»--Final Phase--« | Ryan Mitchell

(21) Best friend's boyfriend

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Training with the Rangers was... interesting the next morning. Ryan rushed through his workout, the whole time he barely said a word to me. I could tell he was worried about something but wasn't sure what. Carter had skipped that morning. Guess I could get him for extra running later.

I walked towards Skye's office to collect her for a late breakfast. As I turned the corner Carter ran up to me with a massive smile on his face, "Hey... Nova."

"Carter Grayson," I sighed, "You weren't at training this morning. I might've lost my memory but I do remember getting it back."

Carter sighed, "I overslept... Skye didn't wake me up this morning."

"Mhmm..." I grumbled sarcastically.

He sighed, "I'll make it up. I'm free now if you can work me in."

"Well," I said, "I was gonna go to a late breakfast with Skye but I'm sure she won't mind me missing, she probably has work to catch up on from my little... accident."

"Yeah, she said she'd meet us for ice cream in town later though," Carter chuckled. He fell into step beside me as we made our way back to the training room.

"Oh so you talked to her?" I asked.

Carter's eyes went wide, "No... she just... left me a note."

"A note?"

"Mhmm. Can we start with the bo staff? I feel like it'll help with handling the V-Lancers."

I thought for a moment at Carter's suggestion, "Not until you do your running."

Carter groaned.

"Alright alright, look I'll even run with you," I said, Carter hopped on a treadmill and turned on the one beside him for me, "Thanks."

The run was fairly easy for me. Skye always said if a zombie apocalypse ever happened I'd outlive everyone just by being able to run as much as I do. By the third mile mark I heard Carter huffing beside me.

"Let's get to work on staffs," I said.

Carter sighed in relief and hopped off the treadmill.

We worked for almost an hour on various strikes and countermoves he could work on. If I trusted anyone to do unsupervised training, it would always be Carter. He learned quickly and was one of the best Rangers to work with.

"Alright," Carter said, getting into a fighting position with a twirl of his staff, "I have a question."

I struck a few times near his head which he blocked easily, "Alright."

"Should I ask Skye to marry me?"

I furrowed my brow before spinning to his right and sweeping his feet out from under him.

"Ow! No fair, I wasn't even ready!"

"If you can beat me in a sparring match before the proposal, then yes I would say you should ask her."

Carter grumbled and got back up from his spot on the floor, "I'm barely even trying right now cause my girlfriend would kill me if I injured her best friend."

"The day you beat me so badly in a match that I get injured is the day I resign from my job, Grayson," I laughed.

"Alright then," he said, getting back in the fighting position, "If I beat you, you have to help me pick out a ring."

I chuckled, "Game on."

The spar was pretty intense, and that's a compliment coming from me. Carter was strong, yes, but swiftness can definitely be more of a virtue if used sparingly and tactfully. The one thing I wish I was prepared for was Carter's stamina. He couldn't run, but he had been in enough battles to be used to swinging the V-Lancers which were way heavier than the wooden staffs we use for practice.