The Recruit(31)

Jaz noticed that she had held the same position for much longer than necessary…hey, she was a little distracted! She moved him through the final routine.

‘Now just lay here for a bit, relax and breathe in and out and draw energy back into your muscles.’

‘Hmm, I like this part the best,’ Ryan, mumbled in his relaxed, almost half-asleep voice.

After a few minutes, Jaz sat up and crossed her legs. ‘Well, how was that?’

Ryan rolled onto his side and rested his head in his hand. ‘Much harder than I thought it would be. I could feel all my muscles working.’

Jaz nodded her head. ‘Yeah, it doesn’t just stretch your muscles. You did well for a first timer. More flexibility than I would give your body credit for.’

Ryan shot an eyebrow up. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Um…well, you know. Someone with your muscled physique can sometimes find it hard to stretch.’ Sheesh, Jaz, blush much, she thought as she felt the heat burn in her cheeks.

‘Well thank you for the lesson, you were great.’ There was a moment of silence. ‘Um, this is where you say “anytime”?’ Ryan laughed.

‘Really, you want me to put you through that again? I didn’t take you as a sucker for punishment,’ she chuckled back.

‘I liked it. It was something new and I would like to get better at it.’

Why did that not surprise Jaz. Ryan was just as competitive as she was. Funny that in such a short time she seemed to know a lot about Ryan, or maybe he was just easy to read.

‘Well if you’re here this time each day, I’ll take you through it,’ she offered.

‘Cheers, Jaz. You’re a gem.’ Ryan cleared his throat as he stretched his large fingers out on the blue mat. ‘So where were you yesterday? Get detention?’

Jaz laughed. ‘As if. I don’t get caught.’

His eyebrow shot up again, it was a cute look on him. ‘Oh really! What do you get up to?’

Jaz smiled and shook her head. ‘I’m not spilling my secrets unless you’re going to spill yours!’

The stare of steel on Ryan’s face said she was never going to get his secrets any time soon. Jaz sighed. ‘If you must know I was at the firing range with my friends.’

Now Ryan’s ears perked up. ‘True? What kind of friends do you have? Are they the offspring of the mafia?’

Jaz laughed so hard she almost snorted. ‘You come out with some funny shit.’ Jaz’s plait from her braid hung over her shoulder and she played with the end of it. ‘I was with Anna and Taylor, who you’ve already met.’

‘Ah, yes. I can’t imagine sweet-looking Anna at a firing range. What were you kids doing there?’

Jaz’s skin prickled at the word ‘kids’; yes, she was taking offence to it. She’d be eighteen soon!

‘Well ain’t you just a Mr Know-It-All! Do interrogations much?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, a few,’ he replied, and she had the feeling he was telling the truth.

‘We’ve been going for years, since we were twelve. Taylor’s dad is a cop and Taylor loves anything that is deadly. He’d join the Army just so he could use a grenade launcher, I reckon.’

‘Really? So what were you shooting with?’

‘A Browning 9mm.’

‘Good choice, the Browning has strong recoil so it’s great for training, and being just that bit heavier makes using a lighter gun like the Starfire 9mm a breeze to use.’

‘Yeah, I noticed that,’ said Jaz dryly.

‘Did you?’ asked Ryan, his interest levels going through the roof.

‘No you dumb arse, why would I know shit like that? I just go there and fire the weapon Tay gives me.’ Jaz flashed him a look which she hoped said ‘who the Hell do you think I am, Vin Diesel?’. ‘But you, on the other hand, you seem to know a lot about guns. Do tell!’ she asked curiously.

Ryan’s face was guarded. She’d give fifty bucks to know what he was thinking. A minute later, after she’d just about died with anticipation, he finally replied.

‘In my line of work we have contact with weapons.’

‘“In my line of work we have contact with weapons!” Where did you get that from, your job outline description? Dude, that is weird.’

Ryan’s intense gaze crumbled as he laughed. ‘Sorry. Yes, I have played with a few guns. But I’m interested…does Anna shoot also?’

‘Oh yeah, all three of us try. Taylor is like the weapon expert, his dad has a collection of guns and Tay knows everything about them. He also can shoot the pants off us. Yesterday he landed all eight shots in the target’s head. He’s brilliant.’