His Nepenthe | complete

16. Practice

P R A C T I C E P U N C H E S

*

As I pulled my fist back, the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind me stopped me in place.

"Why you feel the need to punch an inanimate object, I'm not sure I'll ever know."

"Very funny, Brandy," I muttered sarcastically, lightly pushing the bag with my fist.

"Are you self taught?" The brunette asked, arms folded as she leant against the wall.

"At what? Punching a bag?" She nodded, making me shrug, "Yeah, I guess so."

She pushed herself off from the wall, walking up to the bag. She smirked up at me for a second before copying my stance mockingly.

I rolled my eyes, punching the bag slightly harder.

She laughed, folding her arms again, an arched brow, "Ooh, Christian's showing off his muscles for the ladies."

"I don't know whether you could be called a lady," I pulled at the shirt that clung to my body with sweat away from my skin, trying to cool myself down by filtering in the air.

"Wow, rude. Rude, Christian."

I smirked, turning to her fully and bending down so my face was level with hers, "Punch me then."

She scoffed, patting my cheek with a mock pout on her lips, "I'm not as violent as you, sweetheart."

"You sure you don't want to punch me?" I asked, straightening up as I continued to lightly punch the bag though my body was angled to her.

Brandy shook her head, "No, I definitely want to punch you," She pushed the bag like I did, letting it move back and forth by its own weight, "but I have impulse control, which means I don't have to."

"But you can. I'm giving you permission to do it right now, one time only deal."

Brandy eyed me sceptically, shaking out her hand in preparation, "You sure it won't hurt too bad?"

I scoffed, impressed by her confidence in her fist compared to my size, "You know what? I'll show you how to punch properly so it's worth it."

She coughed back a laugh, raising an eyebrow with an unimpressed look on her face, "Alright, oh humble sir, how am I to punch correctly?" I rolled my eyes, taking her hand, to which she gave me a cheeky smirk, "Or is this just an excuse to hold my hand? Aw, you're too cute."

I faked a laugh, refusing to make any statement on the question, moving her fingers into the proper position, "You have to make sure you don't tuck your thumb because it could break. Everyone seems to do that thinking that it makes the punch stronger or protects your thumbs, but it doesn't. It can, potentially, just nap in two."