Page 24 of Never Quiet

“What do you train in, honey?” The blonde one’s eyes tracked down her body in a form-fitting tank top and body-hugging shorts.

“Gymnastics and dance mostly.” Suddenly, she made it obvious as she looked at the threesome on the other side of the room. “Oh my goodness. Who is he? The one with the blue eyes…he’s so gorgeous!” Pretending to be mortified, she put her hands over her lips and then giggled. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“Don’t waste your time, sweetheart.” The blonde one made a face. “That faggot isn’t interested in chicks. Not even a chick as hot as you.”

Forming a little pout, she sighed. “I see. Anyway, what do you guys do here?”

“We’re training in martial arts. We spar and shit.” The friends grinned at each other and the blonde one said, “Well, I kick ass and then also spar sometimes.”

“Show me! I’d love to spar. I’ve seen it in the movies.”

“Oh, honey. I wouldn’t want to hurt your fine ass…”

“I’m sure you’ll be so gentle,” she said with what she hoped was a seductive tone of voice. “Please. I’d love to try it.”

“Alright. I’ll try to dial it back for you.”

“I’m sure you will.”

They stepped onto the mat and the other recruits gathered around to watch. For thirty seconds, she giggled and pretended to try to hit him.

Then she stilled, smiled, and showed him a few things she’d learned from some of the best fighters in the world.

She drove him around the room and avoided almost every strike he threw. He wasn’t as fast as Noel or as flexible as Dakota so she landed all her hits and kicks.

Like he’d done with Chaz, she didn’t pull her power.

She beat on him for a full three minutes and when he was gasping for air, she landed a spinning back kick across his chest and laid him flat on his back.

Standing over him, hands on her hips, she said, “Let me tell you something, honey. You’re the faggot. A pussy-loving man who doesn’t know how to deal with anything you don’t understand. You ever take a cheap shot at my uncle again and I’ll beat you worse. Maybe next time, you should dial it up.”

Pointing at the other men, she added, “That goes for all of you. Chaz is doing you a favor training you. You think the Hardings train just anyone? They’re top ten in the world. You assholes are lucky Chaz didn’t kill this idiot because he could have done that with zero effort. Just goes to show who the bigger and better man is. You can’t handle his orientation? There’s the door. There are at least a hundred guys lined up waiting for a chance to take your place.”

Looking at the guy on the floor who was up on his elbow, she said, “Get up, clean up, and be ready to learn. I seriously doubt the people who sent you here would tolerate this shit.”

Then she grabbed her bag and walked to the couple. Noel passed her with a high-five. “I think I’ll train them for a few minutes. Really make them question their manhood.”

“Make them hurt, No-No.”

“Damn right.”

Shawn and Chaz took her in the office. He had a nasty cut on the underside of his jaw. Mandy leaned closer to look at it and whispered, “I’m sorry. I hate it, Chaz. I just hate it.”

She met his eyes and he said, “Thank you, Mandy. Since I’ve been with Shawn, I notice stuff like that less. Honestly, it never crossed my mind. I thought he was kind of slow.”

Shaking her head, she said, “No way. By the time these guys get to you, they’ve completed a process, you know? They’re not going to send you people without potential. Once could have been an accident. Twice was deliberate. Guys who think like that fall stupidly easy to a pretty piece of ass.”

“You remind me so much of Dakota and Noel.”

“Serious compliments. Hey, why don’t we order pizza and vegetate tonight? Make giant bowls of ice cream and binge something ridiculous?”

“Hell yes.” He pulled her into a hard hug and kissed her hair. “You have a gorgeous soul, Mandy.”

Hugging him back, she was suddenly crying. As if they understood her belated horror over such behaviors toward people she cared about, they rubbed her back and murmured gently to her.

The world could be so painful sometimes.

Hours later, she received a text from Hayden about the confrontation at the organization’s training facility.

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