Page 49 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

“Of course.” I jumped up excitedly and took his hand. I, too, had experienced situations like he’d described.

He led me by the hand to the center of the crowd. “Ya’ll, this is Sabrina. We have known each other since college and have recently reconnected. So keep in mind there is some familiarity here, but there is also some uncertainty, which will affect how she reacts. I tell you this because, often, the situation you will find yourself in will be with an acquaintance, at the very least.” He squeezed my hand as he turned to me. “Have you taken any self-defense courses?”

I grimaced. “No, but I run and have decent core strength.”

“Big whoop,” he said. “Chances are you’re gonna need more than that.” The crowd chuckled, and he turned to them. “I am going to show you some basic moves, but everyone really needs to take a more comprehensive self-defense course. If there isn’t one locally, I can do one here at any time. They usually last longer than the time we have allotted today.”

He faced me. “Okay, we’re going to learn the palm heel strike, knee strike, elbow strike, and how to break common holds. I’ll show you how to do each one, and then you get to practice on me.” He gave a quick demo of each move.

I clasped my hands together excitedly. “Oh, this is going to be wonderful” Taking my cues from him, I turned to the crowd. “You know he broke up with me in college, and now I get to hit him, and it’s legal. If this isn’t karma, I don’t know what is.”

The crowd laughed.

Cal gave me a wide smile. “You seem a little too excited to do this.” He glanced at my shoes. “Luck might be on my side because you left your heels at home. Don’t forget I have a wound.” He tapped his arm, where there was now a healthy-looking scab.

“Wound shmound. Let’s start with the knee strike,” I said with a laugh.

ChapterNineteen

CAL

Choke hold, wrist grab, bear hug from behind, hair grab, shirt grab, and headlock. I had never been so excited to be a victim or a creeper. My dad should put that in his smear campaign.

In each of these scenarios, there was a bonus—I got to touch Sabrina. I got to be close and hold her. I got to… Wait. Those felt like the thoughts of a creeper. Sure, I had her consent, but it felt a little pervy to be so excited to fake attack a woman just to get her to touch me.

Dammit, I was just so happy to be around her, and loved seeing her have a good time, and especially loved that I was teaching her a skill that could protect her. Nothing about that was creepy.

The stress of the last few days showed on her face—the dark circles under her eyes, the pinch of worry between her brows—but as she bounced from foot to foot in front of me, her ponytail high and swinging, there was a large, open smile on her face. Smiling was something she hadn’t done since the latest batch of articles had hit.

“Is it wrong that I’m excited to have the chance to knee you in the junk?” She beamed as she bounced from foot to foot.

“I’m sure I deserve it.” I gestured for her to come at me. She did but came in soft. Cute. She was all talk and really didn’t want to hurt me.

“We’re gonna do it again. Come in hard. Don’t be afraid; that’s what this suit is for.” I was dressed in a padded suit that made me look like the Michelin Man and crushing on this woman so hard that I was excited to let her dick-punch me. And in front of a large crowd. The turnout was spectacular, and the participants were engaged.

My family had been in this town for generations, yet I only knew people who worked on the ranch. That fact did not escape me—just more proof that I had closed myself off. Sabrina was a visitor to the town and had a network of friends. She was tight with the sheriff and his wife, Cori; the vet’s wife, Hannah; a park ranger and his wife, Ellie; and of course, Cricket. Where Sabrina went, life happened. Considering how alone she might have felt, she still surrounded herself with people she loved. Even though I had family, for the past ten years, there had been no real life to my life. All I did was work and called it living? I’d closed myself off from any attachments.

“Do I have to put my hands on your shoulders to kick your man parts?” Sabrina asked, bouncing around like a boxer.

“It’s really hard to put some oomph into it if you don’t.” I held up a finger and turned to the crowd. “Listen, this is for everyone but especially women. If the predator thinks he can overpower you, he’s going to put his hands on you, or he’s going to be close enough to put a gun in your face. Do not get moved to another location. It’s okay to fight back. I’m going to come at Reenie from behind, trying to use surprise to get her.”

“Show me what you got,” she challenged, a twinkle in her eyes.

I faced her and signaled for her to turn away and start walking.

The first evolution didn’t go so well for Sabrina. Full understanding dawned across her face, her amusement replaced with determination as she realized just how easily getting overtaken could be. Then she practiced the moves a few more times and started to improve.

At one point, I had my arm around her in a mock choke hold when she tapped me gently on the forearm to get me to pause. “I know this is practice, but even in practice, being grabbed like this is unnerving. I know you. I have known you for years now, and I trust you, and yet I still feel trapped and worried that I won’t be able to get away. It’s very sobering.”

She trusted me. I blew out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. Part of her forgiving me would be to trust me again. And we were on that path.

“Imagine if this was real life. We are not educating people enough. I think self-defense should be taught in middle school PE classes. You ready?” I asked.

She straightened up and squared her shoulders, gave a quick nod, then twisted my arm and flipped around when I loosened my hold, ending with a knee to my groin.

Reflexively, I dropped to my knees. The padding was good, more than enough, but my body wanted to close in on itself as I thought about how bad that would have felt.

I stood and gave her a high five. She was beaming and radiant.

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