Shade opened the door to the basement to see Lily already on the mat, working out in black leggings and a T-shirt which actually fit. He was glad to see he had gauged her size correctly, although he had asked Winter to buy them for her, knowing she wouldn’t take them from him.
“I’ll be right back,” he told her as he went to get changed.
When Shade returned, she got into position. They always did a set of maneuvers, switching it up occasionally when she became bored. Shade made one of his practiced moves and Lily responded with more force than usual, almost managing to knee him in his privates.
“You’re getting better. You almost got them that time,” Shade complimented her, well aware she wanted to make him a her.
She had been trying to knock his nuts off since they had begun her defense lessons. He often wondered if it was all men in general or if it was only his nuts she wanted to hurt.
Lily gritted her teeth as she circled the mat, trying to get behind him. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Shade lifted his brow at her assertion, but he decided to take it easy on her. Lily’s newfound confidence was hot as Hell.
That time, when he came for her, Lily responded unexpectedly, using a move he sure as shit hadn’t shown her.
She used both of her fists to hit him between the shoulder blades after he let her wiggle away from his hold.
“What the hell?”
“I’m supposed to pretend you’re attacking me, aren’t I?” she asked snidely.
Shade’s good humor disappeared. He was going to paddle that ass, which was driving him crazy, when he managed to get ahold of her.
“Yes, but I want you to learn to stop an attacker, not piss them off.”
“As long as it works and I get away, that’s all that counts,” Lily said smugly.
“Is that so?” Shade said, placing his hands on his hips.
“Yes.” Lily kept facing him, not letting him have her back like she usually did.
“Did Kaley go home?” she asked, her eyes a turbulent, violet storm.#p#分页标题#e#
Shade had started moving toward her, but his momentum stopped at her words. “Yes.”
“Do a lot of women try to join?”
“Yes.” Shade was beginning to get her message of anger, giving her a wary look. He didn’t like the vindictive expression on her face.
“I bet that’s fun for the men. Don’t the women members resent the new members?”
“No. Why, are you interested?” Shade asked, making his move against her.
That time, her foot shot out, and she managed to nail him in the stomach, causing him to have to catch his breath from the force of the kick that had fucking hurt. He had always been careful not to hurt her, while the little witch staring back at him was filled with pleasure about doing what no one else had been allowed to get close to accomplishing.
Lily walked around the mat, gloating about her success. “You’re getting slow, Shade.” She bounced from foot to foot. “And, no, I’m not interested. You and the other men can have all the women in Treepoint who want to join your club. I won’t be one of them. I plan to find me a man who can appreciate one woman.”
“That’s a joke.” Shade said, deciding to make her angry enough to drop her guard.
“What do you mean by that?” Lily stopped bouncing.
“That you would ever let a man touch you. Tell me, how do you intend to catch a cowboy or any man when you have no intention of giving them anything? I bet Charles’s balls are blue around you, but I’m sure he finds one of his daddy’s waitresses to relieve him.”
“That’s not true. Charles is a gentleman.”
“He likes his cock sucked as much as any man,” Shade taunted.
“You’re disgusting!” Lily screamed at him, turning to leave the mat.
“What’s the matter, Lily? What really set off this little temper tantrum of yours?”
When Lily didn’t reply, Shade blocked her path, wanting the truth from her before she ran away.
“Move.”
“Make me. I’m already shocked as shit you haven’t run to your corner like a scared little girl,” he taunted, determined for her to face both of them with the truth. She was fucking jealous!
Shade almost shouted for joy. You were only jealous over something you cared about, something you didn’t want to share with anyone else. She had to care about him to be jealous, right?
“You’re a mean person. I hate you.” Lily slammed her hands out, shoving his chest and trying to make him move out of her way.
Shade wanted her to recognize her feelings for him; however, she needed to cool off in order to think about why she was so furious.