Fighting (14 page)

I
tested the weight of the gun in my hand as I followed Brooks out to the trees
of the surrounding forest.  He had been to the basement shooting range with me
enough that now I was proficient at hitting a stationary target every single
time.  Now he wanted to train me in moving targets and making split-second
decisions.

"I
know what you're thinking," he said, looking at my face.

I
sighed.  "My face is not a book, Brooks.  Stop reading it."

"You're
a natural and you're picking up these skills pretty quickly.  You're worried
about what that means and having to actually use them on someone."

"I'm
not worried," I scoffed.  "I'm not the type to worry about
things."

"Okay,
then you're concerned."  He stopped and halted me with a hand to my arm. 
"I'm not your big brother teaching you a right hook to scare off a high
school bully.  This is the real world with very bad people and very real
consequences.  It's either you or them and you have to choose, every single
time, who will survive.  You or them.  So what's it going to be?"

"Yeah
Teach, I get it."

"You
can't be scared to pull the trigger when the time comes.  You can't be afraid
to fight back.  People who stand back and do nothing are worse than those who
take on the responsibility of standing up and fighting for something."

"I'm
not scared," I said, starting to get a little defensive.

"Then
stop looking at the gun like it's going to bite you."

"I'm
not!  I'm just being a little cautious."

"When
you're in the field and on the clock, shoot first, ask questions later.  If you
stick around to question the motives of these guys over tea, that's when they
put you to sleep and you wake up tied to a chair with a black bag over your
head and teeth pulling tools arranged on a tray sitting next to you.  I'm not
kidding around about this, Alex.  If you hesitate in the field, you could put
the entire team in danger, not to mention yourself.  I will not tolerate that. 
Am I understood?"

I
felt thoroughly chastised and since I actually cared about Brooks and what he
thought, I respected it instead of making a joke out of it.

"Yes."

"Good. 
Now let's go kill some cardboard cutouts."

He
started into the forest again and I took a deep breath before following after
him.  I saw Ethan leaning against a tree ahead in the distance and felt a
different kind of anticipation shoot through my body. 

Brooks
withdrew a stop watch and a box that looked like some sort of remote. 
"Hit all the targets you see."  He shook the remote at me. 
"Some of them are hiding and will pop out at you.  Ethan will stay at your
six and communicate with you non-verbally to help you out as a second pair of
eyes."

I
glanced at Ethan and he was watching us patiently but I could see a glimmer of
enthusiasm in his eyes.  Dude was pumped in his own, quiet way.  I smiled at
him and he smirked back.  Yeah, I liked this a lot better than glaring at each
other.

"Okay? 
Ready?" Brooks asked.

"Yes,"
we said at the same time.

Brooks
hit the timer and they followed me deeper into the trees.  I hit all of the
targets that I saw and a few that I missed but still shot, thanks to Ethan.  At
first he would tap the shoulder of the direction I needed to turn and then I'd
look at him for him to point out specific locations.  After ten minutes of
this, we became so in sync that all he would have to do was tap my shoulder and
I'd zero in on the target almost immediately.  Brooks trailed behind and
occasionally would pop out a cardboard cut out at us, which I would instantly
take down.  It was fun.

"Great
job," Brooks nodded at me.

Ethan
nudged me in the ribs.  "Not bad."

"Not
bad?   You try and do any better."  That sparked his interest and I said,
"On second thought, don't.  You'd smoke me."

He
grinned.  "Pretty much."

"Careful,
you'll trip on your ego," I deadpanned.

He
chuckled and rolled his eyes.  "You're just jealous," he said
lightly.

"Pfft. 
Jealousy is for the weak."

We
followed Brooks inside and ate supper with the others.

"Nice,
just like that," I told Ethan.

"That's
not fair!" Spencer cried out.

"Don't
be a sore loser, Spence," I said in a calm voice.

It
was a week after the festival and we were spending another evening after supper
indulging in video games, but this time around, Ethan wasn't only playing with
us, he was on my team.  He was always on my team now unless it was just the two
of us. 

Things
with Ethan were completely different from the weeks before.  Now when Ethan
walked into a room, I felt that little thrill of excitement in my stomach that
I desperately tried to ignore, smiled at him and he returned the favor. 
Anytime we were in the same room, we were together.  At first, I had to summon
the determination each time I wanted to talk to him, but after a few days of
him reciprocating my interest, it became easier.  We talked to each other at
meals and every other chance we got besides.  We continued our night training,
and I came to think of it as our thing. 

I
learned a lot about him, like how he had patience when he was teaching fighting
technique, but he lost it if someone beat him too many times at a video game. 
That was fairly hilarious to watch, though sometimes I worried about the game
remote when he squeezed it in his hands in frustration.  He had a sense of
humor, though it wasn't as loud as mine.  Sometimes the funniest things he
would say were muttered quietly to where I was the only one who heard him.  A
lot of the time though, he was still quiet, watchful and serious.  He didn't
let me get away with slacking off or joking around too much when it was the two
of us training in the studio.

"Easy
for you to say!  You're winning!" Spencer whined.

We
were playing a game, racing cars against each other down curvy back roads with
random animals and super slow cars getting in the way.

"You
stop bitching, maybe you'll win," Ethan muttered. 

I
chuckled and slapped his bicep.  He smiled at the TV and nudged his elbow into
my ribs lightly.

"Watch
out for those sharp curves!  Brake hard and then drift!" Ollie coached
Spencer.  

He
lost control of his car and it careened into a tree, but it didn't matter
because Ethan crossed the finish line almost an entire minute before Spencer
would have. 

"I
quit," Spencer said resolutely.  "I can't take the pressure," he
went on dramatically.  "It's too much."

I
smiled from my spot on the couch beside of Ethan, and watched Spencer stand up
and leave the room.  I was reclined back because we were taking turns playing,
and as it wasn't currently my turn, I was relaxing against the cushions with my
feet propped up on the ottoman in front of us.  Ethan leaned back as well and
we watched Ollie stretch his arms above his head and fight a yawn.

"You
got lucky," he told me.  "Don't sweat it though.  I'll get you next
time."

"Whatever,
kid," I said.

He
left, too and it was just the two of us. 

"You
tired?" he asked me, turning his head on the cushion to look down at me. 
I was slouched down so far that my head was just above his elbow. 

"Nope. 
Just feeling kind of lazy."

His
eyes warmed and he said, "Yeah.  Movie and ice cream?"

"Yeah,
but I'm pretty sure I've seen most of the movies here."

"We'll
watch it on my laptop.  I can rent a new one online."

He
stood up and I asked, "What are we watching?"

He
shrugged at me and left for the kitchen.  "Whatever you want.  No romantic
comedies."

I
chuckled and heaved myself off the couch, following the sound of his footsteps
to the kitchen, where he was already digging around in the freezer.  I produced
two bowls and he tagged the ice cream and set it on the counter. 

"Which
do you want?" he asked, opening the lids on chocolate and vanilla ice
cream.

"Both."

He
filled our bowls and I grabbed spoons and we walked back to the living room
together.  I collapsed back on the couch and he snagged his laptop from the
coffee table and set it on the ottoman in front of us.  He scrolled through a
list of titles until we selected a new action super hero movie, and we settled
in.  I'd never done this before with anyone, let alone Ethan, and I thought it
was pretty fucking awesome.  We both propped our legs on the ottoman on either
side of the laptop and slouched so that we were almost lying flat.  I'd only
have to move over a few inches and we would be touching.

I
wasn't that tired, but I could tell Ethan was.  Well after we finished off our
ice cream and only about halfway through the movie, his head dropped back and
his eyes closed.  We weren't touching but we were close enough that I was
doused in his body heat, which made me relax enough to become sleepy as well. 
Sometime before the movie ended, I fell asleep. 

Slowly,
I became aware of a steady beating sound.  I peeled opened my eyes and knew
something was different.  I took stock of my surroundings and found that we
were both horizontal and half of my body was on the couch and the other half
was on Ethan, with his arm wrapped around my lower back.  My head was resting
on his chest with my palm on his abs.  The laptop was stuck on the last frame
of the movie.  I realized that the steady beating was his heartbeat. 

So
naturally, I had a silent freak out.  First, because I was
asleep on Ethan
. 
Second, because his arm was wrapped around me and it felt really good there,
which was kind of scary.  Third, we were just becoming friends, one of the best
I'd ever had, and I didn't want to make it weird.  I tried to wiggle away, but
his arm was wrapped snug around me and I couldn't get free.  Which made me have
another small freak out. 

But
then I got over it and knew that I wasn't leaving without waking him up, either
on purpose or on accident, so I sucked it up and woke him up.  Still right in
his space, with my face hovering just above his face, I put pressure on my palm
and slid it slowly over his heart and spoke his name quietly.

His
eyes cracked open and he murmured, "Yeah, babe."

I
sucked in my breath and everything in me stilled.  And a second later, I had
another
silent freak out.  My entire body tingled, just from him calling me
babe
. 
It sounded intimate and affectionate and
awesome
, which is why my brain
was working over time.  He blinked a few times and his eyes focused more
clearly on mine.  I tried to act normal but that was kind of difficult when I
hadn't exhaled yet.  It took a minute, but I worked through it and powered on.

"Movie's
over," I breathed out.

He
didn't say anything but he scanned my face and whatever he saw made him grin sleepily,
which was really fucking sexy.  My heart was working overtime because of these
last few developments, but also because neither of us had moved yet. 

I
had priorities right at that second, and the first was to escape.  The second
was to take a cold shower.

Oh fuck,
I thought.
  That's just great,
Alex.  Get a crush on the resident hot guy and then smother him in his sleep. 
Because
that's
attractive.

Okay
so fine, I liked Ethan.  I had always thought he was attractive, but now I was
really getting to know him and I really liked everything I discovered.  So of
course I freaking developed feelings for him.  This could only lead to bad
things. 

"You
gotta let me go," I said in a slightly stronger voice. 

He
released me and closed his eyes as he lifted his arms above his head to perform
a whole body stretch, which had the interesting effect of him pushing his hips
up as he clenched his muscles.  That mean my hips were also lifted and my upper
body was pitcher lower as his torso caved in on itself, bringing my face closer
to his.  I glanced at his lips and was
this close
to just going for it
and seeing what would happen.  His eyes opened before he finished his stretch
because my hair fell forward and brushed across his face.  He relaxed and swept
my hair off of his face to look at me.  He twisted a few of my hairs between
his forefinger and thumb and then looked back at me.  He watched me expectantly
for a few seconds and I realized that he wasn't holding me down but I still was
on him.

Shit
.

I
inadvertently felt his chest up when I hastily pushed off of it with my palms
and jumped to my feet and holy shit, I wanted to do that again.  I immediately
busied myself with scooping up our ice cream bowls to put them in the
dishwasher, ready to wash with the next cycle.  I met Ethan back in the living
room and muttered a
goodnight
and fled to the safety of my bedroom.

Let's
just say I didn't get all that much sleep that night.

The
follow afternoon, I walked into the classroom for my tutoring with Brooks, and
found he wasn't alone.  The rest of the crew was all there, even Ethan.  I
stopped in my tracks.

"What
are you guys doing here?"

They
were seated along one side of a long table.  The table was covered in an
assortment of locks with different tools scattered around them.  There were
door knobs, deadbolt locks, combination locks, hand cuffs, padlocks, and some
that I didn't even recognize.

"We're
here to school you, kid," Ollie said.

"Ha
ha," I said, walking over and picking up a combination lock.

"No,
really," August said.  "We're going to teach you how to pick
locks."

"Seriously?"
I asked, having trouble keeping the eager smile off of my face.  "I've
always wanted to learn to pick locks."

Ethan
heard the barely contained excitement in my voice and chuckled at me.  It was a
relatively recent improvement in my life, being able to make Ethan laugh, so I
could never resist watching him.  I watched his head tilt back a little and his
mouth curve into a smile while he kept his eyes on me.  I didn't even try to
stop my smile at that point.

"Come
on, sit down in front of me Alex," Spencer said.  "I'll teach you how
to break into a combination lock without using any combination at all."

I
sat down and watched as he popped the lock using something he called a
shim
. 
It was a tool that had a straight edge on the bottom, and a small bump on the
top like a hill.  He bent the edges around the bar of the lock, and pushed the
hill down inside the body and it popped open. 

"Whoa,"
I breathed.  It was
easy
.

He
smiled proudly and showed me how it worked, and what to do. 

"Pull
up with one hand while you're pushing the shim down with the other," he
said. 

The
tool he was using was just that, a tool.  But it wouldn't always be available,
so he showed me how to make one on the fly using a soda can.

"That
is beyond cool," I said.

"Totally,"
he said.

I
scooted my chair down a bit and was in front of August.  She and Ollie showed
me how to pick a regular deadbolt lock.  It required more tools and finagling
but I was an eager student.  It took a lot longer for me to get the hang of it,
but eventually it popped open and I almost squealed in delight.  Almost.  They
reset it so I could practice a few more times and after I was satisfied with
that, I moved down the table to Ethan.

We
leaned toward each other at the same time and looked down at his hands.  He was
holding a pair of handcuffs.  Beside his hands on the table, I recognized a
tiny thing that was the actual handcuff key, another larger tool that kind of
looked like a regular key without teeth on it, and then a paperclip.

"You're
going to show me how to pop open handcuffs with a paper clip?" I asked,
totally astonished.  "You mean that's actually possible?  It's not just
something that magically works in the movies?"

He
laughed again and I got to see the show up close.  I sighed in contentment and
then remembered we had an audience.  I leaned away from him a little and stared
at the handcuffs.  I had always thought Ethan was attractive from day one, but
if last night was anything to go by, I was developing real feelings for him.  I
was okay living in denial about it, but that didn't mean I wanted anyone else
to know, especially him.  That would be immensely embarrassing.

He
proceeded to show me different ways to escape handcuffs, and how it worked so I
understood exactly what the tools were doing.

"Understanding
how something works is the key to beating it," Ethan said.

I
popped it a few times, and then he said, "Wanna try it for real?"

I
stared at Ethan holding handcuffs, looking at me expectantly and I felt my
blood pressure rise. 

Kinky
.

I
laughed at my thoughts and shook my head to clear it.  "Sure."

He
placed the handcuffs on me and handed me a brand new paper clip.  It didn't
take nearly as long as I figured it would.  In fact, it was relatively easy. 
Or maybe he was just that good of a teacher.