Page 40 of The Prizes We Win
“Okay,” she says hesitantly and gets in her stance.
“As hard as you can,” I remind her.
She takes a deep breath before perfectly executing the combination she’s been practicing for the last twenty minutes.
“That’s it, Mo Grá. Again,” Mac says.
Harper does it. Again, and again, and again. And she doesn’t stop until she’s out of breath.
Pulling the pad off my hand, I pat her on the back. “Atta girl. That was really good.”
“Yeah?” she asks panting.
Finn hands her a bottle of water. “Considering this was the first time you’ve ever done this, you killed it, Love.” He kisses her on the temple, sweat and all, and Harper beams with pride.
I wink at her before tossing the pads to Enz. “Wanna go?”
“Do I ever. Let’s show these goons just who they’re dating.”
As per usual, Enzo doesn’t spare me. We do combination after combination at lightning pace, forgoing the sparring for a different day.
Figured it’s best to save as much of my energy as possible.
And, much like Harper, by the time I’m done sweat is dripping down my body.
With my hands on my knees, I look over to where Dante, Luca, and Sebastian were standing. All of them eyes wide. “Told you she could handle herself,” Enzo says proudly.
“Yup.” Luca nods. “She’ll be fine.”
We all mill around for a bit while the guys fill in Ronan, Mac, and Finn. The three of them promised to be on standby tomorrow night should we need them.
“Hey,” Harper says as I throw my T-shirt back on over my sports bra. “Could we do this again?”
I smile widely at her. “Girl, we can do this whenever you want.”
“Really?” she asks excitedly.
“Really,” I assure her.
She looks over at the guys, then back at me, and says quietly, “I think you’re good for them.”
“Really?”
Harper nods. “Really.”
“You know, I genuinely can’t tell you the last time I had an actual friend.”
She bumps me with her hip. “Well, you’ve got one now. Who knows, before you know it we might be sisters-in-law.” I choke on my sip of water and she just laughs. “Easy there tiger.”
Dante’s concerned expression finds mine as I continue to cough. “You okay, Amore Mia?”
“Yup,” I choke out as my newfriendcontinues to laugh. “So good.”
26
Luca
I’m checking the straps on her vest again when her hands land on mine. “Luca, it’s good.”
