Page 33 of Twice the Rivalry

“What?” Karissa screeched.

“Jesus Christ, I’m putting you and pretty boy on a sex hiatus while I’m here. I want to actually talk to you while you have some brains left,” Glitch huffed.

“Fuck off,” Karissa said without any heat. “How did you see his dick?”

“Picked the lock on his door and let myself into his room this morning when he wasn’t up so I could get into his office. Only, he was already up and getting dressed, so I got a nice eyeful. He has some nice muscles for a computer nerd.”

Karissa’s eyes sharpened. “Noticing his physique, huh?”

Glitch rolled her eyes again. “I can appreciate nice muscles, Xena. After all, I notice yours, and your man’s.” She grinned wickedly when Karissa scowled at her. “What? You didn’t think I would notice those nice, big biceps, or the way that gorgeous ass of his flexes when he walks? Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve seen what he can do with those hands of his. And his—”

Karissa dropped from her plank and launched at her, making Glitch laugh as the two of them rolled on the mats, both of them trying to get the upper hand. Of course, Glitch wasn’t about to go easy on her, and she wasn’t about to allow Karissa to get one over on her. She bucked her off when she managed to get on top of her, but since Karissa was larger than her, she didn’t go very far. Still, it was enough for Glitch to scramble back, but not before Karissa grabbed her by the ankle.

Glitch laughed as she used her agility to bring her other leg up and over, hitting Karissa in the side of the head, which made her grunt and let go. “Damn it!” Karissa barked, rubbing her temple and glaring at Glitch, who got to her feet and smiled triumphantly down at her.

“You really are getting slow,” Glitch tsked. “ I probably just knocked all the good brain cells you had left loose.”

Karissa got to her feet. “More like we don’t need to be going at each other when we’re about to train the girls. And you only started that because you wanted to goad me, so I would stop talking about Code.” She narrowed her eyes at Glitch. “I’m starting to wonder if there’s something going on between the two of you, and this whole enemy rivalry thing you have going on is just a ruse.”

Glitch scoffed. “Have you been dipping into Scarlett’s smutty romance books? Because that is definitely not what is going on here. There is nothing between Code and I, other than some annoyance, anger, and maybe some guilt on his side for being an ass and compelling me to be here in the first place. Not to mention, I’m not looking for a man, and if I ever want one, it won’t be a biker. I’m happy for you, Xena, and happy that you found your man, but that’s not the life I want. I won’t be happy to be away from the team, and there are very few men that could handle the life I live.”

“So, what, you plan to be alone the rest of your life?” Karissa asked, hands going to her hips.

Glitch shook her head. “See, the difference is, I’ll never be alone. I have the team, and I have you. If I want to scratch an itch, I’ll find a man to help me. Seriously, Xena, I’m fine the way I am, and as much as I love you and am happy to spend more time with you, I won’t be here forever. So that means I won’t be hooking up with Code, or any other single man in this clubhouse.”

“Awwww,” a voice said from the doorway. They turned to find Jax standing just behind the twins. Rogue was coming down the stairs behind him, a scowl on his face like he would rather be anywhere else. “Babe, you haven’t even tried me on for size,” Jax continued as he stepped further into the room. “I mean, we could be fated, and all that shit. You’ll be obsessed with my dick, and I’ll be happy to let you have it as often as you like. And seeing as I don’t like computers all that much, you’ll never have to worry about me touching your shit.”

Rogue slapped him upside the head, making him hiss. “Don’t be talking about your dick in front of my kids,” he growled at him.

Jax rubbed his head, but grinned and winked at Glitch. Glitch chuckled and shook her head. “Sorry, big guy, but no bikers for me. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to handle me anyway.”

“Now that sounds like a challenge,” Jax laughed.

Glitch ignored him and focused on the girls. “Hey,” she said in welcome as they made their way over to her and Xena. Both were wearing identical outfits of black yoga pants and dark blue sports bras. The only difference between them was that Wren wore her hair in a tight French braid, while Win wore hers in two Dutch braids. The two of them had been smart and made sure to keep the braids as small as possible and close to their heads, making sure that they wouldn’t be as easy to grab on to. She nodded at them approvingly. “Both of you start stretching and warming up, then we’ll get to work,” she told them briskly.

Karissa gave her a bland look. “What, you’re running the show now?”

Glitch returned her look. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought we wanted to actually teach them things. You know, since you’re getting soft and a little slow on your follow-throughs.” She let out a burst of laughter when Karissa made a swipe at her, jumping back before it could connect. “See? Slow,” she taunted. Karissa glared at her, eyes promising retribution.

Wren and Win sat down on the mats and started their stretches, both of them looking excited and full of anticipation. “What are we going to start with?”

“You said you wanted to learn to work with knives, and we’ll do that, but I want to assess your skills in hand-to-hand combat,” Glitch said. “A knife is a tool to be used, but you might forget it some day or it could get knocked away from you. You need to be able to use it, but not rely on it, so we’ll work on your self-defense skills as well.” A thought occurred to her and she stopped, turning towards the men in the room. “Both of you out,” she ordered.

Jax opened his mouth to argue, but Rogue gave him a hard glare and he left with a pout on his face. Rogue moved to the door and shut it. “I already know what you’re going to ask, and I’m not leaving them alone,” he told Glitch in a hard voice when he turned back towards her.

Glitch had to respect him for that. He might not be their father, but he was filling the role, and he was going to protect them the best way he knew how. Glitch nodded. “Then you need to stay quiet while I ask what I need to,” she told him sternly. “You might not like the questions I ask, and you might not like their answers. Still, you need to keep your opinions and reactions to yourself.” Rogue silently narrowed his eyes at her in response. Knowing that was probably the best she was going to get, she turned back around and saw Wren and Win watching her with knowing expressions. “I’m about to ask you some questions, and they’re going to be a bit uncomfortable. Are you okay with that? I’m not asking them to be nosy, I’m asking them so I know what to help you work on and what to possibly avoid.”

Wren and Win both nodded. “We’re good. We’ve talked it all through, and we figured this might come up at some point. Especially if we want to work with your team when they come back.”

“Good. Nothing said in this room will leave it,” Karissa added, Glitch nodding her affirmation as well. Both girls nodded and looked at Glitch expectantly.

“I know about your history, and I know what you’ve been through,” she told them bluntly. “I looked into you carefully, but I have access to more information than most because of my background. I know you were raped, and the fuckers who took you did unspeakable things. I don’t want to trigger you with the workouts we’re going to do, so I need to know if there’s anything that you absolutely cannot handle, or anything that will bother you enough to make you freeze or go into flight mode. Because while I’m here, I’m going to push you. I’m going to put you through your paces to make sure that when I leave, you feel stronger and more sure of yourselves. That also means facing the hard stuff, and while I can pull my punches on most things, on some things I won’t. Women are more likely to experience sexual violence, and there are bastards out there that will take what you’ve been through as a green light to do whatever they want because you’ve already been through it, and you should be used to it.”

Neither girl flinched, and neither of them looked away. These two were made of some stern stuff, Glitch thought to herself proudly. A rare thing for young women that had endured things that most could never fathom.

Wren said calmly, “If you had asked us that a few years ago, I’d have probably told you that any boy or man touching me would have set me off. But we’ve both worked hard to get past that. We’ve taken classes and we paired with men during them so that we could work through it. And we have some guy friends, so we’ve gotten used to being around boys.”

“Being around all the men here has helped, too,” Win said seriously. “They don’t treat us like we’re fragile, and they already know we can take care of ourselves.”

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