Page 37 of His Obsession
“Yes, perfect. Now repeat it, but hard and fast. When you practice these moves, you need to do them for muscle memory. You don’t want your memory to be weak and slow.”
His hands went to my shoulders, and I followed the moves. Step back, arms up and crossed. I pushed my arms out as hard as I could, and his hands flew away. My skin felt like I skidded across the cement. The sting and burn of my forearms lingered. I flinched, trying to rub them better.
“Don’t show your weakness. People eat that shit up,” he said. “Now, do it a few more times, then I’ll show you another part.”
We put the moves on replay until I bruised my arms, and I no longer had to think of what came next.
“Now, take your hands like this,” he said with his palms opened wide in front of him, “and slap the ears. This disorients them and sets them off balance. In Krav Maga, you go for the weak spots—it’s aggressive and brutal. You do as much damage as possible in a short amount of time to get away from the assailant.”
He put his palms up to my neck, just below my ears. “While we practice, you will place your hands here, so you don’t kill my ears. You’ll then finish by grabbing the back of my neck while kicking and kneeing all the vulnerable points until it incapacitates your target. Those places are the throat and face, balls, solar plexus, and toes. Try it, do not knee me in the balls, or you’ll walk home.”
I laughed. “It would be so satisfying, though.”
“You won’t think that when you have to walk home and look over your shoulder at the same time.”
All the joking went to the wayside when I attacked him with my newly learned motions, barely getting him to the floor. We went over the movements again until I was sweating and out of breath, ready for a shower. We had covered a lot in just thirty minutes, but I knew that I'd forget it all as soon as I walked out that door.
“Thanks, Jake. I needed this, but I’m exhausted.” I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a hug.
His body stiffened, and his arms stayed to his sides, making for an awkward moment. I released him, grabbed my water on the bleachers, and downed its entirety without taking a breath. Jake spun around without a word and threw open the scuffed door, banging it against the wall. I took my seat on the bleachers and picked up my phone.
Lucy:You better be having the best sex of your life. I’m going to work. Come see me. I miss you.
Lucy and I never spent a day apart since we were adults. We didn’t have the money for vacations or travel, so we were always home or working. One thing that was a constant in our lives was each other. The times were shifting, and I didn’t know if I liked where it was going.
Me: Wouldn’t you like to know? I can’t tonight, I have work tomorrow. I’ll see you soon. Miss you too.
I sat watching Krav Maga videos until Jake finally came out, with his dark hair wet and changed into a white polo and tan khakis, looking like a suave Italian man.
“You look dashing so late at night.” I stood, clutching my things, and met him by the door.
“I’m going somewhere on the way to my home and then going to bed.”
“Oh yeah, where?” Curiosity scratching at my mind.
“Adrestia.”
“Really? My friend works there. She just asked me to come to visit. Perfect timing.”
“You’re not going.”
“Oh, come on, there is plenty of security there.”
Jake waved goodbye to the owner and walked out the door towards his car, and I followed close behind, my eyes darting to every moving shadow. The glow of his screen lit his face as he hit the button on his key-fob, unlocking the car with abeep.
“Get in.”
It didn’t take long before I realized where we were. The club was just up the way, and you could see the glow of the neon lights illuminating the street. I squealed, and Jake jerked the steering wheel, causing the car to move around sharply in the lane.
“What the hell, Liz.”
“Sorry, I’m just excited to see my friend.” I smiled and tapped my fingers together in a silent clap.
“There are rules you will follow. We will not drink or dance, I have someone I need to talk to.”
I nodded, waiting for him to continue with his list of rules.
“You will stick with me. You will sit at the bar and not move from your seat. Understand?”