Jake (A Redemption Romance #2) (12 page)

I thought about the idea, nodding. It definitely had merit. If nothing else, I would be taking control of my own life again. I’d feel better knowing how to defend myself. I’d taken a couple of classes after Tim and I broke up, but it had been a long time. I was definitely rusty.

“That sounds great. I’ll look into it.”

“I can help. I actually teach a women’s self-defense class at the Y twice a week. It uses martial arts principals, focus and movement, but teaches women how to use their size and strengths to defend themselves against much larger predators.”

“Really? I didn’t know you did that. It sounds great. I’m so small, it would be great to know how to take care of myself.”

“It’s important for women to be able to protect themselves. Even if they’re married or whatever, they will inevitably be alone and vulnerable at some point. I’ve got older teens all the way up to women in their seventies who take my class. It’s a good mix.”

“Thank you, I’ll do it.” I felt excited about something for the first time in weeks. Aside from the sexual excitement I felt with Jake, of course, this was the first time I felt truly empowered in ages.

“Do you know how to shoot?”

“I do, but I haven’t practiced in a while. I used to go to the range with Nolan.” I watched as a sad smile crossed Trent’s face. We both looked down at the table, remembering our lost friend.

After another hour, I gathered my stuff as Trent paid the bill. I protested him paying for mine, but being the lifelong Texan, he was, he wouldn’t let me pay. Trent grabbed the bags from the trunk of my car, transferred them to his truck and we went to Aurora’s house.

Pulling up, Trent retrieved my bags once more and followed me to the house. The shock on Luke’s face, seeing Trent carrying my things was so funny, I actually laughed. I heard the men exchange greetings as Aurora came into the living room. Wrapping me in a big hug, we held on for a few minutes.

Leaning down, she whispered, “We can talk about everything after you’re settled,” into my ear. She released me, helped me get the bags from Trent and we plopped them on the guest bed.

Trent said his goodnight, leaned in to give Aurora and then me hugs and cheek kisses, then promised to call me about going to the range on Sunday. I watched Luke give Aurora a questioning look. Her return glance was a raised brown and flattened lip. She was obviously not happy with him for wondering if I was jumping from Jake’s bed to Trent’s. Men were kind of stupid that way. Did he really think I’d do that?

Luke spent thirty minutes going over the security system with me, talking to me about sensors, motion lights and general safety. I didn’t want to remind him that the set up here was almost exactly the same as Jake’s, and I only needed the codes. Instead, I listened attentively.

Finally, Luke was finished. I said goodnight to them both, promising Aurora that I’d get up and help out at the store in the morning. Getting ready for bed, I went through my normal routine and settled in for sleep. Picking the phone up from the nightstand, I woke it up and read through Jake’s texts. They were all apologies, requests to talk and questions about where I was. I sent him one back, asking for space.

Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful. I felt refreshed from a good night’s sleep, got dressed in running clothes and walked out to the kitchen. Catching Luke and Aurora in a lip-lock, I giggled and backed out of the room.

Going back to the guest room, I laced up my shoes and waited a few minutes, hoping they’d be done when I went looking for coffee again.

“Good morning.” I called loudly as I turned the corner into the kitchen. Thankfully, they were now on opposite sides of the room.

“How did you sleep?” Aurora asked, in her cheerful voice.

“Great, thanks. Is there coffee?” She smiled and nodded toward the pot.

“You going for a run?” Luke asked. Turning to look at him, I saw he was sitting at the table tying his own shoes.

“Yeah, just need some coffee first.”

“I’ll run with you, okay?” I hesitated, it was difficult to run with someone else, especially someone you hadn’t run with before. I was sure though that the safety aspect was Luke’s larger concern, so I agreed. After a full cup of liquid heaven, I grabbed a water bottle and we began our run.

It was a different experience, running with Luke. Jake seemed to be able to match my pace with ease, Luke tried to do the same, but his efforts were more noticeable. We didn’t speak during the run, but it was great to get out, clear my head and really take in the fresh air.

This was my favorite way to relax and unwind. I thought back to the night Jake and I had argued. I considered what my part in the fight had been and what I could have done differently. I didn’t come up with any answers, I still didn’t know if I could be with a man like him, long-term, wasn’t sure I could form a healthy relationship with an overbearing man, but I was able to look at everything more objectively.

After an entertaining morning at Indulgence, Reed strode in the front door with a huge smile.

“Well, hello ladies. Looks like I get to take two beautiful women for lunch today.” His gregarious manner was infectious. I chuckled, and Aurora out and out laughed. The huge man was so funny, easy going and all around a gentle giant.

“You have a craving for Thai again?” Aurora asked him, obviously they did this all the time. I knew that Reed had a serious obsession with the Thai restaurant by Aurora’s store.

“Yep, honey pork is calling my name.”

“You just like the penis sauce!” I heard Amber call from the back of the store. Thankfully, no customers were inside right now.

“Penis sauce?” Reed sputtered in surprise.

“Yeah, I love peanut sauce, but mostly because when you say it, it sounds like penis sauce. What could be better than penis sauce?” She was absolutely crazy. It was such a ridiculous statement, all three of us started to laugh.

Aurora and I grabbed our bags and followed Reed out. We enjoyed our lunch, it was a great place, but when Aurora ordered extra peanut sauce, Reed and I laughed so loud, the server looked at us like we were crazy.

“So, what’s going on with Trent?” Aurora asked, right in front of Reed. I knew they were close friends, but I wasn’t close with him. It was just like her though to get right down to business.

“Nothing, he came in to O’Reily’s last night to grab food and saw me there. We talked a while. I guess he teaches a self-defense class and suggested I take it.”

Aurora and Reed looked at each other, she nodded back at me and said, “Makes sense, that’s a really good idea. What about tomorrow?”

“He suggested I get a concealed carry permit and get in some range time, it’s been a long time since I’ve been shooting.”

“I think that’s smart.” Reed encouraged.

“Yeah, I agree. I wonder why Jake didn’t do that.” Aurora mused aloud. I had wondered that too, especially if his friend taught a self-defense class. He was so bent on my dependence on him, I wondered how healthy our relationship could be if he didn’t see me as someone who could care for herself.

…

“Hope, you ready?” I heard Trent shout from the living room. It was now Sunday morning. Aurora and I had pigged out on pizza delivery in front of the TV until bedtime. It was a great night, Luke worked, so it was all about girl time.

I’d told her everything that I found out when Jake and I got in our fight and she totally understood my annoyance. She was hesitant to agree with me about angry tirades, but she’d only gotten the brunt of it once, also, she and I didn’t share the same history.

I walked into the living room to find Trent, dressed in black running pants and a tight white tee. Seeing him, I relaxed. I hadn’t been sure what to wear, so I’d donned yoga capris and a racer back tank. Since we were going to the range, which to me, seemed like a workout type place. My hair was pulled back into a high, tight pony tail and my face was clean of make-up.

After two hours, my arms were sore and I was exhausted. We’d taken turns shooting, Trent showed me stances and how to best cup the grip, then I’d try, he’d correct my stance and move my fingers or hand into the right spot, but he always kept a distance. I never felt like he was moving into my body in a suggestive way. He was very friendly, but when we were at the range, it was all business.

Since I was with Trent, and Luke and Aurora knew where I was, I hadn’t brought anything but my ID and debit card. My pants had a small interior pocket to hide those, but I hadn’t brought my phone.

As of last night, when I’d checked, Jake had texted twice more, asking to see me; wanting to talk to me. I didn’t respond. I’d asked for time, no I hadn’t
asked
, I’d told him, I needed time and I was going to take it. He knew I was safe, if he wasn’t sure, he could check with Luke, Gavin, Trent or Reed.

Finally, Trent – who never seemed to tire – took pity on me. We packed up and went to grab lunch. I was a sweaty mess, so the outdoor seating at the Mexican place was perfect. He gave me the schedule for the self-defense class, then I promised I’d see him there on Wednesday night.

He had some time on Tuesday, so we agreed to meet at the shooting range after I got off work. He wanted me to practice in my regular clothes, so I could learn when encumbered by heels, or more restrictive clothing since I didn’t wear yoga pants every day.

Trent dropped me off at Aurora’s house and watched me walk in the door before he pulled away. I had a feeling that had Luke not been home, he would have come in and checked the place before leaving me alone.

“Hey,” I heard Aurora say quietly, hesitantly from behind me.

“Hi, you okay?” I asked, looking at her more closely. She sounded strange.

“Yeah, Jake was here a little while ago.” That explained her tone. I’d guess he was none-too happy finding out that I wasn’t there.

“Okay, was that all right?” I asked, not sure if he’d lost his mind again.

“Oh, yeah, he was fine. I mean he was upset that you were gone, but he was fine with me.”

“Good,” relieved to find out he hadn’t been a jerk. Though, with Luke at home, I didn’t think he’d do that. I actually didn’t think he’d do that to her again, he’d done it once and he felt terrible for it.

“He looks really bad, honey.” She said, reaching out and squeezing my hand lightly.

“What do you mean? Is he hurt? Did something happen?” I spoke so quickly, scared that he wasn’t okay.

“No, no, I just meant that he looks tired, sad. He looked so happy when you guys were here for football, now he looks miserable.”

My lips tightened and I looked away from her, not wanting to talk about this. “What did he want?” I ask, though I’m pretty sure I know.

“He wanted to talk to you. Since you weren’t here, he and Luke talked out on the deck for a long time. I guess, Luke told him that you were at the range with Trent. He was
really
not happy about that. I’m so sorry.”

“Why, I mean, there isn’t anything for you to be sorry about. I’m fine, Jake will be fine too. I wasn’t on a date. I need to brush up on my skills, Trent offered to help me, and Jake needs to deal with that.” I explained to Aurora, mostly trying to convince myself that I’d be able to tell Jake the same thing and that he would actually believe me.

Walking into the bedroom, I spied the cell phone on the nightstand. It had been moved since that morning. I assumed that Jake had been in here and looked at it. There wasn’t anything for him to see, nothing I’d done wrong, so I didn’t mind. I was sticking to my guns though, I needed the space to figure out if I could have a real relationship with him. One that was healthy. I hoped that I could, but we’d have to set some serious boundaries.

The following Wednesday, I walked into the basement martial arts training room at the Y and found Trent’s class starting to come together. There was a female instructor helping him. The class was large, about twenty-five women, and as he’d said, there were all ages and fitness levels. This wasn’t about working out, this was about safety and any woman being able to defend herself.

Ten minutes into the class, Gavin came in and began to help as well. I hadn’t known that he’d be here, but it was nice to see the two men, obviously close, working together to help women feel confident and find the ability to defend themselves.

After an hour of blocks, evasive maneuvers, kicks to the punching bag and well placed punches, I was dripping with sweat. Trent, Gavin, and

Christine worked us hard.

Trent had introduced the smaller woman to the class and I’d realized that it was the McKinney officer that had interviewed me after the car chase. She looked different, her hair now in a long pony tail and she looked much thinner out of her uniform. She was a powerhouse, her movements graceful and absolutely amazing. They’d demonstrated several moves, then had circled the class helping students with their form. I already felt like I’d learned some new things. I was excited to come back on Saturday. I also made the mental note to suggest the course for the women at the shelter.

My arms were still sore from the previous night’s trip to the range. Trent had kept his promise and showed me how to get around restrictive clothes and still make the shots count. He’d spent an hour and a half with me, perfecting my stance for different situations. He was a good teacher.