Page 89 of Find Me

“So? Getting dirty sounds like a fun time to me,” I said.

They both snorted.

“It usually is,” Keelan said, making Knox chuckle.

Realizing that they were purposely misconstruing what I had said, I ripped the flyer out of Keelan’s hand.

Grinning, Keelan stood from his chair. “I’m only teasing, Shiloh. Of course I’ll do the mud run with you.”

“Good,” I said, standing. I set my gym bag on the floor in front of Knox’s desk. “I’m leaving my bag in here, Knox.”

“I’ll leave my door open in case you need to get it and I’m not here,” he said.

“Um…about that,” I said apprehensively. “Can you introduce me to Stephanie? Because she’s been acting like she doesn’t know me and threatened to call security on me for coming back here.”

They both just stared at me in disbelief. Then Knox stood and walked ahead of us out of his office. Once we were out of the hall and by the front desk, Knox said, “Hey, Stephanie?”

She spun around in her desk chair with a bright and friendly expression. “Yeah, boss?” The way she looked at him brewed some major jealousy within me. It didn’t help that she had the appearance of a blonde, busty model. Her skin was flawless. Not a blemish in sight. I went to touch one of my scars on my wrists, then stopped myself. I shouldn’t compare us. It was stupid and unfair to do that to myself. I tore myself down enough as it was. Comparing my beauty to someone else’s was not something I wanted to add.

“Have you met Shiloh?” Knox asked.

“No, but I’ve seen her around,” she replied. “Is she a friend of yours?”

“Something like that,” Knox said. “Anytime Shiloh is here, she’s allowed back in our offices, even if we’re not back there.”

She gave Knox a sugary-sweet smile. “You got it, boss.”

Knox looked down at me and I gave him a tight smile. Keelan threw his arm over my shoulder and steered me away. As we walked through the gym, I battled not to frown. Stephanie had made me look like a lying idiot.

“What’s wrong, baby girl?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

He pulled me closer and I had to wrap my arm around him to keep myself from tripping. “Come on, out with it.”

“My mom always said that if I had nothing nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all.”

He chuckled. “You don’t have that kind of restraint when it comes to Knox.”

“Knox is a special case.” Saying that made him full-on laugh.

When we made it to the room for Keelan’s class, there were already a bunch of women waiting inside. Keelan greeted them as we took off our shoes. Most of them said hello and a few of them whispered to each other and giggled. Keelan and I waited in front of the class for the rest of the students to show up. “I’m going to pull your hair today,” he whispered suggestively in my ear. “A lot.”

Smiling, I shook my head.

“Last week, I asked them what they were most worried about when it came to being attacked. The majority said their hair being grabbed,” he whispered.

That made sense. Hair was an easy thing to grab. I guessed it was fate that my hair was in a ponytail.

When the last of the class showed up, Keelan stepped forward and I watched him shift into teaching mode. “Afternoon, class. I want to start off by introducing my new partner, who will be helping me teach this class.” He gestured to me. “This is Shiloh.”

I waved at them with a smile.

“Feel free to ask her any questions you have. She’s here to help,” Keelan said, then gestured for me to move to the center of the room. “Okay, everyone, circle around,” Keelan instructed. I lay down on the padded floor with my knees bent, feet flat on the ground. Keelan knelt between my legs and began explaining what we were going to do to the class.

He wrapped his fingers around my ponytail and tugged a little. “If your attacker has you on the ground like this…” He went on to explain what I was to do. “Shiloh and I are going to demonstrate and then slow it down.” His grip on my hair pulled and my need to act took over. I grabbed his arm connected to my hair, jerked my hips to the side out from under him, and threw one leg under his neck and the other across his chest. Still holding onto his arm, I pushed him up using my legs and hyperextended his arm. I stopped before I could hurt him. Had he been a real attacker, I would have continued to push him away with my legs until I’d broken his arm.

He tapped my thigh, signaling for me to release. I let him go and dropped my legs. He surprised me a little when he grabbed me by the thighs and slid me around on the floor, getting us back in position. I fought to not smile and remain professional. I thought he noticed because the corner of his mouth twitched.