Daisy was quiet as she mentally inventoried food and beverages. With a group of six people coming, plus Chris, she’d definitely need to restock. As much as she didn’t want to ask Chris for help, there was no other alternative unless her dad returned soon.
“Dais?” Chris’s tentative tone brought her out of her contemplation. “You okay with everyone coming here?”
“Sure.” She smiled at him, deciding to wait until the event was actually scheduled before worrying about training-day refreshments. “How about those anger drills?”
“Aggression drills,” he corrected, letting it go. “We’re taught to avoid acting aggressively, especially women, so we need to work on changing your initial reactions. Like this.” He grabbed her forearm. “What’s your instinctive response?”
Surprised at the contact, Daisy looked at his hand and then his face, not moving.
A grin started to curl up the corner of his mouth, but he quashed it, returning his expression to stern-instructor mode. “If I were a stranger, what would be your first reaction?”
“Maybe scream, depending on the situation.”
“Screaming’s good. What else?”
His fingers tightened, and she automatically tried to yank her arm out of his grip.
“Right!” he said, resisting her attempt at freeing herself. “Your initial instinct is to pull back. How’s that working for you?”
Daisy increased her efforts, leaning back to use her body weight as well as her arm muscles to try to escape. “Not well,” she gritted, her voice already a little breathless.
“Exactly. By trying to pull away, you’ve created a tug-of-war situation, where the one with the most brute strength wins. Which one of us will that be?”
“You,” she grumbled reluctantly, giving up her attempt at freeing herself.
“Yes. Me or your probably bigger attacker. Not only have you put yourself in a contest that you won’t win, but you’re doing exactly what he expects.” He released her arm, taking a step back, and then lunged forward to seize her again. Automatically, she tried to lurch backward, tugging against his hold. “When I grab you, I expect you to pull back.”
“So I’m not supposed to try to get free?” she asked doubtfully.
He let her go again and retreated a few feet. “Grab me.”
Grinning, she did, grasping his hard forearm in both hands. Daisy always liked when she got to play the attacker. It gave her a feeling of control, and, although she’d never admit it to Chris, it was a treat to be able to touch him without him trying to leap away from her.
As soon as she gripped his arm, he moved—not backward, like she had, but forward, into her space. Startled, she stumbled back a step.
“And there it is. You weren’t expecting that, so it threw you off balance. Now I’m here, close to you, where I can land a knee”—he mimed the defensive movements as he named them—“an elbow or a palm heel strike.” His hand brushed the side of her neck.
Trying to ignore that light contact, she frowned. “It seems wrong, though, to come closer to the bad guy when I want to get away.”
“That’s why it works. It’s unexpected and counterintuitive. You just need to practice until it becomes second nature. Then your instinctual reaction will be to step into the assailant’s space rather than trying to pull away.”
“Hence aggression drills?”
He grinned. “Hence aggression drills.” With his best villainous expression, he grabbed her arm.
*
An hour later, Daisy was clinging to the grappling dummy.
“Max! Save me from the evil drill sergeant,” she groaned, her legs wobbly with fatigue.
Chris glanced at his watch. “I need to get a few things done at home anyway, so we should probably wrap things up.”
“Thank you.” Even to her own ears, she sounded pathetically grateful. After aggression drills, they’d done a cross-fit workout that included burpees—something Daisy was positive had been invented by the devil in the deepest depths of hell.
He smirked, eyeing her desperate grip on Max. “You two look…cozy.”
Too exhausted to care that she was hanging off a fake, naked man, Daisy just shrugged—or she would have shrugged if her deltoids hadn’t stopped working twenty minutes ago.
“Don’t forget to stretch,” he warned as he walked to the door.
Daisy scowled at his back, annoyed at the way his legs continued to function, even though he’d worked out right alongside of her.
“Thanks, Chris!” she yelled as he headed into the hall. He disappeared, only to stick his head back in a moment later.
“Don’t you need to lock the door after me?”
“Right.” With a groan, she heaved herself upright. Once she was certain that her legs would support her on their own, she left Max with a grateful pat on the rear.
“You’re abnormally attached to that thing,” Chris said as she shuffled to the doorway.
“Max is awesome. As much as I punch him, he never holds a grudge.”
“I let you punch me,” Chris huffed. If she had any energy to spare, she would’ve laughed at his offended expression. “A lot more than Max has.”
Her chuckle came out as more of a wheeze. “Yes, you’re almost as awesome.”