Boulder (Riders of Apollo #5)

Chapter Sixteen: Ford Wilson

"Is that fair for her?" Runner asks and I wince in worry. Riley's face hardens as she turns to look at him.

"Trust me, pretty boy, I'll be fine."

"Weapons or not?" Saviour obviously asks Runner, not Riley, and I feel my body getting tense as I think about what could happen. I've seen her in action but I've also seen these two in action, I can't tell who will win and it's already rigged against Riley.

"Let's use the training sticks." Bear suggests and points to the rail of long wooden sticks used to basically beat the prospects. Saviour throws one to Riley, who catches it gracefully and stands her ground as the other two move to circle her. They strike towards her simultaneously and Riley lashes out with so much speed that it knocks the other two off their feet in a second.

She steps back from them and resettles in her earlier position. Saviour and Runner move so that Sav is facing her and Runner is behind her. Riley senses Runner's descending thrust and dives beneath it to smack him in the torso with her stick before stopping Saviour's blow and throwing her off of her.

It starts to move like a dance, Riley twirling under every drive and somehow responding unexpectedly even when it looks like she's at a disadvantage. Strangely, she even starts giving them advice on how to beat her. "Saviour, watch your left side and drive faster, you're only using your arms, move with your torso."

Riley avoids the vicious attack from Sav and turns to Runner. "You're good but your footwork is easy to predict. Try moving to a different rhythm to throw your opponent off." Riley then gets out of the way quick enough for Sav to strike Runner's stick instead of Riley. "Work together, you have fought together for a long time. You fight the same, use that against me."

Sav and Runner start moving to the same rhythm, both of them advancing on Riley with excitement in their eyes. It's been awhile since the both of them have faced a proper competition and Riley here is a learning experience. "Good!" They both swing their sticks down towards Riley, who catches it with the middle of hers, snapping it in two.

Somehow she still manages to stay in the fight and keep the upper ground. "I have two weapons now, you have to predict my movements because I'm able to change at the last second." Both of them heed her advice and avoid the sharp edges of her new weapons. "Good. Not good enough though."

She proceeds to disarm them and Runner ends up on the mat with a groan while Saviour has the stick against her throat. "You're good, you've taught him well." Riley praises Sav, who looks at her in confusion.

"How did you know I trained him?"

"He always looks to you for encouragement, you're stronger in each movement but he knows what he's doing, his speed and strength rely on yours. I imagine he can fight alone, he's just better with you." Riley helps Runner off the floor and brushes his back off. "Nice play, you guys take criticism well."

"You teach well, maybe we'll catch some training from you while we can." Runner replies and my body stings a little at the fact she's not gonna be here in a month. I haven't even had a proper conversation with her but still feel that connection.

"Sure, got nothing better to do." Riley shrugs and descends from the ring to find her beer again. She brushes passed me with a wink and her shoulder touches my chest for a millisecond and I start thinking about slamming her against the closest wall. Her eyes encourage me to do it though and I think about the cons of doing it... there aren't any.

I follow her out to her car, leaving everyone else in the training room chatting with each other and some of the guys even stepping up into the ring. It happens pretty regularly now. We call it fight night, we make bets on who is gonna win. Runner and Saviour aren't allowed to take part unless they're against each other and even then it's rare since we can't bet on it as everyone knows Saviour will win.