, taken by surprise by my unwarranted reaction. I want the women to ask questions, but with the way this girl’s been acting around me, who knows what’s about to come out of her mouth.
“When will we discuss what to do if they come at you from behind?”
I let out a breath and then turn to answer her. “Next week. We usually start with front attacks because they’re easier and a lot of the moves can be adapted to that situation.”
“Oh … okay, thanks.” She gets quiet and immediately withdraws, which piques my curiosity. But I shake it off quickly and resume the demonstration.
I show the women how to use slight movements as simple as how to position their body when their attacker is moving toward them or when they have their hands on them. We even discuss simply using their voice as an intimidation tactic or their car keys as a weapon if the situation escalates quickly.
After the hour is up, the girls prepare to leave, but I can’t help but feel like Sydney is lagging behind on purpose. She’s dawdling, staring at posters on the walls instead of exiting the room in a hasty fashion.
“Did you need something else, Princess?” I ask from my hunched over position, retrieving my water bottle before I stand and take a long drag.
She sighs and then walks over to me slowly, taking enough time that it gives me a moment to study the curves of her body, not that I hadn’t noticed those before. It took everything in me to avoid checking her out as she moved around during the workout, her shapely figure covered in black and lime green spandex today. The bounce of her breasts as she ran, the jiggle of her thighs as she jumped, the flex of her biceps as she performed her push-ups—every movement of hers caught me in some way, and it wasn’t one that I was anticipating.
But when she looks up at me again beneath dark lashes and a mischievous grin spreads across her lips, my gut tells me that this woman might just make me want to go back to prison so I don’t have to deal with her entitled ass.
“You may have made me sweat today, Javi. That I won’t deny. And I hope I showed you today that I’m serious about this class.” Her smile fades as her face grows serious, a total transformation from the playful thing she was five seconds ago. “But I’m not here to mess around, and the sooner you understand that I’m not leaving, the better things will be between us. I don’t know what it is that you have against me, but you need to take your preconceived notions about me and shove them up your ass.” As her chest begins to rise and fall with her heated breaths, the sight of her getting angry with me again is making blood rush south. “I’ll be back next week, and I’d appreciate if you treated me with the same respect and attitude you do the other girls.”
With that, she spins on her heel and heads for the exit, never once looking back to watch me watch her walk away, contemplating what the hell just happened. Even though I didn’t know Sydney personally back in high school, if there’s anything the past week has taught me is that maybe there’s a fire inside of her that I never cared to notice. That or something happened to her to put it there.
Whatever it is, the memory of her glaring up at me as she told me off becomes the image I channel that night in the shower. As soon as I recalled the turn of her lips, the silk of her skin, the intent in her voice, my dick grew painfully hard in an instant.
I lathered up and stroked myself to thought of her, a notion that both intrigued and confused me at the same time. If you ever told me ten years ago that there would be a moment in my life where I found myself lusting after Sydney Matthews, I’d bet you that pigs would fly first. And yet here I am, a world away from the boy I was once, a man now with a record and intent to fly under the radar, avoid trouble and unnecessary distractions as I try to put my life back together, and yet I
