Page 33 of Keeping My Girl

CHAPTER20

Nicholas

“YOU’RE NOT CONCENTRATING,” Renato sneers as he shoves the blade of his knife towards me.

I barely move out of the way in time. I can hear the snick of the blade cutting the air as I dodge it at the very last second.

Training has always been a way of life for me ever since I was a little kid. My father taught me to always be ready. For anything.

I started doing the knives training years ago, because it gives the boring wrestling and fighting an element of danger that really gets my adrenaline going. I can tangle with my father’s men all day and take all of them on. But when you add a real, dangerous weapon into the mix…well, anything can happen.

I grip the hilt of my knife harder and thrust it towards him as we do a dangerous dance around the outdoor training area. He dodges it easily, as always. Renato is in top shape. All of my father’s men have to be in order to carry out what he expects from them. Just because Renato is closer to my age doesn’t mean anyone goes easier on him. If anything, they expect more. And he knows it.

Sweat drips down my bare back as the sun beats down on it. It feels like the hot rays are trying to peel my flesh off my bones. “It’s hot as fuck today,” I comment before moving to the side quickly as Renato tries his best to cut me.

“It was your idea,” he says with a grin as he steps back and bounces on his heels. “Girl trouble?”

“You know that’s what it is,” I tell him with an eye roll. “Fuck, some days I feel like I’m making some real progress with her. And then the next, it feels like I’m back to square one.”

“Time.”

“What?”

“Give it time. Time heals all wounds, or whatever the fuck it is that people say.”

Renato comes at me again, and this time I follow through with the attack and have his ass flat on the ground in a split second. He squints up at me through the bright sun with a shit-eating grin on his face. “You think I will ever beat you?”

“Never,” I tell him with a smirk as I reach down to offer my hand to help him up. We both return to our designated standing spots, and he motions for me to come at him again.

“I dunno. That girl has your mind all fucked up. I think now’s my chance,” he says with a dark chuckle.

“Maybe,” I agree. I take a stance before charging him. He not so easily discharges my weapon and tackles me to the ground. When he puts his arm around my neck and we’re wrestling, I instantly tap out. If Renato is good at anything, it’s putting someone in a chokehold and making them take a long nap in record time.

“Giving up so soon?” he taunts.

I gather my knife from the grass and go back to position. “Not sleepy,” I quip.

My comment has him howling with laughter. Then, he lifts up his arms and poses, making his larger-than-life biceps bulge. “No one can stay awake with these babies wrapped around their throat.”

“Just because the sun’s out doesn’t mean your guns should be out.”

He nods in agreement. “Yeah, I better put these things away before your girlfriend sees them and decides to come to my room tonight.” And then he emphasizes that bullshit spiel with a wink.

I know his insult is all in jest to rile me up, but it has my blood boiling in two-point-five seconds. “The fuck you say?” I ask through gritted teeth.

Renato must notice my change in disposition because he quickly says with a grin, “Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking for you all day.” He lifts his hand and motions with his fingers. “Come at me, bro.”

And I do.

My blade nicks him twice as we fight and wrestle to the ground. And only when I’m on top of him and my knife is threatening to cut into his jugular does he call it, tapping out.

“Giving up so soon?” I ask, repeating his earlier taunt.

“Fuck, you can be ruthless when you want to be,” he says, wiping the thin lines of blood from his side and stomach with his earlier discarded white t-shirt. After he’s cleaned up, he tosses the shirt aside, and I can see the glint of anger in his eyes. He hates to lose. And me getting the best of him even once feels like losing to him. “No more pussyfooting around,” he grinds out.

I can’t help but laugh at his comment. Most men wouldn’t last one round in the ring with us even if we weren’t technically going full bore earlier.

I’m getting into my stance, ready to take on Renato when I get a glimpse of blonde hair. It’s not the long hair I’ve become accustomed to seeing, but a shoulder-length bob style. And I’m so caught off-guard when her peculiar eyes meet mine that I never even hear or see Renato coming at me.

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