Stronger with You (With You Trilogy) (28 page)

“Reed!” Lottie called out to him as he and Craig passed us again. She gestured him over to finish up the session.

Craig clearly thought that would be conceding victory and told Jason as much but with a few swearwords and insults just for good measure.

Lottie sighed with frustration and summed up the session herself. She shot me an angry glare as the group broke up and I apologised with a cringe.
They’re like children
. I loved them both dearly but I felt like knocking their heads together.

“How long do you reckon they’ll be at it?” Grayson grinned.

“Till one of them breaks something or passes out?” Hasim suggested.

“Sounds about right,” I groaned. “Can’t you just tackle them or something?” I pouted, resting my hands on my hips as I watched the two of them.

“I love you, girl, but I am not tackling Reed or Carter,” Grayson laughed.

“Fine,” I sighed, racking my brains to think of a way to get them to stop without either of them lording it over the other for the rest of the weekend. Thankfully, the exercise seemed to have kicked my brain into gear and I got a wicked idea. I waited until they approached before cupping my hands around my mouth and shouting at them.

“I’m going to flash Grayson unless you’re both here in ten seconds!”

They heard me. I grinned briefly as they both looked over at me, trying to figure out if I was serious. I crossed my arms over my chest and hoped my “pissed off” face was similar enough to my “I’m not kidding - I
will
do this” face.

Apparently it worked because both of them sprinted towards me and I ducked behind Grayson seeing as the two of them looked about ready to kill me.

“I was kidding, I was kidding!” I squeaked as they got close.

“You better have been,” Jason scowled, coming to a stop in front of Grayson, whose t-shirt I was clinging onto for dear life.

“I just wanted you two to stop,” I pouted, knowing it would make Jason forgive me and wondering if I could win Craig over too.

“We were just messing around, Jellybean,” Craig grinned.

The two of them were drenched in sweat and neither of them had gotten their breathing back under control yet. I had to admit it though; neither of them looked that tired. I suppose that a couple of hours of sprinting around a track was nothing compared to the exhausting ordeal Ian and Karl had put us through before Christmas.

“If you say so,” I grinned, relieved that they both seemed pretty relaxed.

“I’m hungry, you need to feed me,” Craig said seriously, prodding Jason in the chest.

“I’m not your damn bitch. You’re a big boy, you can feed yourself,” Jason laughed, slapping Craig’s hand away.

“Take me home and I’ll make you both something to eat before we go to the gym, okay?” I fluttered my eyelashes at the two of them.

As always, food won my brother over. Jason just looked happy that I wasn’t revealing myself to his best friend.

“Mine,” he growled in my ear as he pulled me into a hug.

“Yours,” I grinned back at him, pressing my lips to his before he released me.

He looked happy again and we jogged back to Jason’s flat together whilst I tried to figure out how much more food we’d need to buy to keep Craig’s massive appetite satisfied over the weekend.

***

I hit the mat hard and it knocked the breath from my lungs. My body was aching more than usual, probably because I was spending most of my time being thrown onto the mats and twisted into submission positions. We’d only been there for twenty minutes and it already felt like two hours.

“Jesus, Carter,” Jason growled. “You don’t have to be such a hardass.”

“Want me to treat her differently because she’s a girl?” Craig asked, looking disgusted by the implication. He offered me his hand and pulled me up from the mat.

“She’s a fucking woman, Carter. You can’t just throw her around like that,” Jason said, clenching his fists by his side. He looked like he wanted to rip Craig’s arm off and bash his head in with it, but he didn’t.

“Is that what you want, Jelly?” Craig asked, turning to look at me. “You want me to treat you different ‘cos you’re a girl?”

“No,” I answered meekly, shaking my head.

“Good. Because if you ever do need to defend yourself from a guy,” he took a breath and cringed a little, looking over at me guiltily as the word
again
hung in the air. “They’re not gonna give a flying shit about you being a woman. They’re not going to pull their punches because you don’t have a Y-chromosome.”

He was talking to me but I knew his speech was meant for Jason so I didn’t answer. Jason didn’t either; he still looked a little pissed off.

“Isn’t that the whole point of teaching her?” Craig asked, resting his hand on the back of my neck.

Jason looked even more pissed off now but I suspected that it was because he knew Craig was right and he didn’t want to admit it.

“Well, how about teaching her how to get better instead of just beating the shit out of her then?” Jason retorted, shifting awkwardly on the spot and rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

“We’re getting to that,” Craig grinned. “That was payback for kicking me in the balls.”

I scowled at him but he grinned down at me and beckoned Jason over. We’d had a quick discussion about what I’d learnt so far and Craig had spent the first ten minutes trapping me in various chokes and holds and seeing if I could get out. I’d gotten out of a few, but not in a graceful fashion.

“Reverse choke hold,” Craig nodded, signalling for Jason to stand behind him and demonstrate.

I groaned inwardly, knowing he’d be showing me next.
I’m never going to get out of one of those damn things
. I watched Jason take position behind Craig and wrap his arms around my brother’s neck. His grip looked solid and I worried briefly that he was taking it a little too seriously. Craig’s eyes were laughing though; he didn’t seem too worried. He brought his elbow back and gave Jason a quick, sharp blow to the ribs causing him to release his grip a little.

“Might need to breathe if I’m gonna walk her through this, Reed,” he grinned.

“My bad,” Jason smirked, correcting his positioning.

Craig proceeded to take Jason out in slow motion, walking me through every small detail and explaining why and how each movement worked. When he switched places with me, he put his explanations into context and adapted the moves to match my stature and weight.

The way he explained everything to me reminded me of the way he used to teach Jake to play guitar. Jake was awful at it at first, he’s never had any patience and had a short temper to boot. Craig was always so calm and tolerant with him, never getting frustrated or reacting to his temper tantrums.

He was being exactly the same with me now, and even though I still wasn’t completely succeeding, I felt like I was making a little progress with each attempt.

“Yes!” I jumped up and down happily as I finally broke away from Jason’s reverse choke hold.

“Atta girl,” Craig grinned, scooping me up and spinning me around despite the fact that the crowd that had gathered was watching us intently.

A lot of the MMA guys trained at the student gym and I guess a few of them had recognised Craig. He didn’t seem to notice though.

“Thanks, Craig,” I beamed at him, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks from the knowledge that I was being watched.

Jason was looking extremely happy, even though I’d just knocked him down. Craig set me down and pulled Jason up from the mats with one hand, slapping him on the back with the other hand.

“Nice job, little squirrel,” Jason grinned, pulling me into a hug which ended with a mind-blowing kiss.

“Reed,” Craig growled his compulsory warning and we broke it off, both grinning happily because his warnings were starting to lose a little of their edge.

I was delighted that Jason and Craig were getting on so well, even if their relationship had a competitive, alpha-male style dynamic that was driving me mad. But I was even more delighted that Craig seemed genuinely happy for us, even if he couldn’t admit it out loud.

Chapter 22

Saturday, 9th February 2013

Jason scowled at me, his eyes dark but not in the usual way. His dark eyes usually meant he was extremely turned on and about to do very filthy things to me. Not this time though, this time he was frustrated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling my shoulders sag.

“You can’t wear that, Jamie,” he shook his head, his jaw clenched.

I looked down at my mini skirt. It wasn’t even that short. He’d seen me wear it before and never complained.

“I thought you liked me in a skirt?” I frowned, I didn’t understand why he had suddenly changed his mind. It occurred to me that maybe it might be because I’d put a few pounds on and looked fat in it now.

“I do,” Jason sighed, running both hands through his hair. “But you haven’t got any tights or anything on.”

“When I wore tights under it you complained,” I said, my frown deepening because my fat theory was feeling much more likely.

“Jamie, I-” he sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a second. “You’re showing too much skin.”

Because I now have too much skin to show?
I sighed, feeling heat rush to my face. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself get fat, I felt disgusted with myself.

“I’m sorry,” I apologised, already rooting through my clothes to find something less revealing.

“It’s okay, baby… I just… I don’t…” Jason broke off, he didn’t seem to be able to find the words to tell me I’d put weight on. At least he was trying not to offend me.

I was already mentally counting how many days it would take me to lose the extra weight.

I found a pair of baggy skate jeans with elasticated ankles. “Are these okay?” I held them up for Jason, keeping my eyes down because I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

“They’re fine,” he sighed again, a sigh of relief this time.

I pulled them on, keeping bent over so that I was covered as well as I could be whilst I changed. I doubted Jason wanted to see me naked now that he thought I was fat.

“I just need the toilet,” I mumbled, nipping into the bathroom.

I locked myself in the bathroom and took a deep breath. I was suddenly feeling very sick and wishing I hadn’t eaten quite so much for dinner.
Maybe I can go for a long run with Craig tomorrow?
I knew it would make me feel better and would have the added advantage of burning a few extra calories.

Oh great
. I sighed inwardly
. I’ve got my period
. I had stopped taking my pills on Tuesday but I hadn’t really expected to get a period. I rarely ever got them. This was the last thing I needed.

Crap, I don’t think I have anything with me
. I searched through my make-up bag and sent up a silent prayer of thanks as I found a lone tampon. I’d have to stop by the shop and pick up some supplies.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked as I returned to the bedroom in my baggy jeans.

I nodded glumly, still feeling guilty for getting fat.

“Jason?” I said quietly.

“What’s up, little squirrel?” He asked with concern, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

I kept my gaze down because I didn’t think I could look at him while I spoke. “I’m so sorry,” I apologised. “I swear I’ll lose weight again.” I swallowed thickly, forcing the lump in my throat down.

“What?” Jason recoiled, pulling his hand away from my face. “What are you talking about?” He put both of his hands on my shoulders and held me at arms length. “Jamie, you can’t lose any weight, you’ve only just started putting it back on.”

“But I’m fat,” I mumbled, embarrassed to have to say it out loud and completely confused by the situation.

“Jamie, baby!” He shook his head emphatically and pulled me into his chest, holding me so tightly I almost couldn’t breath. “You’re not fat, my little squirrel.”

I shook my head in disbelief. He couldn’t try and tell me I wasn’t fat after being disgusted by me in a skirt and then expect me to believe it.

“Get undressed,” he demanded, stepping back and watching me expectantly.

I shook my head, not wanting him to see me naked so I could jiggle all my fat for him.

“Now, Jamie,” he demanded, a serious edge to his voice.

When I didn’t move, he sighed and began undressing me. I didn’t stop him but I didn’t make it easy for him either. He got the job done regardless and left me standing in front of him in my teal lace underwear.

“Show me where you think you’re fat,” he demanded.

Isn’t it obvious?
I stood stock still, not willing to humiliate myself any further. Silent tears were spilled down my cheeks and as shame overwhelmed me.

“Jamie, look at me,” he demanded.

I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Jason took my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted it up so that our eyes met.

“Jamie, listen to me,” he demanded, penetrating my eyes with his own. “You are
not
fat. How can you even think that? You’re hotter now than I’ve seen you in months. Christ, I can barely keep my hands off you! You must have noticed?”

I sniffled, my brows knitting together in confusion. I didn’t understand the conflicting messages he was giving me. It was true, he was always touching me, always craving the feel of skin on skin just like I did with him. But the skirt… I was so confused.

Jason kept his eyes on mine as he lowered himself to his knees in front of me. He pressed gentle kisses all over my stomach, worshiping every inch. He didn’t stop there; he kissed my thighs, my ass, my back, and finally the undersides of my arms before standing up once more.

“I love
every
inch of you, little squirrel. No exceptions, okay?” He asked with a quiet determination in his eyes, leaning forwards to kiss my tears away.

I nodded. I didn’t doubt it now. His kisses had been so tender and I’d understood the message. He really did think I was beautiful. To Jason, I was perfect and the thought warmed my heart and filled an emptiness I hadn’t known existed.