The bet

Chapter 2

What am I gonna wear for training? My red top? No. My black one? Nah... This one? Not quite yet.  Trying to figure out which clothes are gonna test Dimitri's control the best is hard. I am really starting to wonder if I should just wear a normal tank and leggings when I see the shirt. Well... It's not really a shirt, more like a sport bra. All I know is that it will make him lose control, or at least make him want to.

When I enter the gym, I see that Dimitri had the same idea this morning. Making my control snap. He wears black sweatpants without a shirt. I can see his well-defined chest and abdomen muscles that I haven't seen since the charm and they make my memories of them look sooo damn ordinary.

When he looks up after finishing his chin ups,I can see that I more than achieved my goal.

"Looking good Roza." He says out of breath. Don't know if it's because of me or the chin ups. Probably a mix of both.

"Not so bad yourself Comrade." I smirk back. It's actually funny how I make it sound like his no-shirt state doesn't get to me AT ALL, but we both know it's just a facade. A very good one, but still one.

"So Dimitri, what are we gonna do today? Some endurance or some cardio?" He smiles at me, amuse by innuendo.

"Well, I thought we could learn what are the best ways to knock off an opponent without killing them." He has a sparkle in his eyes. I don't understand why. It is not control testing, it is not fun and I already learned that. But, he has a sparkle, so I better expect the worst (or the best, depends on how you see it) of it.

"M'kay" I say hesitantly.

"Are you hesitating Rose?" He asks making an allusion to his first rule, never hesitate.

"No, just wondering why we work on something I already know."

"Oh Roza... You don't know what I will teach you today, or at least , didn't learn it the way I will show you" Why does he have to make it sound so dirty?

During training, he proves me how right he was. He shows me all the pressure points, which leads to very intimate touches, with his or mine fingers lingering the longest possible on the other's skin, and a lot of eyes contact. We train in silence, breathing heavily, only interrupted by Dimitri's occasional explanations for new exercises or advice for easier ways to do them.

When the time for breakfast finally comes and Dimitri turns around and heads for the gym's exit, an idea pops in my head and makes a smile appear on my face. I begin to run and as I put my hands on his waist to tackle him, he flips me and I fall on the floor, grabbing him on my way down, so we're in that position again. The one that pushed our control for the first time.

"You didn't scream this time" He smirks. "You listened to my advice" He seems proud and amuse by it.

"And you still beat me..." I say with a little bit of sadness.

"Told you I would" He laughs. I laugh. I see his smile. I stop laughing.

"Rose, you're okay?" He asks, worried.

"Oh? Yeah." I think I said it weirdly, because Dimitri still looks at me with worry. "It's been a long time since you laughed like that."

"I'll try to do it more often then Roza." I don't know why, but the fact that he may laugh like that with someone else makes me feel jealous.

"No, it's nice the way it is" And it really is. The way I feel when I see one of his full smiles or rare true laughs. How special I feel. Privileged.

We talk one or two more minutes before I leave to breakfast. Everyone is there with a more or less happy face. Well everyone is happy exept Mase who looks quite terrible.

"Hey guys!" I say to them all, remembering yesterday's Christian remark before turning to Mason. "You okay? You look horrible."

"Thanks Rose" Sarcasm. Okay.

"Hey, I did nothing to you Mase!"

"Sorry. Stan is just being a pain in my ass." He sighs. "He decided what our challenge is gonna be and I hate it."

Seeing he isn't going to elaborate, I ask him what the challenge is and he laughs a little before explaning to me that Stan decided alone that the bet is the first one to get Alberta agree to put me in detention for being disrespectfull towards him wins.

"Mase, don't worry. I'll go ask Alberta to accept to put me in detention when you ask. She's gonna be thrilled to make Stan lose. You know that." Alberta never agreed to put me in detention when Stan asked her to. I think it's because she finds what I do to bug Stan funny, I never got her to admit it though.

"Thanks Rose, but detention. Really? Why would you do it? You know you don't have to" He really wants to know. Rose Hathaway wanting to go in detention. Never happenned before.

"Who is gonna supervise me during detention?" I see a sparkle appear in his eyes. He knows. "Dimitri. Yes. And you know what I am gonna do during detention?" Now, he is lost. "Win our challenge. I don't see why I would make it last longer when I can win it today." Mason doesn't know what our bet is. No one does. But he knows how badly I want to win it and it's a good enough explanation for him. On that, I take a chocolate glazed donut and head toward Alberta's office.

5 minutes of walk and three knocks later, I hear a "Come in Rose." Weird. How can she know it's me?

"Hey Alberta. How did you know it was me?"

"Alto came half an hour ago to ask me to put you in detention. I did the maths and yes, when Asford is going to ask me I'm gonna say yes." I open my mouth to ask how did she know about the bet but before making any sound close it back. It's Alberta, of course she knows everything.

"And yes Rose, Dimitri is going to supervise it. No, you are not obligated to really go in detention. Just go in the detention class and hang out with Belikov for two hours or so. Make sure Alto doesn't find out that you are not really in detention. Don't want him on my back for more reason than agreeing to Ashford and not him."
What did I just say? She knows everything.

"Thanks Alberta. You're the best!" Then, I storm out of the room, hearing Alberta softly laugh after saying that she knows. I walk by a clock and I only have two minutes to go to class! Shit! I run as fast as I can and enter the gym as the bell ring. Fortunately, I wasn't bothered to put on some normal clothes after training with Dimitri, so I don't need to change.

"All covered Mase!" I yell while jogging towards him.

"Thanks Rose!" He yells back, even though I am literally two feets away from him.

The day pass at an incredible speed. Incredibly slow yeah. When the final bell rings, I sprint off to detention, leaving Liss with Christian.

Now, let the fun begin.

Hey guys! I know this chapter isn't as good as the first one, but I needed to do it for the next chapter to be good. Hope you liked it anyway. Thank you so much for all the great comments for the first chapter. I want to dedicate this chapter to everyone who commented on the last one. Thanks for all the support.

Fred