Page 30 of Tiger's Quest
“Not exactly,” I sighed, “he’s my new neighbor.”
“Right. He already has a proximity advantage then.”
I mumbled wryly, “Sounds like you guys are planning to storm the castle.”
He either ignored my comment or didn’t hear it. He pulled me up distractedly and walked me to my car.
As Li leaned in my open door, I added, “Oh, and he also wants to come to a wushu class.”
Li rubbed his hands together and laughed. “Excellent! We’ll see exactly what the man’s made of then. Bring him tomorrow! Tell him as a special courtesy, I’ll even waive the class fee.”
“But, Li, he’s not at my level.”
“Even better! The beginner needs to learn a thing or two!”
“No. You misunderstood. He’s—”
Li kissed me hard on the lips, which effectively shut me up. He grinned and closed the door before I could finish my reply. Waving, he disappeared into the darkness of the studio.
The next day, I found a carefully written note taped to the orange juice inside the refrigerator.
Of all forms of caution, caution in love is
perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.
—Bertrand Russell
I sighed, peeled it off the bottle of orange juice, and pressed it into my journal. I called Ren, since he didn’t seem to want to see me other than planned dates, and told him that he was invited to the wushu class. Then I told him flat out what I thought about that idea. He shrugged off my reaction and declared that Li would be an excellent rival and that he was looking forward to meeting him.
Exasperated, I gave up trying to talk him out of it and hung up on him abruptly. He called back several times that day, but I ignored the phone and took a long bubble bath.
That evening, Ren pulled the Hummer out of the garage and came over to pick me up. I really, really,reallydidn’t want to be in the same room with Li and Ren and couldn’t help feeling grateful that we hadn’t advanced enough yet in wushu to use weapons.
His body filled the doorframe. “Ready? I can’t wait for my first class.”
My sullen silence didn’t seem to faze him at all, and he talked about starting classes at WOU for the entire car ride.
We arrived a few minutes late. Class had already begun, and Jennifer was running through the warm-ups in our corner. Ren walked confidently by my side. Keeping my eyes down, I hurried in, plopped my bag on the floor, and shrugged out of my coat.
I glanced over at Jennifer, who was on the floor stretching her legs. She’d paused in mid-stretch to stare at Ren. Her eyes were practically popping out of their sockets. Li’s stare bored over my head to Ren who returned his gaze boldly and studied Li as if assessing for weaknesses.
Ren took off his jacket, which solicited a squeak from Jennifer who was now totally focused on Ren’s golden-bronze biceps. His perfectly fitted muscle shirt showed off his extremely well-developed arms and chest.
I hissed at him quietly, “Forheaven’s sake, Ren! You’re going to give the women heart palpitations!”
His eyebrows lifted up in confusion. “Kells, what are you talking about?”
“You! You’re too—” I gave up in disgust. “Never mind.”
I cleared my throat. “Sorry to interrupt the class, Li. Hey, everybody, this is my guest, Ren. He’s visiting from India.”
Jennifer’s mouth dropped open with a big silent,“Oh!”
Li gave me a questioning look for a moment before he got back to business. He ran us through kicks and forms and seemed thoroughly irritated when he saw that Ren knew every move. Li ordered us to pair up and decided that Ren would partner with Jennifer while he worked with me.
Ren turned toward Jennifer good-naturedly, and she blushed from her feet to the roots of her hair. We were practicing take-downs. Li demonstrated one on me and then asked us all to give it a try. Ren was already talking comfortably with Jennifer, gently guiding her through the move and giving her tips and pointers. Somehow, he’d quickly put her completely at ease. He was very charming and sweet. When she tried to take him down, he fell dramatically and rubbed his neck, causing her to erupt into giggles.
I smiled and thought,Yeah, he has that effect on me too.I was happy that he was being nice to my friend. Suddenly, I found myself flat on my back, staring at fluorescent lights. While I was busy watching Ren and Jennifer, Li had flipped me over hard. I wasn’t really hurt, just a bit surprised. Li’s determined expression immediately changed to regret.
