Dabbling In Sweetness

Chapter 24

I was woken up by the blaring alarm of a phone and looked at the menace creating it. Gina, my fearless protector, was sound asleep next to me. I look at Grayson with a glare. "What the hell is that for?" I ask him in a groggy voice.

"We're training. Come on," he tells me and pulls me up. I look at the loosely fit clothes I was wearing. I woke up in the middle of the night due to my nightmares and found Grayson in the kitchen. He let me borrow some clothes and change with the promise of working out with him tomorrow. Or as he put it, "You tutor me and I give you free workout lessons." I tried multiple times to tell him that I rather sleep and that was payment enough but he didn't accept it.

Now, I was straining myself to run. It was either breathing or running. All in all, I hated Grayson who was miles ahead of me. "Have you never run before?" He asks me, making his backward jog look effortless.

I stick my middle finger at him and point out, "not all of us are athletes, asshole." He just laughs at me and keeps running. I followed him in hopes my misery would end soon. I kept a steady beat while jogging after a couple of minutes and found it refreshing as the events of last night passed through my mind. There was no use in letting the person keep targeting me, so I vowed to find them. I had let them be because I thought I believed it. I thought I deserved it. Guilt is a powerful thing, and they reminded me every year, keeping me trapped in a never-ending cycle of hurt and fear. However, last night I realized I had people besides me and they wanted to help me.

We make it back to his house, but Grayson doesn't let me stop. He immediately ushers me to his home gym with a punching bag in the center. "You need to learn to defend yourself," he tells me as I punch the bag. "Come on, give it all you got."

"This is all I got," I tell him.

"Okay. Face me," he instructs. I turn to him and he gives me some pointers on fighting. When he throws, I block and jab. We go like this for a couple of minutes. Finally, he says, "let's try a practice round."

"Doesn't boxing require more training," I complain. I was tired and just wanted to shower and rest.

"Yes, but these are the basics. I want to check if you got the concept."

So here I stood next to him in a defensive stance. I'm doing fine, dodging his hits and making my own hits. There was something satisfying about finally getting to hit Grayson.

"You're enjoying this too much," he told me as I repeatedly punched him.

"What can I say," I say with a shrug, "boxing is fun."

"Yeah, especially when you get to beat up your opponent," he tells me.

"It's a plus when it's you," I responded. I finally understood how Gina felt at the carnival. She was ready to strike Link down at every chance she got and I felt the same at this moment. When would be the next chance Grayson would go easy on me and let me hit him? I had to seize the opportunity while I could. "When did you get into boxing?" I ask him, making conversation to fill the emptiness in the room.

"Since I was young. I actually enjoyed it more than football but my dad insisted I do football."

"And by insistent you mean-"

"Forced. Yes. He had this idea of being the best. That fell on me. I needed to be the best, especially since he had lost the position of captain to Abacus. I know he's gone, but now it's a part of me so I keep doing it."

"So you and Abacus fight over being captains?"

"Yup," he says, "I want it as much as him." Grayson stops and looks at me, sweat dripping down my whole body, struggling to take breaths, and finally takes pity on me. "why don't you go rest for a bit." I knew he was avoiding topics but I was more happy to take a rest than prying.