Page 31 of Catch My Fall (Catch)

“There are other ways to get out of a hold if that doesn’t work,” he explained. “Next up, we’re going to be trying a wrist sweep. I’m going to quickly show you how it’s done and then I’ll practice it on Mia.”

He showed me the wrist sweep technique twice before letting me do it to him, and I beamed with pride when I did it just like he taught me. Why had no one suggested self-defense classes to me before? Knowledge is power, and Ialready felt stronger just for knowing how to actually defend myself.

After I’d done it, he had all of the students come up one at a time to try both techniques on him. There were eleven other girls in all and most were fine but I was repulsed by four of the girls who went out of their way to shove their boobs in his face when they got to work with him. I could never be so forward with someone I didn’t know, but watching them behave like that filled in all the blanks for me about how easy it was for Tristan to find willing partners who didn’t care that he wasn’t ever going to commit. As grossed out as I was by the idea of meaningless hook-ups, I had to admit that if I was in that frame of mind, Tristan Chamberlain was the kind of guy that could entice me to bend my rules. I was just glad I didn’t have to. As I stood and watched, he looked over the shoulder of one of the girls that had her boobs in his face and rolled his eyes at me. Nothing major but enough that I saw it and knew that he wasn’t feeling the girl at all.

The last move of the day was actually a preview of the next class. I listened to instructions and crisscrossed my arms against my chest and then Tristan came behind me and tried to grab me. He walked me through breaking the hold and stomping down on the instep of his foot, and then he walked me through breaking the hold and elbowing him in the gut. It was actually fun and I was really getting into it. I was laughing when class ended.

After he said goodbye to everyone I sat down on one of the mats against the wall while he began resetting the room for the next instructor.

“You were amazing and such a great teacher!”

He beamed at me and I was so happy to see that my compliment meant something to him. Dropping down onto the mat next to me, he leaned in and kissed me. Deeply. I’m talking toe-curling, pulse-pounding, take-my-breath-away BLISS. It was the most passionate and intense kiss that we had shared yet and I was blown away. I thought that I knew, thought that I had an idea, but apparently taking it slow meant easing into serious kissing as well.

Everything seemed more urgent, hotter. Without even really knowing that I was doing it, I climbed into his lap and wound my fingers through his hair as I tried to get closer to him. One of his arms was wrapped around my back holding me close and the other was buried in my hair. I shifted restlessly against him, groaning when he pulled back for a minute and lightly bit my lip. At the sound of my groan, he licked my lip before sliding his tongue back into my mouth, causing a shiver of pure desire to race up my spine. Right then and there I really and truly understood what all the fusswas about and why people go a little crazy when they get turned on. Beneath me I could feel his response to our kisses and instead of scaring me, it made me want him more. His lips left mine again and he travelled down my face with light kisses before he gently nibbled at and then sucked on my neck. I convulsed against him and let out a plea, for what, I didn’t really know.

Pulling back, he cupped my face in his hands and leaned his forehead against mine. “Oh Mimi… What’re you doing to me?”

Adjusting my arms I hugged him tightly as I dropped my head and laid it on his shoulder. “Don’t know, but whatever it is, you’re doing it to me, too.”

He laughed softly, a deep sound that I felt reverberate through his chest. “Good to know. I’d hate to be in this all by myself.”

It wasn’t a moment that required a lot of words, something that made me like being with him even more. Instead we spent a few minutes just holding each other. I don’t know how long exactly we were sitting like that before I heard a discreet cough from behind us. I felt Tristan’s chuckle before I turned, so I knew it was someone that he was comfortable with. Looking over my shoulder, I found Colin standing in the doorway smiling at us.

“Never thought I’d see the day man, but you look happy as fuck. Sorry to kick you lovebirds out, but you know I’ve got to sign off that you cleaned the room and locked it up after class.”

I went to stand, but Tristan hugged me to him so that I couldn’t. Nodding at Colin he smiled before assuring him that we’d be out in a minute. Colin left with a wave over his shoulder, and once again I was alone with Tristan.

Smiling up at me, he dropped a quick kiss on my lips. “I didn’t want to end the moment until I told you how happy you make me. I’m not so scared to try anymore. Anytime that I am, I think of you and it goes away. Thank you for that.”

Sliding my fingers into his hair, I gently scratched his scalp for a few seconds before giving him a brief kiss. “No, thank you. You’re changing me, and it’s definitely for the better.”

“I don’t think it would be possible for you to get any better, Mimi. You’re damn near perfect.”

Shaking my head I stood up and held my hand out to him and helped him up. When he was standing in front of me, I told him how I feel. “I’m not, but you make me feel good about myself in ways that I never have before.”

Throwing his arm around my shoulders he pulled me close and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “I’m so glad, baby.”

I pretty much floated down the hallway to the front desk, both from our kisses and the fact that he’d called me baby. The only thing tethering me to earth was his hand in mine and I was still smiling like an idiot when we got out to my car.

We started to kiss goodbye and in seconds my back was up against the door to my car and we were going at it just as passionately as we had in the gym. I could already tell that this was going to be very, very addicting. There was something so beautiful about the accelerated sounds of our breathing, the taste and scent of Tristan enveloping me entirely and the feeling of his arms wrapped around me tightly. I whimpered when he ended the kiss and began dropping soft kisses on my lips and around my jawline before he stepped back and looked down at me, his beautiful chocolate colored eyes large pools of melted goodness that I wished I could swim in.

Chapter Sixteen

Darby and I were both home in our dorm room, at the same time, for the first time in whatfelt like an eternity but had really only been a few weeks. We each told our guys to take a hike for the night so that we could have some girl time, and I was happy to be hanging out with her.

“I miss you and I feel like we only ever talk on the phone or by text since we both got boyfriends. Do you want to go with me tomorrow afternoon to get manicures and pedicures?”

“He’s not my boyfriend, Darbs! We’re taking things slow. I’d see you much more often if you ever actually spent the night here… I’ve missed you, too. But in answer to your question, yes, I would love to go have a day of beauty with you.”

She blushed adorably as she shrugged her shoulders and laughed. “I’m sorry I spend most nights at Brandon’s. He’s just such a great guy, Mia. He’s not even pressuring me to have sex at all. He’s fine with just snuggling at night andtalking. He doesn’t even try to get sexual because he knows I’m not ready. How many guys do you know that would put up with that?”

“I guess two guys would be the answer to that,” I said with a laugh. “Even though we aren’t officially ‘going out’, Tristan and I have been seeing each other pretty much the same amount of time as you and Brandon and he’s not pressuring me either…and we aren’t doing everything else. We just kiss. God, do we kiss. But if it starts to get too intense, he puts the brakes on it right away. I feel like I’ll probably have to start pressuringhimto take if furtherat some point.”

Her jaw dropped as she stared at me in disbelief. “Oh my God… Mia! You guys really aren’t having any kind of sex yet? Not even oral? Tell me he’s at least rounded some bases and you’re touching each other. Brandon’s dad is a Minister, which explains why he’s so cool about me not wanting to do anything, not that he’s asked, but you and Tristanhaveto be doing stuff. Spill the deets!”

“Um, noooo. We haven’t done any of that, believe it or not. I told you that we were taking it slow and I meant it.”

“But… but… I mean WOW. I figured you meant taking it slow as far as having the girlfriend/boyfriend title. It’s Tristan Chamberlain for God’s sake! Sex is pretty much his middle name and I figured for sure you guys were doing it six ways from Sunday. This is just…wow.”

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