Distracted by A.K. Evans

FIVE

Kane

It was the tap on my arm that had me loosening my hold.

Breathing heavily, I fell to my back and threw my arms over my head. Jake rolled to the side and settled on his back, too. He was just as out of breath as I was. Maybe more so.

We’d come in to work a little earlier this morning to spar. I enjoyed it for what it was; Jake needed it to survive.

Or, I guess he needed it to stay on even keel. The guy had his demons to deal with, and sparring helped him to keep it all in check.

“You got lucky this time,” he said, breath heaving. “I took it easy on you.”

I started laughing. “Yeah. Okay. Keep telling yourself that,” I fired back.

Jake’s head rolled to the opposite side, so he could glance up at the clock on the wall. “If we had more time before class started, I’d prove it to you,” he declared.

Doing an ab curl, I sat up, draped my arms over my bent knees, and haggled him. “I guess you got saved by the bell, didn’t you?”

A rush of air left his lungs as he got up. “You wish. And if you’re so confident, let’s go for a rematch after class.”

I shrugged and said, “I’m game. I’ll still kick your ass then, too.”

Jake rolled his eyes at me.

When he made no move to respond verbally, I added, “You know I’m down to spar with you whenever you need to, but I was thinking about it, and I’m curious about something. Did you ever consider trying to work out your frustrations another way?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You have a recommendation?”

My lips twitched. “I don’t know. I’d think a healthy dose of fun in the bedroom with a gorgeous girl could help.”

“Yeah, I wish,” he huffed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

There was a lengthy pause as he considered my question. I thought he was struggling to come up with an answer, but when he spoke, I realized it wasn’t the case. Jake just wanted to explain it in a way that might make it easier to understand.

“You ever have those moments where you do something to injure yourself and the pain is so intense that you grab a beer in hopes that it’ll help take the edge off?” he questioned me.

Confused by his response to my question, I cautiously answered, “Yeah, but it just barely helps.”

Jake nodded. “Exactly. That’s exactly what it’s like when I feel the way that I do sometimes and attempt to work it out with sex. It just barely helps, and that’s mostly because I’ve yet to have a woman that’s got anywhere near the same level of stamina.”

My lips twitched. “Maybe you need to work them up to it. You know how it is to start a new workout regimen. It takes a few weeks to build up endurance. Perhaps you’re being unreasonable.”

Shaking his head, Jake noted, “Maybe, but I’d have to have one I’d want to keep around for more than just a single night, if that’s going to happen. I want someone that’s got some drive and dedication to something. I just haven’t found her yet.”

I reached out, put a hand on his shoulder, and said, “Well, until that happens, you know I’m happy to meet you here and kick your ass.”

“One time,” he muttered. “You got me one fucking time, and suddenly you’re so confident. After class, I’m knocking you off that pedestal you’ve put yourself on.”

Shifting my attention to the clock, I noted we only had a matter of minutes before the women would start filing in for our women’s self-defense class this morning. “Yeah, well, right now we’ve got to get this place ready for class.”

At that, Jake and I got up and got the room cleaned up in preparation for class. It wasn’t always just the two of us teaching classes together, but it was often the two of us who sparred together before either one of us started work. This week, we were doing both.

Jake was one of my closest friends, and since the two of us had given our service to our country together, we had a different relationship with one another than we did with the rest of the guys we worked with. Our friendship led us to talking to one another about things we didn’t share with everyone else, and we certainly didn’t hesitate to give each other shit about anything that necessitated it.

But the minute classes began, and we needed to be focused on what we were teaching, we pushed all of that aside and kept it professional.

That was precisely what happened today, too.

No sooner had we gotten the room cleaned up when some women had started arriving. The first three that had walked in were women that had been coming in for weeks. They were friends who had decided to do this together after one of them had gotten mugged while walking down the street in the middle of the afternoon one day.

The two women that walked in after them didn’t come in together because they were friends. They simply showed up at the same time, and that wasn’t all they had in common. They’d both been in abusive relationships in the past but had struggled to move forward afterward. Somehow, they finally decided to take a stand for themselves and make sure that they learned what they needed to, so they could find a way to give being in a relationship another shot again.

The sixth woman that walked in was the one that had me stopping in my tracks, though.

It was Ellery.

I was surprised to see her walk through the door, considering she’d just been here yesterday. Generally, most individuals—men and women—didn’t take classes on consecutive days. There wasn’t necessarily any reason not to if their bodies were up to it, but I was shocked that Ellery was someone who’d want to.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about her like I did about the women who’d come into the room before her this morning.

She was a bit mysterious and a lot gorgeous.

It had always kind of been an unspoken rule that we didn’t get involved with the women who came in looking for self-defense training. All too often, women came here looking for the skills they needed to defend themselves because they’d experienced something where they didn’t have them. Needing to fend off an attacker and growing confidence in their capabilities were the goals. They didn’t need us hitting on them at the same time.

But a woman who looked like Ellery didn’t make it easy.

Her long, dark hair and bright blue eyes were stunning. She had a beautiful body, evidenced even more today by the pants she had on. Ellery was a petite woman. Next to me, she was tiny.

“Hey, Ellery,” I greeted her when her eyes came to mine. “You’re back.”

“I am,” she confirmed. “Avalon told me about all of the classes, and I didn’t want to waste any time, so I figured it was best to come right back this morning.”

And then there was her mouth. I’d never seen a more perfectly shaped pair of lips in all my life. I had to fight every urge inside me not to stare at her mouth whenever she spoke and appear unaffected when I had to respond.

“Well, I’m happy to see that you’re enjoying it enough that you wanted to join us again so soon,” I told her.

She shrugged. “It wasn’t as though I had enough of a grasp on the material to practice after I left last night.”

My lips twitched just thinking about her going home to practice what she learned. Of course, that led me to thinking about who she might have there to help her practice.

Fuck. What was wrong with me?

I needed to stop this.

“I know it was your first time yesterday, so you shouldn’t feel bad about that,” I started. “But if you get to the end of class today and you’ve got any questions about anything before you leave, please ask.”

On the surface, it might have seemed like I was merely just trying to be helpful and make sure that she had a solid understanding of the material we were teaching. Technically, I was doing that.

But there was no question that I was also urging her to ask questions because I just wanted to talk to her. And I knew that wasn’t a wise idea, because I’d spent the better part of my day yesterday in the moments of downtime, thinking about her.

There was no reason for it.

I didn’t know anything about her.

Granted, there had been occasions where I’d thought about someone who’d come in for training after they’d left, but generally, that happened in situations where the women had come in so beaten down and broken by their current or former relationships. The way I’d thought about those women—mostly hoping they were going to find the strength within themselves to continue coming to classes, so they could find the courage to leave those relationships behind them—was completely different than the way I’d thought about Ellery.

Part of that was because she hadn’t exactly come in and shared her story. She didn’t have the same fearful or nervous nature about her. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean that she hadn’t experienced some sort of trauma. Some people were just better at hiding it than others. Since I didn’t know what she’d been through, if anything, I knew that wasn’t why she was on my mind.

Unfortunately, the other part of the reason I’d had her in my thoughts was a mystery. I had no explanation. There was not even an inkling as to why I couldn’t get her out of my head.

“I’m definitely going to do that, because I really want to be able to practice after I leave,” she shared.

And then there was that.

For some reason, having her reassurance that she was going to come up and ask for help at the end of the class was such a relief to me. While I couldn’t say what the reason for that was, I knew what it wasn’t. The relief I felt wasn’t the result of knowing she’d ask for clarification on the skills she was being taught, so that she’d be able to use them if it was ever necessary.

Sure, I wanted her to know how to defend herself, but this wasn’t that.

This was something else.

“I don’t have anything scheduled immediately after class, so I’m all yours,” I told her.

“That sounds great. Thank you, Kane.”

“No problem,” I insisted.

There was a brief moment of hesitation before she said, “Well, I should probably put my things down and grab a spot before class starts.”

With a downward jerk of my chin, I replied, “Sure. We’ll be getting started in a minute or two.”

Ellery held my gaze for just a moment longer. Then she turned and moved to set her things down. I spun around and moved in the opposite direction. But I couldn’t miss the look on Jake’s face when I did.

Ignoring his look, I got myself ready for class. Before I knew it, we were in the thick of it. Jake and I were working together to not only demonstrate self-defense techniques, but we were also offering words of wisdom. One of the most important things we taught all of our students—men and women alike—was the concept of situational awareness. It was important that they utilized the lessons we taught about it in their everyday life. Some people might have thought that we were being paranoid, but that wasn’t ever the case. The way I saw it, nobody could ever take their safety too seriously.

Class seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye, and I had a feeling it was because I spent a good chunk of that time glancing over at Ellery. Just as I’d done with several other students, I’d spoken to Ellery throughout the class. I wasn’t having a conversation with any of them, though. I merely offered words of praise or encouragement. Or, in some cases, I stuck to correcting their techniques and answering questions they might have had.

By the time class ended, I had no choice but to put in superhuman effort not to look in Ellery’s direction. I wanted her to come to me without her thinking that I was expecting it to happen.

So, I kept myself busy with some of the props we’d used throughout and waited. Jake was off to the side, having a conversation with the original group of women who’d walked into class first this morning.

It felt like it was by some miracle that there was movement out of my peripheral. I tensed slightly, knowing it was Ellery and waiting for her to close the distance between us.

Only when she came to a stop right beside me did I finally twist my neck and look in her direction.

“Hey,” I said with a smile, hoping I’d successfully hid my relief that she had made her approach.

“Hey, Kane.”

“What did you think this time?” I asked.

“I feel only slightly more confident, but I’m not sure it has anything to do with my execution of the moves,” she answered. “I think the confidence is about understanding how things work here, more than anything else.”

I turned my body fully toward hers and offered, “I watched you throughout class, and I’ve got to say that you’re doing really well. Not everything is perfect just yet, but I have no doubt you’re going to get there.”

Hearing those words seemed to have lifted Ellery’s spirits. “Really?”

“Absolutely. Plus, you’ve got a level of dedication to this that I don’t see very often,” I revealed. “There are people who come to class, one a week each week, and that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with that, obviously. But with your commitment to this, it’s only going to help you in the long run.”

Ellery took in my words and considered them for a moment. Then she wondered, “So, maybe I should wait until the next class to ask questions then, right? I mean, I don’t want to monopolize your time or anything like that.”

I didn’t know what it was, but I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out for her wrist and leading her back out onto the mat. “No way. If you’ve got questions or concerns, I want to help you now.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice sounding slightly strained.

“Yes,” I promised, ignoring that strained sound and what it might have meant. “Now, tell me what you’re having trouble with.”

Following a beat of silence that she used to assess me, Ellery shared what she was struggling with. I didn’t hesitate to give her all of the additional instruction she needed.

By the time we finished up, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t hoping she’d had more questions. Unfortunately, she didn’t and believed she had plenty to practice that would keep her busy until the next class.

“Thank you again for your help, Kane. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime, Ellery. I’m just glad I could help,” I replied.

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah. See you later.”

The next thing I knew, she was walking out of the room, and my eyes were watching her as she went. They stayed on her as she walked through the door and past the picture window on the opposite wall.

“Looks like you should be taking your own advice.”

At the sound of Jake’s voice, I tore my eyes away from the window and glanced in his direction.

“What?” I asked.

He cocked an eyebrow before he noted, “Looks like I’m not the only one who has some pent-up frustration.”

“I feel no desire to beat the shit out of someone right now,” I assured him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe you aren’t looking to spar, but there’s clearly a battle happening inside your head. What’s going on with you and the new girl?”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Her name is Ellery, Jake. And there’s nothing going on.”

His lips twitched, indicating he didn’t believe a word that had just come out of my mouth. “Are you sure about that?”

Knowing it probably wasn’t the best idea but seemingly not caring, I fired back, “Are you suggesting that I’m attempting to take advantage of her?”

He shrugged. “First of all, I don’t know anything about her, so I can’t say if she’s able to be taken advantage of. That said, I’m not suggesting you’d be the kind of guy to pursue a woman who was in no position for it. But I will say that I believe you’re struggling with her.”

“She’s here for our help, Jake,” I reminded him.

“So was Liv.”

Recognizing what he was getting at, I looked away from him. “That situation was different.”

“No, it wasn’t. What makes you say that?”

“Liv and Brix knew each other since they were kids,” I pointed out, hoping he was going to drop this.

I already felt conflicted, as it was. I didn’t need him hounding me about it, too.

Throwing his hands up in surrender, Jake said, “Fine. I guess you’re right. But maybe you forget about Tarryn and Lily then. Royce didn’t know Tarryn when she was a kid, and Jagger certainly had no prior relationship with Lily.”

I rolled my eyes, because the truth was that I couldn’t argue that point. Instead, I gave myself a minute and considered how those situations had turned out for the other guys I worked with. I convinced myself the circumstances had been different for them, even if I couldn’t exactly figure out how that could be the case.

Finally, because I didn’t want to admit the truth to myself, I declared, “I think I need to show you that you weren’t taking it easy on me on this mat this morning.”

Jake laughed and moved in my direction. He knew he’d gotten me riled up, and there was no question he was proud of himself.

“That works for me,” he said.

Barely a minute later, Jake and I were battling it out on the mat, both of us pouring our frustrations into the fight.

Needless to say, I must not have been completely focused on what I was doing, because Jake managed to kick my ass that time around.