Page 69 of Deception & Daylight
After a few more reps, I re-rack the barbell as the clanking sound echoes through the quiet gym. When I head over to the weight bench beside the heavy bag, Mags makes eye contact with me in the mirror and she sets down her weights before joining me on the bench as I secure the hand wraps. “Will you teach me?”
“I findit hard to believe Maggie fucking Watson can’t throw a punch.”
She playfully backhands me on the chest, her touch light and teasing. “Contrary to what you might think of me, I’ve never been prone to violence, no matter how often you’ve tested that resolve.”
“Alright. Let’s get your hands wrapped and I’ll give you a couple of lessons.” Her brows shoot up and she bites her bottom lip. “If you keep looking at me like that, we’re going to have a very different lesson. Turn and hold out your hand.”
“Why do you wanna learn how to throw a punch?”I ask, wrapping her right hand with much more care than I would my own.
She pinches her eyes closed, inhaling shakily. “I don’t want to be helpless again.”
The statement hits me like a gut shot. I stop what I’m doing, using one hand to tilt her chin, stealing a look at those amber eyes. Where I expect to see pain, I find only fierce determination, and it steals my breath as quickly as she gave it back to me. “You’llneverhave to feel that way again, baby. I’ve got you.” It’s scary how much I mean that.
After I finish wrapping her hands, I lead her to the heavy bag. “Two things to remember when you’re making a fist: the top of your hand should be flat, and don’t tuck your thumb or it’ll break. You want to have it wrapped around your index finger. Don’t worry about clenching tight until you’re throwing the punch. As long as you hit with the biggest knuckles, it’ll have the intended impact.”
She flexes her hands and adjusts her positioning. “Good. That’s perfect. If you’re in a fistfight, remember to protect your face and keep your elbows down. Standing behind her, I bring her hands up into position, angling her elbows down. “Just like that.”
I walk around the heavy bag and hold it in place. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Her fist connects with the leather, and her face instantly scrunches in pain. She shakes it out and grasps her wrist. “Not bad, but you flipped your wrist halfway to the target. Keep your wrist aligned with your forearm to distribute the force evenly. Try again.”
She does much better this time, and we go over how to punch with your non-dominant hand next, before I lead her over to the mats. “Now I’m gonna show you how to break out of a hold if someone grabs you from behind.”
Her face blanches and her shoulders bunch. “That’s…” She doesn’t need to finish her sentence.That’s how he attacked her.
“I’ll keep talking the whole time. Just listen to my voice. If you need to stop, use your safe word. Got it?” She briefly composes herself and nods.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
I assume my stance behind her, wrapping my arms around her neck and shoulders. “As soon as you feel a forearm circle your neck, tuck your chin, grab my wrist with both hands, twist away from my elbow and duck under my armpit.” I take her through the motions, one at a time, guiding her. “Good. If that doesn’t work, I want you to throw a punch to the groin. When the attacker doubles over, throw that elbow up to the chin, and that should give you space to duck out.” We go through the motions over and over, her confidence growing each time. “And if all else fails, aim for the eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus, and groin. Fight like hell, baby.”
By the time the lesson is over, she’s panting and we’re both a sweaty mess, but I’m so fucking proud of her. If I have it my way, she’ll never have to use any of what she just practiced, but I know I can’t control the universe, no matter how badly I want to protect her from it.
“Thank you,” she says, popping onto her toes to kiss me as she wraps her arms around my neck. My hand teases the exposed skin between her leggings and sports bra, as I deepen the kiss, and suddenly I can’t stand our height difference, so I bend at the knees and hoist her up my body until her legs are wrapped around my waist. She giggles as I walk us towards the bench, grab my duffle, and guide her out of Liam’s house. I can’t get her home fast enough.
Mags
Miles snags me by the wrist, attempting to drag me back to the bedroom after a very thorough shower that had to be repeated for… reasons. “Babe, I really have to go,” I whine, leaning in for one last chaste kiss on his stubbled jaw. “Book club starts in like ten minutes and Paige is already texting me. You know how she is. If you’re not fifteen minutes early, you're late.”
“You said it again,” he says, his lips tugging into that infuriating smirk. “Call me babe again and maybe I’ll let you go.”
“I’ll see you later… babe.”
“I think I changed my mind.” He tugs on my arm one last time, spinning me into his chest, where he kisses me roughly.My fingers tangle in his golden tresses, and the urgency to leave evaporates. He buries his fist in my wet hair, tugging ever so slightly at the roots, and the promise of pain with pleasure has goosebumps erupting along my arms. “Be a good girl,” he murmurs before striding off into the bathroom, leaving me weak in the knees.
When I pullopen the door to Chapters & Brews, the chatter momentarily stills as all eyes snap to me, the smell of roasted coffee beans and new books hanging heavy in the air. “Sorry I’m late.” I quickly find a seat between Paige and Lucy, avoiding the knowing stare from the latter.
“Well, at least she’s on theme for the book we’ve been reading,” Ivy teases, taking in my obviously disheveled state. I throw up a middle finger and pull out my annotated book.We’ve just finished a particularly steamy romance with more smut than plot, and the red tabs in my book are a testament to just how much I enjoyed it.
“Alright. Initial reactions?” Ivy asks.
Rosie’s the first to chime in. “That scene on the stairs… is that even possible?”
“Yup.”
The word tumbles out before I can stop it, and Paige’s shoulders shake from the force of her laughter. “This is gonna be so much fun,” she says.
I sink further down in my chair, hiding my face in my palms. “I’d very much like to disappear.” My voice is muffled by my hands, and I have to tamp down on the urge to flee as I catch Lucy’s smirk out of the corner of my eye.
