The Protector

TWENTY - ONE

I opened the door to the small combat room and found the room was surprisingly full. Still, I threw my phone and gym bag in the corner and found a spare punching bag in the shape of a female Protector. I popped the small white AirPods into my ears and turned the volume up on the rock station. Popular Monster's Falling in Reverse screamed at me through the headphones, and I felt my eyes sizzle as I repeatedly punched and kicked Alana's dummy, the sweat pouring off me until the dummy's face crushed inward. 

I smiled and wiped my forehead with the bottom of my shirt. I noticed on the mirrored wall my abs were becoming increasingly more defined. My clothing has been fitting looser and the once unruly roll of pudge now sat flat and taught. In addition to my morning workouts with Jin Sung, I had been running a few miles through downtown Dallas around 4 a.m. Initially, I ran to avoid certain death in my combat sessions, but I soon found myself looking forward to the alone time and runners high that accompanied it. I looked for another dummy to destroy, found one that looked even more like Alana, and took her to task.

After what seemed like only a few minutes, I looked at my watch and it was almost noon. Shit. I missed my morning classes. That was going to be fun to explain, but I thought I had a good excuse and maybe I could get a note from my father. I sighed and glanced back at myself in the mirror once more and noticed a tall man approaching me slowly, crouching a little, banking on the element of surprise. I pretended not to notice until he was close enough I could grab his wrist and flip him onto the ground in front of me. The man smiled, immobile as I climbed on top of him, straddling his thin hips.

"Gotcha," I shrieked. He smiled again and gently placed both hands on my shoulders and suddenly I flew through the air onto my back on a neighboring mat, coughing, trying to catch my breath.

"Never underestimate your opponent, dear," Avery Bennett chastised me, his British accent sharp, but not without a hint of humor. He extended his hand to me, his crystal blue eyes sparkling. "Or perhaps it is me who underestimates my opponent," he said, pursing his full lips to keep from smiling.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked as I stood up, dusting off the seat of my yoga pants.

"Oh, nothing big. I just heard from a little birdie you had a bit of a tantrum in the basement this morning," Avery whispered, wagging his eyebrows, trying to contain his obvious enjoyment from my bad behavior.

"How did you hear about that already?" I asked, removing my headphones from my ears and shoving them into my duffle bag.

"Precious Perry, word travels quickly around The Loft. Especially when you are someone worth talking about. Get used to it, honey," he teased as he threw his best sassy look my way. I instinctively scanned the room and was now hyper aware of how all the eyes I met hastily glanced away from me. I turned back to the crushed face of my dummy and felt the embarrassment flame my cheeks red. I certainly wasn't doing a good job proving I wasn't a sociopath.

"It's not what you think," I muttered, picking up my new black nylon gym bag. I needed to leave the combat room and get away from all of these people. I needed the solace of the rooftop where I ate dinner alone every night. I pushed open the double doors of the combat room and stepped into the bright LED lit hallway.

"Hey, girl, wait! It's not an insult," Avery said as he caught my arm, turning me around by the elevator bank. "I'm glad you showed a little backbone against those pretentious self-loving Protectors. You made me believe in our friendship so much more." He laughed and I hung my head, but I soon gave in to a bit of laughter. "Why don't you come up to my room and eat lunch with me? Just the two of us. I feel like we need to get to know each other even better." He held a hand over his heart as the elevator doors pinged open. I hesitated for a moment, but it was long enough for Avery to pull me into the steel cage and push the button for the 32nd floor.