Bloodlust | lrh

19. Soka Tano

"Do we really need to go shooting again today?" Soka is currently crying on the inside. She's been dragged to go training every day this week so far. Luke isn't making the guys come, so she doesn't understand why sheneeds to put the work in.

"You wanted to be on the team." He's standing in her room watching her complain under her blanket. The boy is about two seconds away from ripping the blanket off and yanking her out of bed.

"Why don't the guys train at five a.m. with us?" She whines, pulling the covers even tighter.

"Because they know what they're doing. You're going to accidentally shoot one of us if you don't figure out how to focus." Luke's given up on words. He grabs a fist full of the blanket and rips it off the bed. Soka flops onto her side and hugs her knees, the cold air immediately hitting her like a brick. "Get out of bed."

"No."

Breath. Don't freak out.

Luke lets his eyes get stuck on her legs. She never wears shorts, and her intention was to keep them hidden under the blanket.

"Do you really want me to take matters into my own hands?" Soka doesn't push him further than that. She doesn't know what he means by that but she also doesn't want to find out.

She pushes herself up and onto her feet. It's ridiculous that it's still dark outside and she has to be awake. The gun range will be there at any hour of the day, yet he chooses to wake her up even before the crack of dawn.

"Why so early?" She trudges to her dresser while Luke stays standing in the middle of her room. His eyes are on her legs like a moth to a lamp. Since when are legs such a turn on?

"Early bird catches the worm." He pries his eyes away and looks at the wall. There's still a scuff in the paint from where her camera hit it, the thought dampening his oddly good mood this morning.

"What's wrong with you?" She drops the clothing she had piled in her arms back in the drawer and just stares at him. Why the hell is he being pleasant and motivating?

"What are you talking about?"

"Since when do you use motivational quotes to wake someone up?" She eyes him suspiciously.

"I hardly call that motivational." The boy brushes her off. She grabs all of the clothing she dropped and turns to him again. "Most people would consider you lucky for getting trained by me."

"I'm not saying I'm not grateful." She watches him stand there, completely not catching on to the fact that she needs to get changed. She wonders how long she'll have to wait for him to excuse himself.

"Start acting like it then." They stand there looking at each other. Once the awkwardness is too much she gently lifts the wad of clothing up. "Oh. Right. Wheels up in ten." He rushes out the door.

***

Luke finally lets the girl take a breather after three hours of non stop shooting. Her eyes almost hurt more than her shoulder that's been getting pummeled by the gun stock. She's gotten significantly more accurate in just the few days he's been forcing her to come here.

Soka falls onto the floor as soon as she walks away from the counter. She lays with her eyes closed to give them some much needed rest. A person can only look at circles for so long before that's all they see.

Luke isn't the type to take breaks. He'd much rather get something done than push it back even more, so it's hard for him to not rush her. He steps over her with one foot on each side of her waist. She doesn't even notice until he's crouching right above her.