Page 5 of Explode
Miles threw a punch at me, but I quickly ducked and jabbed him in thegut. He let out an ‘oomph,’but it wasn’t hard enough to do any damage.
That was the problem. Miles could teach me how to throw a punch,he could teach me how to restrain a grown man, even teach me how to shoot a gun and hit my target, but I wasn’t a fighter. In fact, unless I was backed into a corner andhadto fight my way out, I’d never really been one for violence.
When we’d arrived at the house we’d lived in for the last six months,Miles insisted on me learning how to defend myself. I’d entertained the idea purely on the basis that I never wanted to be in a position of weakness where Max or Hendrix were concerned ever again. But fighting Miles, I just didn’t have it in me.
“Come on, Riley, you can do better than that,” he wheezed.
Since leaving Hollows Bay, Miles had cut his hair short, and hismuscles were bigger than before. I supposed spending every spare minute working out his anger in the gym would do that. Plus, not having any women around to fuck his frustration out didn’t help.
It wasn’t like Miles could waltz into a bar and pick up a woman, hewas a wanted man. Keeping his head firmly on his shoulders was more important than Miles getting his leg over.
I threw a punch at the pad, but Miles twisted and my punchconnected with thin air.
“I’ve told you before, you have to watch your opponent and predictwhat they are going to do next,” he grumbled.
Frustration coursed through me. I was trying my fucking hardest, hejust didn’t grasp that I wasn’t a fighter unless I really had to fight my way out of something.
The frustration turned to anger when I didn’t step out of the way of hisincoming punch. It wasn’t hard, thankfully the padded mitts on his hands prevented the blow to my face from causing any damage, but it was hard enough to feel a throb in my lip.
“Come on, Riley, put some effort in!”
“Fuck off, Miles, I’m trying my hardest here!” I yelled, breathless.
“You’re not trying hard enough,” he shouted back, and clocked me onthe face again with the other hand.
The antagonizing asshole.
My blood spiked in fury when he jabbed me again. This time it hurt.
“What are you going to do if Max or Hendrix, or one of The Stagskidnap you off the street, huh? What are you going to do then, cry like a little bitch and hope someone comes to your rescue?”
His words struck a chord.
After all, that’s why Kai died.
If I hadn’t been so fucking weak and walked straight into Hendrix’strap, Kai never would have had to rescue me, he never would have been at the warehouse for Hendrix to fire his gun at.
Blinding rage seeped into my bones. Suddenly, it wasn’t Milesstanding there, but Hendrix. He was wearing that smug grin he always had on his face, and he was eyeing me up like I was his next meal.
The pretty garden we were in faded into the distance, and the onlything I focused on was the man standing in front of me. The man who killed my husband.
I launched myself at him, fists plowing into his gut with all of my strength. This time, the wind was knocked out of him, and he stumbled back, distracted. Seeing an opportunity, I threw a punch into his nose.
Blood sprayed everywhere as my glove came away, but I wasn’tdone, I had too much rage vibrating through my body, desperate to explode out of me. Hendrix was blinded now, blinded by blood and pain.
Using my knee, I struck him in the thigh, just like Miles had taughtme, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. But he still wore a shit-eating grin on his ugly face, and I was overcome with the need to wipe it off.
Leaping on top of him, I straddled him, and brought my gloved handsdown over and over again, pounding his face. He tried to cover his head with his hands, but my punches were relentless.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I cried. Tears sprung in my eyes, and a soberupted from me as anger turned into something else.
Heartache.
The only time I allowed myself to miss Kai was when I was alone atnight. But right then, Kai’s face swam into my mind, and amongst all the rage and venom I was pouring into every punch, my heart broke from the weight of how much I missed him.
The man underneath me managed to get his hands up, and in themoment I was distracted by the pain of missing Kai, he grabbed hold of me and rolled me onto my back, pinning me down with all his strength.
“Riley, chill. It’s me,” Miles said, blood streaming down his face.
