“No. Still dry.” Mostly.
Dastien’s shirt was soaked through. It clung to every muscle. He shook, spraying cold water over all of us, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Fuck. I finally got the whole wet T-shirt contest thing.
I didn’t breathe as Dastien walked over to Chris, ready to step in between them if Dastien got violent again. He held his hand out. “Sorry.”
Chris took the hand and got to his feet. “No big deal.”
Dastien walked to the door of the gym. “Class is over,” he said before the door slammed behind him.
“I’m just going to check on him,” Imogene said.
Meredith laughed. “Good luck with that one.”
Imogene shot her a dirty look and quickly strode out of the gym after Dastien. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. I caught Shannon’s glare. Her arms were crossed, but she stayed rooted to her slice of mat. If she wasn’t my friend before, this was so not going to win her over. Oh well. I was used to no friends. The fact that I had Meredith was awesome.
And I had a Dastien, whatever that meant.
Adrian was the only one to move as he took a few quick steps to close the distance. He inspected Chris’ head. “Blood’s just surface. It’s already healed.”
Chris grinned. “See. I’m just fine.” The grin faded. “He snuck up on me. Damn it. No one’s snuck up on me in forever.”
“That’s why he’s the best,” Meredith said. “Good thing I got the bucket. Looked like he was going for your throat.”
“Thanks, Mer.” They high-fived. “I totally owe you one.”
“Speaking of buckets, where did you get it?” I asked.
Meredith pointed behind her. “There are always a few filled up in the room in case someone gets out of hand while we’re sparring. But it’s usually Dastien who dumps it over the student’s head. Took a second for me to realize I needed to get it.” She put her arm around Chris’ waist. “Sorry.”
“You did fine. No one expected Dastien to lose it. He’s usually so calm.”
They stared at me. It was too much, especially with the rest of the class already staring. I took a step back. I had zero desire to know what they were thinking.
“Do you know what’s up with him?” Chris asked.
I studied the mats. “Not a clue.” My voice was a little too high pitched.
The door slammed and Dastien walked back to us with a mop. “Everyone out.” Power rolled through the gym, giving me goose bumps. “You four can stay,” he said to me, Chris, Adrian and Meredith.
Yikes. Shannon wasn’t going to be happy about that, but I was kind of glad. If we were going to talk about what happened, I didn’t need her negativity around.
Some of my classmates grumbled as they cleared out. Dastien finished mopping while we waited for the last of the eavesdroppers to go. I bit my lip as he cleaned. I wanted to ask Dastien what happened with Imogene, but he didn’t look like he was in the mood to talk.
When everyone was gone, Meredith broke the silence. She sauntered up to him. “Glad you didn’t forget cleanup duty, Daz.” She rubbed her hand down his back.
Did she have to be so touchy-feely? My blood heated but I kept it under control, trying to remember that she was my friend. I concentrated on even breathing.
He cocked his head. “It’s been a while, but I think I remember how it goes.”
“Aren’t you the cutest?” She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips.
Red. All I saw was red.
I’m not quite sure how it happened. I don’t remember even moving. One second I stood next to Chris. The next, Meredith was flat on her back, and I had her pinned to the ground. A bright red splotch spread across her left cheek.
I was growling when Dastien reached both arms around my stomach and lifted me off her.
“Shhh. I got you,” he whispered in my ear.
My stomach bottomed out at the sound. The smell of him filled me—the scent of outdoors spread peace through my blood. He was like a drug.
And then came the shame. My face heated and I pushed Dastien’s arms off of me. I hung my head and stepped toward her. “I’m so unbelievably sorry. I don’t know what happened…I don’t even remember hitting you, but that was totally inexcusable—”
Adrian laughed.
“It’s not funny—” I started but Adrian cut me off.
“?Joder! It can’t be. That doesn’t happen anymore.” He helped Meredith up and ran his fingers over the mark on her face. “You’ve got cajones to try that. She hit you hard. It’ll get worse before it gets better.”
“It was worth it.” Meredith straightened her clothes. “For the record, I called it.”
She was ignoring my apology and I didn’t blame her for it. I had to just keep going until she accepted. “I’m so sorry. I don’t even remember moving. I swear I didn’t—”
“Honey, please.” She held up a hand to stop my babbling. “I made you do it.”