Crossing the Lines

NINE

Hannah's POV

---------------------

"Okay, soldiers!" Antony yelled from the front of the room. "Everyone get with a sparring partner that doesn't have the same Capo as you."

"Sorry." Sarah sighed before walking off. 

It was the next day of training and we went on a five mile run this morning and now we're all sparring together. I haven't seen Ace since he left last night, but was dying to talk to him. He was right, the knives were my specialty.

"Hey, you're Ace's new recruit, right?" A girl asked, walking up to me. She was immediately sizing me up and down, and we both knew she could probably take me.

"Walk away, Jade." I heard from behind me. Ben walked up to my side and smiled down at me. "You get to be with me for today." Jade grumbled before walking off. "Sorry for scaring off your new friend."

"I think friendship is the last thing she wanted from me." I watch her walk off while Ben moves to stand in front of me.

"Arm's up."

"What?" I say, quickly turning back to Ben. He nods to his fist which are held out in front of him. I copy his pose, doing the same.

"So, why exactly are you my partner?"

"Well, no offense, but you suck at running. I figured you might be better at sparring."

"I doubt it, I've never really been an athletic type."

"You'll find your hidden talent one way or another." He goes to punch me and I block it, but barely.

"Keep your hips straight and feet planted. Don't cower away like you just did, be sure of your movements." He tells me before throwing another punch. I try to do what he says and manage to block the next hit a little better. "Good. Have you chosen your specialty?"

"I think I'm gonna go with the knives."

"Ace was right." I nod, right after blocking another punch.

"Where is he, anyways?"

"I don't know, he had a little date last night, so I didn't wait up for him." He smirks, right before throwing a punch. What he said threw me off guard, also causing me to miss blocking his next punch. Luckily, he didn't hit me hard since we were just sparring. "Stay focused." I nod, taking a deep breath.

"I thought he didn't go on dates." I tell him, recalling what Sarah had told me.

"It was more of a business meeting than a date, but Ace still gets his when he can." Ben shrugs.

"Get's his?" Ben stopped punching and put his hands down, giving me an 'are you serious look'.

"Sex, Hannah. Ace still has sex." I know my cheeks were now bright red. I'm not a brainiac but even I should've been able to figure that out. Ben laughed, shaking his head at me, before walking off.  

I walked over to Sarah, who was sparring with a tall blonde boy, much rougher than I was sparring with Ben. She went to do a roundhouse kick, but he quickly grabbed her leg, spinning her and causing her to fall to the ground.

"Ass." She groaned, slowly getting up.

"Hey, I'm Leo." The guy introduced himself. He had a French accent. I smiled and shook his hand.

"Hannah." 

Leo was about to say something else but everyone quickly went silent as Ace walked in. He was wearing the same clothes I saw him in last night, but they looked like he slept in them. Ben was right, I guess.