Page 133 of Bookworm

"Stay balanced."

I practiced several times—using the heel of my palm to knock his arm down and away then stepping into him and directing a kick to his knee. Then I did it some more before ever getting it up toBo's standards.

"Well done," he said at last, and I nearly whooped in relief.

"Finally," I said, sweating and smiling like it was Christmas. "That means I get another question."

"It also means you can protect yourself," he pointed out.

"And I'm thankful, Flower Boy. I really am," I said sincerely. "Now, for my next question—"

Bo groaned.

"—why don't you have a girlfriend?"

He cocked his head. "You know the answer to that."

"Not really. You just said there's one girl whose attention you want, but that doesn't mean you can't date around.Seems like everyone does it."

"Never understood the point," he said. "Why settle for someone else if you know what you want?"

I swallowed.

"And I did have a girlfriend for a while," he said with a pointed look.

"Yeah, a pretend one," I said.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Just give me five more questions, and I promise I won't ask any more."

"Still don't get why we have to do this," he said.

"Because it's fun," I replied.

"Fine, Kent. Then I want to ask you questions too." Bo shrugged. "Fair is fair, right?"

He held out his hand, and we shook on it.

"Work now, talk later," he said.

"But—"

"We need to focus on these techniques."

"Can't we talk while we work?" I said.

Bo shook his head at that. "You're learning something new, Kent. I need your full attention."

He removed his sweatshirt then, revealing broad shoulders and a toned chest, covered only by a white cotton t-shirt.As he walked toward me, I could make out the faint outline of his abs.The material hugged his body like a lover. I found myself wishing I could do the same. And…

Whoa.Where the heck did that come from?

My gaze traveled up as Bo stopped in front of me.

His frown was there, but those eyes burned.

"Done staring?" he asked.

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