Witness

34| Self-Defense

Since the Halloween party, Jax and I still hadn't kissed, but I was determined this time. Last weekend, I saw his resolve breaking, and I was hell-bent on taking advantage. All week long I had been trying my best to get Jax to kiss me, but to no avail.

I had worn skimpy clothes, I bent over to "pick stuff up" in front of him a few times, I borrowed Hannah's pheromone perfume, I flirted with other guys to make him jealous... and still, nothing.

I could tell that he still wanted me... but he was doing an excellent job and keeping his guard up. I was also pretty sure that he knew what I was doing, but I didn't care. I was going to get him to kiss me. I needed to.

Today was Saturday, and Jax had promised me that he would teach me some self-defense today. After I finished braiding my hair into a Dutch French side braid, I borrowed an outfit from Hannah--a rather sexy spandex set that I was planning to use to my advantage at the gym later.

However, it was cold outside, so for the time being, I pulled on an oversized hoodie and matching sweatpants over the top. Jax and I were going to walk to the campus gym so that we could use one of the private rooms that students could rent out. 

Jaxon had been distant this week, for obvious reasons, so I was excited to have this alone time with him today. We rode the elevator down in silence, and I pulled my hood up over my braid as the cool wind greeted us.

I started walking towards the gym, not sure how to start up a conversation with Jaxon when he was acting so guarded. We had just crossed the road when Jaxon reached out, guiding me by the shoulders to stand on his other side as we continued towards the gym.

"Why do you always do that?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"Move me over," I explained.

He shrugged. "When walking with a woman, I always take the street side of the road, just in case there's an accident and it comes barreling at us."

My eyes widened, "And you want to take the impact?"

He smirked, "Well, obviously not, but I'm much bigger than you, so it wouldn't be as bad if I'm the one who got hit. Besides, I know how to angle myself so I can get hit by a car and be relatively unscathed."

"Oh my god, really?" I exclaimed, "How did you learn that?"

I watched as his handsome features curled into a smirk. "Practice."

I couldn't help but to snort at the thought of someone actually practicing getting hit by a car. "Can you teach me?" I asked. It seemed like something kind of useful to know, if I was being honest. Especially in my situation. What if the mob ever tried to take me out simply by running me over?

"Absolutely not," he deadpanned.

"Why not?"

"Because driving a car at you goes against literally EVERY rule as your bodyguard. I'm supposed to keep you safe, not injure you myself," he explained.

"Whatever you say," I relented.

We fell back into comfortable silence as we made our way to our private room. It was spacious. There was a large wrestling mat that spanned most of the length of the floor, and the walls were white and plain. I could hear the echo of the sound my bag made when I threw it onto the ground.

"Alright, coach," I teased, "what do we do first?"

"First, take off your shoes. You won't need them on the mat," He instructed, pulling off his hoodie.

Holy hell...

He was wearing a light blue, dry-fit t-shirt that clung tightly to his cut abdomen; the color bringing out the blue in his eyes and the tan of his skin. His dark grey sweatpants hung loosely from his hips as he sat down on the bench, removing his shoes. He may not have realized how hot he looked today, but it still seemed unfair.

Right... two could play at this game.

Though it was cold in this room, I complied with Jaxon's request, removing my shoes... and then my sweatpants... and then my sweatshirt.

I could feel his eyes on me as I adjusted the material of the hot pink spandex shorts, making sure they still covered most of my ass. The matching, cropped spandex t-shirt clung tightly to my figure as I pulled the hem a little lower.

I pretended not to notice his lingering gaze on me. "Where the hell did you get that outfit?"

"It's Hannah's; do you like it?" I teased, giving him a twirl.

He swallowed, averting his gaze. "You're lucky this is a private room."

I cocked my head to the side, "Oh? Why is that?"

He shook his head, as if to snap out of it. "Never mind. Are you ready?"

I nodded, concealing my smile as best I could. "When you are."

He stood, passing by me as we both made our way on to the mat. He fell into instructor mode, and was all seriousness and instruction as he walked me through the basics. Then, it was time to practice what I had learned.

He started with defensive moves, holding me in various positions while I tried to get out from under him. I was twisting my body this way and that, throwing my legs over him, and striking out when I saw the opportunity, but let's face it... Jax was just way bigger than I was.

I tapped the mat, indicting that I concede.

He pushed himself off of me, kneeling as I rolled into a sitting position.

"You okay?" He asked, wiping an arm across his brow.

"Yeah... it's just frustrating," I complained. "How am I supposed to get out from these positions when you're so much bigger than me?"

He shrugged, "With practice. And weight lifting," he added, "you don't have very much muscle."

I scoffed, "Yes I do."

"Then use it," he encouraged, "get angry; use that anger to take me down. You're on offense now."

He dropped a hand down to me, pulling my sore body up from the ground. "Come on," he encouraged, "prove me wrong."

I actually was getting irritated now. In fact, I had a lot of growing emotions towards Jax. How dare he say I'm weak? How dare he look at me with that cocky expression? How dare he be so good-looking?

I struck out at him, attacking with what I thought was good form until he swept my legs out from under me. I prepared for a hard fall when his arm seized me around the back, pulling me upright before I could hit the ground. It was dizzying.

"Try again," he instructed.

I let out a huff. How dare he look at me like that and then push me away? How dare he tell me he cares about me, but then tell me we can never happen? And lastly, how dare he almost kiss me several freaking times and still never press his lips to mine?

I let my emotions fuel me as we continued practicing. Jaxon and I were a mess of flailing limbs; attack after attack I would charge at him, only to be blocked or lowered to the ground, gently.

"You could at least tell me something constructive," I panted. My body was starting to hurt. We had been at this for a while, and I wasn't sure I had that much more in me.

"Throw a decent punch. There's my constructive criticism," He said, placing his hands on his knees. "You have the right form, but you always hesitate. You need to not overthink it and just do it."

He wanted me to do it? Fine.

Without overthinking it, and knowing he wasn't ready, I threw another punch; however, since I didn't hesitate this time, the momentum of the swing and miss sent me falling forward as I tried to regain my footing.

Jax caught my forearm when I missed, slowing me down as he hooked his other arm around my stomach to prevent me from falling. I turned around slowly as he placed me back onto my feet, his hand still clasped tightly around my forearm.

My face was just inches from his now as he searched it for signs of discomfort. My lips parted as I fought to control my breath. The ache in my body was almost unbearable; not from the physical activity, but from want. I needed to have him.

"Fuck it," Jax breathed.

Before I knew it, he was crashing his lips against mine.