In Too Deep (11 page)

Chapter 21

I follow Taylor to the center of the room and stand directly in front of her, my height exaggerated with
her so close. She doesn’t even clear my chin. Her face is calm like I have no effect on her, but her hands are balled into fists at her sides. I can tell she’s exasperated by me, just like I am by her.

“There are
three main things I want to work with you on over the next few weeks. We’ll practice self-defense techniques for standing, when you’re pinned to the ground, and when fighting someone with a weapon.”

She
nods. “Sounds good to me.” 

“We’ll start with what to do when your attacker gets you down on the ground, since it can be the most vulnerable position.”
I place my hands on her shoulders, looking down at her solemnly, wondering how she’ll be able to protect herself from someone like Lars if I wasn’t around. Maybe I should talk to McAllister about pairing us up together permanently. Distracted by her blue eyes, I look over the top of her head, shaking the thought away. That’s crazy, right?

“Stick to standing as much as possible, that way you can strike your opponent and run away.”

She
nods again, looking up at me with trust.

“But despite your best attempts at that, you may get taken to the ground.”
I sweep her feet out from under her, forcing her to the ground and lay her gently on her back against the floor. I lie down on top of her, pinning her underneath me.

She
lets out a little gasp at the quickness of it and my pulse spikes.

“You okay?”
I lean back, studying her.

“Fine.”
Her voice is soft.

“Okay then.”
I shift, conscious of keeping most of my weight off of her. “When someone’s on top of you, your natural instinct is going to be to push them off of you.”

She
pushes against my chest.

I
smile down at her. “That’s the wrong thing to do.”

She
drops her hands, realizing she’s been outmaneuvered, her lips pulled into a tight line. Damn it, I need to stop looking at her mouth.

I clear my throat.
“Pushing against someone at this distance, when they have the upper hand isn’t going to do anything.” Balancing my weight on my elbows, I take her hands, and bring them up to my shoulders. “Instead pull your attacker closer. Wrap your arms around my neck, and pull me toward you.”

She pull
s my head flat to her chest.

I
breathe her in. Vanilla, clean body wash and feminine sweetness. I find my voice, remembering the lesson. “Good. You’ve incapacitated me from punching or hitting you. Now wrap your legs around my back, interlocking your ankles.”

She
brings her legs up and I feel them wrap firmly around my back holding us in place. Damn. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.

“Good. Now with your attacker close, you want to drive your thumbs right into his eye sockets.”

She places her thumbs over my eyes, without applying pressure.

“And remember, in the real thing, you’re not just poking him in the eyes, you’re trying to blind him.
”

“Got it.”

“And after the eye gouge, unhook one of your legs from my back, and slip your knee underneath me, sweeping us both over to the side so you can take the top mount position.”

She unhooks one leg, then pushes up and over, causing us both to roll and her to land on top of me, pinning me to the floor with her thighs.

I clear my throat, looking up at her.
“Um, good.” I take a second to catch my breath, watching her. Her cheeks are flushed too. “Now you start punching, choking, and doing whatever you have to do.” I pick up her hands and imitate moves like she’s hitting me. She’s like my puppet. Her mouth lifts up in a smile. “Within a few seconds, he’ll stop fighting and bring his arms up to block his face. And then you hop up and run. And keep running until you’re safe.”

She
smiles down at me, letting her hands drop. “Can we do that again?”

I
sit up and lift her off of me.

We
practice the moves again and again, and each time we repeat it I can see her confidence grow, knowing she can free herself.

She
begins to get faster at freeing herself and after a few times, we were both sweaty and out of breath. She straddles me again, grinning that little smirk that I both love and hate. I smile back at her unsure what she’s thinking.

“What?”
I breathe.

Sh
e shakes her head. “Nothing.” But the way she’s looking at me says otherwise.

Sitting in
my lap, she shifts ever so slightly, and that’s when I notice it.
Fuck
. When did that happen? She’s gotten me hard.

I can tell that exact second she notices
it too. Her body tenses, her sweet mouth forming into an “O” in utter surprise, and then something else…curiosity? I watch her, barely breathing. Then her lips curl into a grin. She laughs and punches me in the chest. “Mr. Palmer,” she chides, still laughing.

This is not an area of my body I like people laughing at.
In one quick motion, I pick her up, lifting her from my lap and stand, leaving her sitting on the floor. Even though I’ve tried time and again to convince myself there’s nothing between us, I can’t deny the chemistry we have.

I
turn away, but in a room filled with mirrors, there’s no hiding from her watchful gaze. I reach for a towel, wiping the sweat from my neck. “We’re done. Go shower.” My voice is rough, commanding.

I can tell she’s thinking
Yes
didn’t satisfy me completely, not when she’s having this effect on me in her sweat pants and T-shirt. And my body can’t deny it – it’s completely true.

I turn
and leave without a word, desperately in need of a cold shower.

Chapter 22

During my classes, I day dream about Colt, remembering his kiss, and the strange encounter we’d had
during the lesson this morning. Luckily MJ and Logan do a sufficient job of keeping me distracted.

When we sit down at lunch MJ shifts uncomfortably in her seat, making a face. She leans in closer toward
us like she’s about to let us in on a secret.

“What’s up?” I ask, around a bite of bagel.

“I’m not sure,” she winces, shifting her weight in her chair. “Something’s wrong.” She drops her eyes to her lap. “Down there.”

Logan and I snap to attention, meeting each other’s eyes. Then Logan eagerly digs into his cereal, clearly not wanting to be having this conversation.
Which leaves MJ looking at me, wiggling in her seat.
Oh good God.

“So….what seems to be the problem,
ur, technically speaking,” I manage.

She presses her lips together and grimaces. “I’m not sure if I picked something up, or if my piercing is infected.”

I make a face. I don’t want to judge her, but
ew
.
Major ew.
“O-kay.”

She clenches her fist on the table. “Yeah, we’re
gonna need to go to the doctor.” She drums her fingers. “ASAP.”

“And how do you propose we d
o that?” Logan asks. “We have classes all day, it’s not like we can just skip and have it go unnoticed.”

MJ perks up. “We’ll ditch Defense Techniques tomorrow. Taylor will ask Colt and since Colt likes her, he’ll let us go.”

“Yeah, right,” Logan scoffs, digging back into his cereal.

“Please, Taylor?” MJ begs.

“Colt doesn’t like me.” I don’t know where she’s gotten that idea. But it’s ridiculous. More ridiculous than not knowing if you have an STD or an infected piercing.

“
Pfff,” MJ exhales. “That’s why he’s always staring at you, frustrated and confused about why you don’t like him. He’s not used to that you know. He doesn’t know what to make of you.”

I hold up my hand. “First, he does not like me. Second, I strongly doubt he’ll let us out of class, but I’ll try.” 

I’d forgotten about the plan to take MJ to the doctor by the time I was in Independent Study.  I’m steadily researching the latest assignment McAllister’s given me when MJ and Logan come strolling into the computer lab.

“We need your help,” MJ announces, plopping down into a chair beside me.

“With what?” I ask, not looking up from the screen. Logan leans closer, watching me as I work.

“A little space.”
I angle my chair away from him. I don’t know if our assignments are confidential from other students, but I have the sense to shield what I’m doing from view. Logan takes the hint and sits down next to MJ.

“We need to look up a clinic for tomorrow morning. Somewhere that’s free or takes cash, so I don’t have to use my medical insurance and have my parents
get the bill.”

I look over at her, impressed for once that she’s shown maturity and rational thought.

“Logan’s idea,” she says, reading my mind.

Logan swings his chair around closer. “And we don’t want to use the computers in the common room, since the history is traceable.”

“Oh, of course.” I gesture to the computer in front of MJ. “Search for whatever you want. I’ll wipe it clean afterwards.”

“Thanks.” She smiles.

Logan and MJ search for free clinics while I continue working on my latest hacking assignment.

“Here’s one, twenty miles away, they’re open until four.” MJ taps the screen. “Write down this address, Logan.”

I take a peek at the screen. “How are we going to get somewhere twenty miles away? Cab?”

They exchange a look.

“What?”
What am I missing?

“Ah! We’ve got ourselves a first timer here, Logan.” MJ grins.

“First time for what?” I ask.

Logan chimes in, “Don’t worry, we’ll go easy on you.”

“Seriously, what are you guys talking about?”

MJ stands, folding the address into her jeans pocket.
“The fuck truck.”

I learn that the fuck truck is the endearment for the old beat up pickup truck the school lets students use ‘in case of emergency,’ like picking up a prescri
ption, or going to the dentist. In reality it’s used for fast food runs and parking sessions for couples, hence its name.

That explains how over the weekend, Dane went out and came back with enough fast food to feed our entire class and a several drug store bags filled with condoms. All of the guys proudly filled their pockets, while the girls looked on. Only MJ was bold enough to join in, taking several
herself. Now if we could just get her to actually use them. Baby steps.

MJ explains the guidelines for the
truck, you can’t use it more than once in a two-week period, and only those with a valid driver’s license can sign it out. She doesn’t have one, but Logan and I do; only he’s already used it in the past two-weeks.

In the morning, we walk to Colt’s classroom, and craft our plan. “I’ll just say MJ needs to go to the doctor, I need to sign out the fu– truck, and since it’s a stick, we need Logan to drive.”

MJ shakes her head. “You can’t say it’s for me. Colt hates me ever since I told him off after he messed with Jewel.”

“Well what the hell am I supposed to say, then? What other reason could I have for the three of us needing to leave together?”

We step into the classroom, and MJ shoves me forward toward Colt.
Please
, she mouths, clearly still uncomfortable about her situation down below.

Colt looks at me with amusement in his eyes. “Yes?” He draws out the word, his deep voice rolling over me.

Under his scrutiny it’s hard to think. I’m not nervous in the lying-to-a-teacher type of way, more like nervous in the I-hate-you-but-still-think-you’re-sexy kind of way. I clear my throat, stalling. I still haven’t decided what to say. “Um… vaginas …” Heat races up neck and have to look down.

“Vaginas?” he asks, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

I nod. “Girls have them,” I add brilliantly.

“Excellent observation.
They do, indeed.”

What the
eff am I talking about?

He waits with an expression of humor and something else... The silence presses down on me. Students mill around waiting for class to begin.

“Is there anything else I can help you with, Taylor?” he asks, suppressing a grin.

“Um, I need to take care of some lady issues today. Can I have a pass out of class?”

He gives me a once over, looking troubled. “Everything alright?”

I manage a nod.
“Mm-hm.”

“Go have
it
taken care of.”

“Thanks.” I turn to Logan and MJ who are giving me looks of encouragement from the door. Thank God they’re out of earshot
so they can’t hear me give Colt an anatomy lesson. “Oh, and I need Logan to drive me and MJ for moral support.”

His brows knit together.

“Please?”

He nods once, unsure if he’s being taken advantage of or if I truly have something wrong with my lady parts, but unable to pry any further.

I escape out the door, linking arms with Logan and MJ as we jog down the hall.