Define Normal

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Okay, you asked for it,” he growled, before shaking his head and wincing slightly. “Jackson’s going to kill me for this.” His eyes focused resolutely on me and by his shifted stance and loosened muscles, I could tell that he wasn’t going to hold back anymore.

“He never has to know,” I said, subtly shifting my weight onto the balls of me feet, making sure my legs were prepared to move even though I looked relaxed.

“He’ll know when you’re covered in bruises.”

“You’d have to hit me first,” I said, kicking out with my left leg but before I connected, his hands gripped the limb so I used my momentum to press my right knee to his chest, making him stumble back and release me.

“Jesus,” he gasped, rubbing his chest. “Aren’t you just coming off of an injury?”

I shrugged, grinning at him as adrenaline pumped through my veins. “I feel much better now.”

“Obviously.” This time it was Grant who attacked with a flurry of punches which I blocked and dodged until one clipped my cheekbone but before his victorious grin could spread across his face, I crouched down and swept my leg through his, sending him crashing to the ground face first. I was on his back before he had a chance to move, holding his arm in a position that I knew for a fact, was incredibly uncomfortable. “Urgh,” he said.

“Give up?” I whispered in his ear, my lips twitching as I anticipated his answer.

“Not a chance,” he growled, bucking underneath me, straining the muscles and bones in the arm that I held until I was forced to let go or else it would break.

I leapt off of him and ended up in a crouch a couple feet away with a glare on my face. “I should’ve let it break.”

“But you love me,” he said, grinning down at me as he charged, jumping into the air and aiming a kick at my face.

At the last moment, I shifted to the side, letting his foot brush past the side of my head as I placed a hard punch to his upper thigh with my left hand while he aimed an uppercut at my chin. I backed up just in time and his fist missed its target as he grunted from the pain in his upper thigh and before he could recover, I reached out and applied a pressure point to his neck, making him fall to the ground with a groan. “What the hell, Jade,” he said through gritted teeth, his eyes watering and the veins in his neck bulging.

“I didn’t want to beat you up too badly,” I said as my right shoulder gave a twinge of pain. I winced slightly and Grant’s watery eyes widened in the direction of my bullet wound.

“You pushed yourself too hard,” he ground out, his muscles tense from the pressure point.

I sighed and knelt on the ground beside him, the leaves crunching beneath my knees as I brought my hands up to his neck, hitting a few spots that made his muscle relax until he could prop himself up on his elbows and give me a severe look. “I have to be ready,” I said quietly, feeling nerves and something like fear climb up my chest just as it had been doing for the past week and a half, ever since that late night phone call.

“Maybe they’ll just leave you alone,” Grant said as he slowly stood, rubbing his stiff neck.

I shook my head, frowning at the trees around the clearing, feeling the sense that I was being watched, a feeling I was starting to get used to. “I don’t think they’re the type to give up,” I said quietly, shaking away the tingles along my spine, trying to ignore the hair that was standing up on my arms. “Forget it, let’s just go.”

We made our way out of the clearing towards the parking lot of Grant’s apartment building. “I’ll give you a ride,” he said, gesturing to his Lexus.