Adam (The Protectors #5)
Teresa Gabelman
Chapter 1
Adam landed against the wall with a loud thud. Dragging his arm up to wipe his nose, he glanced down spotting the blood, his blood. Well, he had expected to get his ass kicked, but not by a girl. His eyes landed on Jill as he pushed himself off the wall and headed in her direction.
“Nice hit,” he acknowledged with a smirk.
“Thank you.” She casually returned his smirk with a raised brow, stepping into a fighting stance. “You ready for more?”
Adam didn’t throw any punches as he went for her. Instead, he faked going low toward her legs for a takedown, and when she dropped her hands to block him, he grabbed her around the head into a tight headlock.
“So are we still having problems, Jill?” Adam asked, his eyes landing on Slade who was watching closely.
“Why would you ask that?” Jill’s voice was muffled; her face smashed against his side. “Because I’m kicking your ass?”
Adam looked thoughtful before he laughed. “You do seem more aggressive than I remember.”
Jill struggled, making grunting noises. “Standing naked before a bunch of horny men seems to make me a little grumpy.”
“Ah, I apologized for that and you accepted my apology.” Adam tapped her on the head with his fist a few times as if to remind her.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you a woman changes her mind…a lot?” Jill grabbed his arm, stepped back behind his foot and threw her weight into Adam. Flipping him to the floor, she landed straddled on top of him. “So for the moment, you can shove your apology up your ass.” She tapped his head with her fist as he had done to her, but a little harder.
Adam rolled her, pinning her arms above her head. “What can I do to make it up to you?”
Jill stopped struggling to think about that for a moment. “Clean the mats on my turn for a month.”
“Done.” Adam nodded, but didn’t let go.
“And…”
“And?” He frowned. “I think that’s good enough, Jill.”
“Naked as the day I was born, Adam,” Jill growled. “In front of every Warrior here.”
Adam let go and sat back with a sigh. “I am really sorry.”
Jill sat up. “I know you are, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you off the hook so easily. So for the next month, you are more or less my slave.”
Rolling his eyes, he stood, turning away. “I don’t think so.” Adam sensed her stand up behind him, and knew she was mad. He could feel the anger rolling off her. “I’ll do the mats. But that and my apology are enough.”
“You suck,” Jill said before she attacked.
Adam turned, blocking the kick coming for his head, and with a clean sweep of his foot, he took her other leg out from under her. When she hit the floor hard, he leaned down and smiled. “That, my friend, was for the bloody nose.” He laughed when she flipped him off.
“I thought you two kissed and made up.” Sid reached down helping Jill up. “Still pissy about the naked mission?”
Jill glared with a hiss at Sid.
“If it will make you feel better, I’ll drop my clothes right now and…” He reached for the waistband of his jeans.
“If I see any skin, I swear I will kill you.” Sloan, who had finally made an appearance, walked onto the mat just in time to witness Sid’s threatened striptease. After a hard warning look toward Sid, his attention turned to Adam. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
The whole room went deathly silent; even Sid’s mouth clamped shut.
“I want to come back.” Adam stood before Sloan as a man, not the boy who left over a week ago. He had attempted to talk to Sloan on multiple occasions, but could never find the damn guy. Adam knew Sloan was the man who held his future in his hands.
“And you think it’s that easy?” Sloan’s eyes were hard, his tone harder.
“No, sir, I don’t,” Adam replied without blinking. “I know the mistakes I’ve made and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make up for those mistakes.”
“I don’t like my orders or the orders of my Warriors to be questioned or disobeyed. You’ve done both. That doesn’t fly well around here.” Sloan’s voice was firm, and had all the Warriors standing at attention. “Even though I have the last say whether you stay or go, it’s up to the Warriors closely affected by your disobedience whether you will be welcomed back.”
“I understand.” Adam nodded. He knew when he walked through those doors, there wasn’t going to be a welcoming committee, but he was ready to prove he was Warrior material. He had spent the entire night, after leaving Angelina, sitting in the nasty motel room, preparing himself for this moment. If he wasn’t welcomed back, he didn’t know what he would do.
“Does anyone have a problem with Adam being back in the program under a probation period?” Sloan asked, his voice firm as he continued to stare at Adam.