Page 39 of Sunflower Persona
“No, sir.” I don’t recognize the breathy tone of my voice.
“It’s Coach, not sir,” he barks out. “Understood?”
A fresh wave of tingles courses through me. Why is this whole commanding thing so freaking hot? I’m used to him being bossy, but this is on a different level, and I think I like it. Self-assured is a good look on him.
“Yes, Coach,” I rasp in that same alien way.
“Start with skips around the mat,” he says and turns away from me.
I spring into action, hating myself with each second that goes by. It fucking sucks, and things only get worse with every sharp order he issues. The torture is endless. Finally, an eternity later, he calls for me to stop, and I drop to the mat in a heap of sweat and exhausted limbs.
He doesn’t remark on my pathetic display of athleticism. The plodding of his feet against the mat is the only sound other than my ragged breathing. His large frame moves past my peripheral vision toward the lobby. After a few seconds, he returns and sits beside me, then cracks open a bottle of water and hands it to me. I sit up and snatch it from him, guzzling it down like whatever the opposite of a rabid animal is. Stray drops dribble down my chin, dripping onto my shirt. Once the bottle is drained, I set it to the side and wipe away the mess.
I look up and find Gage’s attention glued to my lips. His face is locked in a stony mask, but his eyes are intense. My face flushes as my chest cracks and caves in on itself. How I would love tocurl up inside of it and hide from his scrutiny. I didn’t think he would judge methishard.
He coughs to clear his throat and says, “You should carry a water bottle with you. Hydration is important.”
“Yes, Coach,” I say with a sarcastic eye roll.
“I’m serious. I don’t want you passing out on the mats.”
“What? Too much paperwork?” I tease.
“I don’t care about paperwork. We make Morgan do all that.” The stony mask cracks as a smile plays at the corner of his lips. “You ready to keep going?”
“Keep going? You mean there’s more?” I whine.
“That was the warm-up.”
With a groan, I sprawl back on the mat, slinging an arm over my face. If I can’t see him, he can’t see me and can’t make me do any more physical activity.
“I quit. I’m going home to play video games. This was the second worst idea I’ve had all week.”
“Come on, now, it’s not so bad. The worst of it is over.”
“That’s easy for you to say when you look like that.” I sit back up and wave my hand in front of his body.
He is pure fucking sex.
The worn Double Teep T-shirt pulls tight against his chest, and his arms fight against the restrictive sleeves. By no means is he the bulkiest guy I’ve ever seen, or the guy with the most defined muscles, but he isn’t small either. My mouth waters at the thought of what might be hidden underneath the confines of his clothes. I have a feeling my dreams haven’t done him justice.
“I’ve been training for years,” he says with a shrug. “We will get you there eventually. But if it makes you feel any better, today is going to be more educational than physical.”
“So no more jumping?”
“No more jumping,” he assures me with a smile, and in a blink, the soft look is gone and his “coach face” makes anotherappearance. “First things first, being aware of your surroundings can help prevent you from needing to defend yourself in the first place…”
He falls into a well-rehearsed lecture, and I listen with rapt attention. Most of it is common sense or things my mom used to tell me when I was growing up, like “don’t wear headphones when walking by yourself” and “stay off your phone, especially at night.” Regardless, I hang on to his every word. His voice is hypnotic; he could tell me I needed to wear roller skates and sing the alphabet backward in order to stay safe, and I would do it. That has to be why he hardly ever talks—he knows his own power.
“Any questions?” he asks, and I shake my head no. “Good. The next thing I want to cover is being assertive. Being loud and bringing attention to the situation is often enough to get someone to back off and get the attention of people who can help.”
Right, the exact opposite of what happened the other night.
“How do we practice that?”
“Stand up.”
Looks like we are doing the physical thing again.
