“Well?” she asked, looking at us. “Let’s go.”
I knew Meyah was eager to learn, and after hearing her say the other night how weak she felt, how she felt like she wasn’t able to fight for herself, and the way it seemed like she thought I would see her as less than that, it all blew my mind.
I guess even though I wanted her to be strong and independent, I was also a man, and I couldn’t argue the point that it felt good for your woman to need you for some things.
At first, yes, I wanted to protect Meyah, but the more I saw her bloom and blossom into this beautiful, intelligent, and strong woman, the more I wanted her to find her stride. It was sexy as hell to see her stand up and argue her point or take a stand and be empowered. That alone was sexier than I ever could have imagined.
Beside me is where she belonged… not behind me.
“Why didn’t you ever walk away?” I asked as we bounced on our toes dancing around the ring. I’d wanted to ask the question for a while now, especially after my run-in with the sheriff. He was older, less toned, no way a match against Romeo’s size and form.
He was surprised by my question and paused for a moment before picking up his movements again. “The first couple of times I tried. He had me hunted down, no exaggeration… seventeen years old, and I’m running through this forest being chased by men with guns and night vision goggles.” Romeo shuddered visibly, one of the first shows of what I felt like was real emotion come from him. “As I got older, smarter, bigger than him, he just found different ways to control me.”
Clapping his hand pads together, he held up the right then the left. “Gonna punch one then two, then you’re gonna bring your hands to your face to protect it. Yeah?”
I nodded, following his direction.
One, two, protect.
One, two, protect.
“I’m not proud of my life choices you know,” Romeo admitted out of nowhere, throwing me off for a second. I found my rhythm and started again.
“I never accused you of being proud of them,” I pointed out, puffing lightly, trying to keep track of the pattern we were doing in my head.
His eyes watched me intensely, but not like he was angry, more like he wasn’t staring straight at me, like he was staring through me watching something play over in his head. “Every time I thought I would leave, he’d threaten Phee, or Hamlet, or…” he paused, shaking his head. “After a while, it just became my life. I had respect. I was on my own, and nobody could be hurt because of me. It just was what it was.”
Sweat was lining my hairline now, and I was trying to focus on my punches and my breathing so no one would figure out just how unfit I was.
“Stop,” he ordered, and I froze, pressing my lips together nervously as he examined my stance. “Your first punch needs to be a jab, like… one to the throat.”
I grinned. “You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined throat punching someone. How satisfying that would be.”
He chuckled as he came around my body and stood beside me imitating my body. “Okay, so we’re gonna throat punch, then your two is going to be the power shot to the face.” He showed me the move, the short jab with the left and then the power shot. “You need to move your body with the power shot, twist your hips, ankle lifting up. You need as much force coming through as possible.”
I copied his movements a few times before he nodded sharply, satisfied with my movements.
I smiled, I couldn’t fucking help it.
Romeo was different—standoffish, kind of damn scary—but his praise made me feel powerful. Like he was giving me the skills I needed to protect myself, and I was taking them in.
We changed things up a little bit, my body ached, but I was so eager to learn. I already felt more powerful, like I could fight back if I needed to, and there was no more feeling sorry for myself.
“I just wanna say,” he started as we were coming to the end, and at this point, I was following him around the ring. He had no pads on him and was trying to get me to hit him. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into my mess.”
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault your foster dad is a psycho.”
That made him smile. “I can see why my brother loves you.”
My entire body melted, and I grinned up at him totally giving up on the boxing session. “Likewise, Romeo. Likewise.”