Page 48 of Shifting Tides

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Tobias said beside me—not even winded—kicking at his own punching bag like it pissed in his cereal.

Honestly, it was very distracting to work out beside him because, shirtless and glistening, his off-limits hotness was incredibly hard to ignore. I kept finding myself stealing glances at those chiseled muscles and hating myself when my core heated in response.

Defense class was every bit as horrible as I’d imagined it would be. The training room was enormous, divided into sections with different equipment. One section had ellipticals and treadmills, one had full-body punching bags and gloves, one had weights, and then half of the ginormous gymnasium had nothing but a foam mat that covered the entire floor; I assumed that was where the sparring happened.

I took a moment to catch my breath and looked around. There were hundreds of students here. Half the school must be in thegym. Many of them were training just asenthusiasticallyas I was, but some of them, like Tobias, were really giving it their all.

“Sorry if this is a stupid question, but why are you pushing yourself so hard?” I asked after my lungs had stopped screaming at me.

Tobias didn’t stop his attack on the bag when he answered. “Students can test out of Defense, and seeing as my father is the General of the shifter forces, it’s expected of me to do so.”

He gave the bag one big punch, and it rocked so hard that I thought it was going to fly clean off the chains that held it.

“Wow, a general?” I said on an exhale. “Tough shoes to fill.”

“You have no idea,” Tobias grumbled, giving the bag a death stare.

The idea of testing out of this class was tempting, but I had very little faith that my body would ever excel at this type of thing. I could barely go up a flight of stairs without getting winded, and I had about as much desire to tackle someone as I wanted to be tackled myself.

“How do you test out?” I asked, expecting a harrowing answer.

“You have to win the simulation,” Tobias replied matter-of-factly, turning his head in the direction of the closed-off room in the corner.

I remembered Brett talking about that at lunch. I still had no idea what it really was. Was it some kind of virtual reality, like a video game? Did you have to put on goggles and body sensors? And what were the ‘simulations’ like?

“Alright, class, that’s time.” Caesar’s voice filled the gym. “Time to pair up for forty minutes of sparring.”

“Oh no,” I groaned, my exhausted shoulders slumping as low as they could go.

The class gathered around the foam mat, and Caesar and his assistants paired everyone off. I dreaded him coming to me, dreaded who I might get paired with. If it was Cora or one of those mer-bitches, I was done for. Heck, if it was Tobias, I was done for.Please let it be Ashlyn. At least I know she’ll go easy on me!

“Arya, you’ll be paired with Kendall,” Caesar said when he came to me.

An exclamation point floated over my head at that designation. I was both thrilled and dismayed. Why did it have to be Kendall? I was covered in a thick layer of sweat, and I was sure my hair looked like it had gone through a garbage disposal. Now I had to get up close and personal with the only cute mer guy at this school who didn’t treat me like crap?

Kendall made his way over to me with an expression that said he was pleased with the match. And his shirt was off. And his chest was glistening like that of a Greek god. How the heck was I supposed to focus when he looked likethat?

I didn’t miss the glare that Kendall shot Tobias or the glare that Tobias gave in return as he passed him toward his assigned partner. Interesting tension there, and I wondered with a flutter in my belly if it was because of me or something else.

“Go easy on me?” I asked as coyly as I could.

“Of course,” he chuckled.

So quickly, I didn’t know what was happening, Kendall spun around and kicked my feet out from under me.

I was certain I was going to land painfully on my ass as I went flying. I squeezed my eyes shut to brace for impact, but strong arms caught under my back and knees. When I hesitantlypeeked one eye open, I saw that Kendall was cradling me against his firm, slick chest, his handsome face wearing a devilish smile.

Oh, this guy is good!

“You fight dirty,” I said, my breathless voice barely audible.

He winked. “I just wanted to sweep you off your feet.”

Swoon!!!

“I’m sorry, but that was really corny,” I giggled, even as I clung to him.

“I know, but I couldn’t help myself.” He laughed back and set me gently down on my feet. “Okay, let’s get to the actual training. I’ll try to teach you some evasive maneuvers you can use against these other guys because I don’t think anyone else you might get paired with will go easy on you.”

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