Page 43 of Mending Scars

One side of Ryker’s mouth lifted. “Yeah, Warrior.” He grabbed my slender wrist with one of his large, inked hands. “Go ahead.”

The move was pretty simple to execute, so I didn’t need much guidance from Ryker. Like some of the other students, I was skeptical about how easy the small circle techniques seemed and wondered if the moves were as effective as Ryker said.

But as soon as I brought Ryker’s hand up to my chest and saw his face straining from the pain, my doubts faded. While the move was uncomfortable for me, it didn’t hurt too much because I was flexible. However, Ryker, and most men for that matter, weren’t typically limber. At all.

Ryker tapped out as soon once I started pulling back on his elbow. I let him go and giggled. “I can’t believe it’s that easy.”

Ryker rotated his shoulder and bent his elbow several times. “I told you. Simple, but effective.”

“But what if the person tries to hit you while you’re attempting the move?”

Ryker stepped toward me. “That’s a good question. With any technique that I teach you, there’s always that possibility. You have to stay aware of what your attacker is doing and counter if needed. How an attack will progress can’t be predicted, and that’s why I teach so many different maneuvers so that you’re as prepared as possible for whatever is thrown at you.”

I nodded. “That makes sense. It sucks not knowing what they’re going to do, though.”

“I know, baby. What’s good is that most attackers aren’t trained like you are, so you have that advantage. Plus, when someone is in pain, that’s typically all they focus on. They don’t even think about anything else like fighting back. All that’s on their mind is how to stop the pain.”

Ryker had me practice a few more times and threw in some punches for me to block as I tried to execute the move. While it was more difficult, I instinctively reacted and countered. The move took longer, but I was still able to complete it.

Once class ended, many of the students gave Ryker a lot of positive feedback on the new technique. They were excited to learn more, which thrilled him. He’d been worried about how small circle hapkido would be received by the class.

As we walked into the parking lot, my phone started ringing. I grabbed it out of my purse and automatically answered it without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

There was no response, so I repeated myself. “Hello?”

Heavy breathing sounded through the phone. My stomach tightened as I pulled the phone away and looked at the caller ID on my screen. It was an unknown number.

I immediately hung up and shoved my phone back into my purse.

“Who was it?” Ryker asked as we reached my car.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. “Wrong number.”

“Weird.” He leaned in to kiss me. “I’ll see you at home.”

I hugged him tightly for a few seconds after our kiss before letting go. “Okay.”

“Drive safe.” He smiled as he backed away in the direction his truck.

I quickly opened the door and got in the car. My hands trembled as I locked the doors and fumbled to get the keys in the ignition.

I dropped my keys on the floorboard. “Shit.”

Breathe, Kaiya. Calm down.

I rested my head against the steering wheel and took deep breaths before reaching down for my keys. My hands were still shaking as I put the key in and started the engine.

I told myself that everything would be fine, but I knew better. Things were always too good to be true, and I wondered when this would come crashing down on me, just like everything else always did.

Kamden bounced his leg anxiously as we sat waiting for Dr. Lowell to come in for his weekly session. He was opening up more during therapy, which seemed to be helping with his drinking since he wasn’t looking for a way out anymore. He was facing his issues and not trying to wash them away with alcohol.

Even though Kamden had been sober for about two weeks, he was more irritable than ever. He was strung so tight that I was afraid he would snap at any moment, but thankfully he hadn’t yet. I hoped that it would start becoming easier for him soon so that he could stop his self-loathing and finally start healing. I could only imagine what he was going through.

Once Dr. Lowell came in and got settled, she opened with her standard greeting of asking us how we were doing. Kamden drummed his thumbs against his knees as he answered, “Still sober—going on two weeks now.”

“That’s great, Kamden.” Dr. Lowell replied proudly. “How do you feel about that?”

Kamden looked down at the floor and rubbed his palms together. “I want to drink so bad. I want to get rid of this guilt eating at me; take away the pain. I’ve come so close to giving in.”

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