Page 90 of Shifting Gears

“Why don’t you quit dancing around and swing, Syd?” AJ said with the most cockiest smirk on his face as he rolled his shoulders back, watching my every move.

Because I’ve tried that when you were paying attention and ended up regretting it. I’m not so stupid as to charge a second time for the same result, you big dummy.

“Why don’t you show me what you got instead of just standing around? Unless you’re actually afraid of getting your ass kicked by a woman,” I said as I taunted him with a little flip of my hair.

His eyebrow rose, and his smirk twitched. Good. I could work with that.

I feinted a jab at him, and he moved in. I went to hit him with a quick snap to his thigh and he shifted sideways, barely enough to dodge it. Screw him for always moving so damn smooth. It was like trying to fight water.

Show-off.

He swept a low kick at my ankle, and I jumped over it. I fired a sharp front kick at his gut, and for a split second, I thought I might land it. But his hand shot out, grabbing my ankle midair like it was nothing.

“Try again,” he said, a low growl in his throat as he winked at me.

I twisted hard, using the momentum to spin and lash out with a back fist. My knuckle collided with his jaw, enough to make him stagger back a step.

He rubbed his chin and laughed.

I grinned at him.Got you there, tough guy.

“All right, all right. Time to get serious then,” he said as he went to get into an attack pose.

But there was no way I was going to let him jump on the aggressive and push me back that easily.

I rushed forward, throwing a quick combo toward his stomach—jab, jab, hook.

He deflected every move like he was reading my mind, blocking my throws with ease. It always pissed me off when he did this. I threw another jab. This time, he caught my forearm.

The next second, he spun, hooked my ankle with his foot, and yanked.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the floor rushed up to meet me. I hit the mathardwith a grunt, the breath knocked slightly out of me.

“Shit,” I gasped, pushing to roll onto my side to recover.

But of course, AJ was faster. He straddled my hips, pinning me beneath him effortlessly, his hands wrapping around my wrists and pressing them to the mat.

My chest heaved as I lay under him, heart racing. God, he was sexy—all his muscles shone with a light sweat, his eyes practicallydaringme to try to move.

“You done yet, tough girl?” he rasped, his mouth inches from mine, so close that I could feel his warm breath on my skin.

I wriggled, mostly just to feel him get harder on top of me. Fighting me always turned him on, but when we got in a situation like this, he couldn’t hide how turned on he actually was.

“Not even close,” I muttered.

His smirk deepened.

“You’re gonna be,” he promised, his voice low and sensual.

Then he crashed his lips against mine, and my back arched, pressing my chest into his.

This sparring match was about to become something much better. I couldn’t wait for it.

His mouth was everywhere. Trailing my lips, along my jaw, down the side of my neck to my exposed collarbone. Every kisssent a jolt of pleasure down my spine, and a fire was building inside of me.

“Youwantedthis, didn’t you? You’ve been begging for it since the second you took that swing at me,” AJ growled as he nipped my neck lightly.

“I do,” I moaned.

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