Page 134 of Bookworm

I crossed my arms. "I was just giving you my full attention."

"Trust me, I was enjoying it."

Before he could say more or I died of heatstroke considering my whole body had to be blushing at this point, I noticed the two people who'd just entered the room.

"Hey, isn't that your parents?" I asked.

"Yeah," Bo said, watching as they walked to the center of the mat hand-in-hand, "Mom doesn't teach as much as she used to because of her job, but they come in sometimes."

The classes had stopped to gather around, and I moved to join them.

"Must be hard finding time between movies," I said. "She's an actress, right?"

"Stuntwoman," he corrected. "But it's basically the same thing."

"Hey everyone," Mrs. Strykersaid.She glanced around the group, eyes widening as they landed on me and Bo. Smiling, she whispered something to Mr. Stryker which made his lips kick up in a grin. He looked at us tooand raisedhis chin in greeting."We have some new faces which is always awesome to see."

She gave me a nod then continued.

"Most of you know me already. But if you don't,I'm Snow. MyOmmafounded The Academy years ago so anyone interested in martial arts had a place to call home. Tonight, I'm going to teach you a new skill, one you can use to fend off an attack, even if it's from a larger opponent."

Her smile brightened as she gestured to the man at her side.

"My husband Ash has graciously agreed to let me demonstrate on him."

He nodded, looking at her as if she was the sun, moon, and stars combined.

"Which basically means he's down to let me toss him around a bit," she added.

Laughs went up all around.

Then someone shouted, "You mean kick his ass!"

Snow shook her head, but Ash just smiled.

"That's right," he said with a shrug. "Sheis gonna kick my ass."

"Ash," she said.

"And I'm going to love every second of it."

More laughter filled the room as he kissed her temple.

I released a sigh.

"What was that?" Bo asked.

"Nothing. Just…I wish my parents were like that," I said.

He was silent a beat.

Then…

"They say they do this to help out," he said. "But honestly,it's more like foreplay."

I coughed a laugh. "Seriously?"

"Just watch."

---