Again.
Too close.
His shoulder brushed mine.
His breath hit my temple.
My body reacted before my brain did, every muscle tightening at once.
I hated that.
I hated him more for noticing.
“Back off.”
“Make me.”
Cami surged.
‘Gladly.’
I did.
Or tried to.
For the next stretch of the round, Frederic did everything except fight the way I expected him to. He blocked when I attacked, absorbed the space when I tried to create any, and kept forcing me into close range until the whole thing felt less like sparring and more like some deranged interrogation performed with shoulders and forearms.
“You dragged me in here just to annoy me?”
“I don’t need a ring for that.”
True.
I went for his ribs anyway.
Frederic caught my arm before the elbow connected, and I used the hold to drive my
