Page 160 of Love Bleeds Red
Jasper looks between me and Leon, realization dawning. “You sneaky bastards. How long have you been training her?”
Leon shrugs, but there’s pride in his eyes. “Long enough.”
“Well,” Falin says, stretching her arms, “let’s get this started. You ready, Big Guy?”
“Always ready for you, Trouble.”
Jasper and Falin circle each other in the center of the room while Blake blasts her emo playlist. Those two are all business. It’s kind of scary really. They’d never actually hurt each other though…I think.But sometimes there’s this edge to the fights. We’ve all changed since we started this vigilante shit. Gotten darker. More unhinged. So I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if things got out of hand.
“Remember,” Damon says, “loser gets to scrub blood off concrete next week.”
“No pressure,” Blake adds with a smirk.
Their fight starts fast and wild. Jasper may have inches on her but Falin’s been training with cops her whole life. Plus, I’m sure Jasper’s trying not to hurt her—although he’d never admit that to Falin.
“Come on, Fal,” I cheer. “Hit him where it hurts.”
She gets him in a chokehold somehow, and her arm locks around his throat. Damn, I should be training with her… She’s incredible.
I swear I see something flicker in her eyes… something similar to the look she’s gotten when she knows she’s about to torture information out of a target.
“Tap out,” she demands.
“Never,” Jasper gasps.
But he’s getting wobbly. We all know what Falin’s capable of when she’s focused. She could put him to sleep if she wanted. Or worse.
Finally, he taps her arm twice and she releases him immediately. He drops to his knees, coughing and massaging his throat.
In a matter of seconds, she’s in front of him and they start kissing. Correction—making out. I groan. “Get a room!”
He’s still my brother and I don’t need a front row seat to how turned on violence gets these two.
“I second that,” Blake says, tossing a roll of gauze at them.
“And I third,” Leon adds. “There’s innocents present.” He cradles Havoc, who fully woke up once she saw the gauze fly across the room.
They pull away, flushed and panting. “I think I hurt myself,” Falin says, cradling her arm in the fakest way. “Jas, come help me to the bedroom.”
“Wow,” Damon says with a laugh. “At least say you’re going to fuck. We can handle it.”
“Uh, speak for yourself.” I toss more gauze at him, earning a laugh from Blake.
“Fine, we’re going to fuck. Bye!” Falin grabs his arm and pulls him toward the staircase.
Lucky for them, they claimed the guest room before Damon and Blake did.
“So,” Leon says, setting Havoc down and standing up. “Your turn, Firefly. You ready for me?”
I smile, and reach up to kiss his chin. “Remember, I don’t want you to go easy on me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says, but there’s something in his voice that tells me he’s lying.
We circle each other in the center of the room, my adrenaline spiking even though I know this is only practice. Leon’s got height and reach on me, weight too, but I’ve been training hard. Really hard. And I’ve been watching how they all move, learning from their techniques.
“Ready?” Damon asks.
I nod, keeping my eyes locked on Leon’s. The moment Damon gives the signal, I move fast. Faster than Leon expects. I duck low and drive my elbow toward his ribs. He blocks it, but barely.
