final round - lrh

thirty-two.

Luke clears his throat, folding his hands on top of the table as he seems to have no intentions of making an exit yet.

"I wanted to see if you two were aware of the training taking place today," Luke says, his body a lot closer than I had expected it to be.

Can he please scoot over before I start blushing in front of absolutely everyone?

Luckily, his words are enough to distract me as I wonder what exactly he means by this. Is there some type of specific training today that differs from what we usually do? I don't understand why he would be addressing this if that wasn't the case. 

I look to Michael to see if he knows but he just shakes his head so I do the same.

"You guys will run through different stations and be trained by either myself, Calum, or Ashton. It'll be a circuit and you will be focusing on one-on-one fighting with me, shooting with Calum, and physical strength and cardio with Ashton."

I resist the urge to cringe at the thought of going through training with Ashton while he's currently mad at me. Especially considering Luke knows Ashton isn't too happy with me right now, I just hope he has some sympathy and doesn't match me with him. 

The awkwardness would be incredibly evident and I don't even know how I'd respond to it. 

Nonetheless, the idea is exciting. It's going to be nice to get some one-on-one time with everyone in order to improve. After all, I haven't practiced shooting at all yet and this will give me a chance to finally pick up skills in something that's going to be huge for me once war rolls around.

"Who are we going to be training with?" Michael asks.

"Michael, you'll be with Ashton today at the first session, and Lila, you'll be with me today at the first session."

My ears perk up at this knowing I won't have to deal with Ashton today. However, I know I will in the next day or two which still leaves me hesitant. On top of that, the thought of having some alone time further with Luke is tempting and I can't help but feel excitement course through me at the thought.

"Shocking," Michael says teasingly under his breath making me immediately give him a look. Luckily, it seemed to have only been loud enough for the two of us to hear but it certainly doesn't go unnoticed with me.

Luke doesn't respond to the comment as he begins to tap his fingers against the table and keep up his confident demeanor. 

"Training with me will be in the gym, training with Calum will be at shooting range, and Ashton will be in the workout room. After you're done, I expect you both to be training the rest of the day on your own. You need to work on your weaknesses and strengthen them; don't view this as a day off."

"I thought you weren't planning on starting individual training for a while," I say recalling when he told me they were going to do this in the next few weeks.

It definitely seems soon but I don't mind at all because I really feel like this is what's going to help me grow.

"I changed my mind," is all Luke says.

I wonder what changed his mind and why they're starting it sooner rather than later. However, I'm certain that it has to do with the new information he obtained last night and what it could potentially mean for my future. Obviously, I may need more attention focused on me in order to prepare me for a war that has the potential of me being the absolute number one target.

"How long will this go on for?" Michael asks. 

"I'm not sure yet," Luke says. "Until I see improvement in all of you and am at a comfortable point where I feel like everyone is on the same level. We have too many soldiers who aren't as skilled as some of our top soldiers and this can't be the case. Everyone needs to be the best they can possibly be."