“Please, you’re hurting her. She’s only 8 years old.” my mother pleaded for her drunken boyfriend to stop hitting me, just because I didn’t wash the dishes properly. “Joe, she can’t survive another hit, please stop!” she yells again, but he kept hitting me, telling me how useless I am. “You will never be able to stand up for yourself. Just like your father, you are useless. You will never find a man that will love you, only abuse you,” he shouts. I can’t even lift my head with blood surging out of my mouth. My ribs were full of bruises and my mother was crying for her useless abusive boyfriend to stop hurting me. “You want more? I can go all-new night, little girl,” he yells while he gulps a bottle of whiskey. My mother is sitting at the table, crying, but she’s not stopping him. I guess she&rsqu
“Where am I?” the unfamiliar man is busy doing push-ups and God knows what. How did I end up here, but mostly, who is this handsome, gorgeous guy, shirtless, muscular man in front of me? “I brought you here. I actually wanted to take you to the hospital, but you were quite adamant not to go. What are you, some criminal that got a beat down?” he asked, his eyes dark and his veins visible from the workout he just did right in front of me. My face feels swollen and my ribs feel like they are crushing my insides. “If I was a criminal, don’t you think I would’ve been able to defend myself? And if you thought I was one, why did you bring me here? I can kill you.” he smiled while pulling his T-shirt over his head. My eyes moved to his boxers, staring at him like a pervert.&n
Emily’s Pov I watch how he uses his body to help kids defend themselves, and how confident these kids look, more than what I feel like a grown-up. He hadn’t noticed me yet, so I looked around the gym. It’s massive. Gloves hanging everywhere, kickboxing bags hanging in rows. Weights everywhere and a cage obviously to learn and defend yourself. I sat down on the bench, waiting for him to finish his class. I don’t know what to expect when he finishes, but he did tell me to find out who he is, so that’s what I did. I’m amazed by these kids, how they know how to turn themselves out of a position when they're in trouble, how they can block a punch and how they use their legs to stay firm. “Thank you, guys. We’ll catch up with some warmups tomorrow and choose wh
Emily’s Pov I keep checking the clock. My shift ends at 3 PM, so I have to rush to the gym and hope Blake will still train me. It’s 2:34. Jeez, can these last few minutes just fly? “Emily, can you please help with these patients? We’re short stuff and the nurses can’t keep up.” I sighed, watching the clock. There are literally 10 minutes left. I rushed to the first patient and then the second one. “I really need to get going,” I said to Linda. She glares at me like I had a date or something. “No, it’s not what you think? I’m actually...” I kept quiet before I told her where I was going. Blake asked me to keep this to myself. I’m sure Linda won’t say a word, but I need this. I’m already 5minutes late, so I pray he will still help me. I jumped on the bus and it wa
Blake’s Pov “Can I get you something to drink, Sir?” the bar lady asked, while my eyes followed Emily’s every move. Her beautiful blond hair hanging perfectly down her back, her bright blue eyes that can make any man go numb by just looking at her. Her body is slim and perfect. “No thank you,” I responded while she threw herself at me. I try to figure out why a nurse wants to learn how to defend herself? I know it’s not just because of what happened in the Alley the other night, something happened to her that made her angry, and she’s been holding on to that anger and pain for a long time. I’ve seen kids being abused that came to me for support and the same anger and pain they showed is multiplied on Emily’s face. I know how to teach you to defend yourself, but with her it&rsq
Emily’s Pov “Hey.” I greeted Blake when I enter the gym. He doesn’t greet me back. He threw the gloves at me and instructed me to punch the kickboxing bag. “Okay.” I thought we connected last night, but clearly, he is still a jackass. I put the gloves on and hit the bag as hard as I can. I kept going with Blake busy on the phone, glaring at me like I’m failing a math test. “You’re doing it wrong,” he said, walking up to me. “Clearly, that’s why I’m here for you to show me how to do it, remember?” “Get your posture right by standing with your feet and shoulder in a wider distant, and your front foot facing the punching bag.” he grabs my leg and pulled one to the back and one facing the bag. He pulled my shoulders up. “Don’t shy away from emptying your punch
Blake’s PovEmily has left the club. It’s silent and just me and all memories hanging around in the club, staring me in the face!I picked up gloves and put them on. This time I used Emily’s.As I pull it over my hands, I can feel the pain. I don’t know her story, but I have my own story about why I started to become a kickboxer. The memories of my father run through my mind when I pull the punch bag closer.“Did you hit him back?” father is sitting with a knife peeling his apple on the front porch when I came home from school with a bloody nose.“I asked if you punched him back?” I hear my father’s voice clearly as I punch the bag.I just stared at him that day, remembering how he used women, how he was never there for me. He only cared about his title as the world-famous kickboxing champion and how women were falling at his feet. And here I am, getting bullied at school because I&
Emily’s Pov “Miss, what happened? You need to tell us what happen so that someone can help you.” the unfamiliar woman is laying in the ED, her lip busted ad can barely keep her left eye open. My day shift is almost finished and Blake said he will pick me up so that don’t have to take the bus in the rain. “Miss?” she picked her head up long enough to look at the man that was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. “Did he do this to you?” I point a finger at him and asked her again, but she looked scared when I pointed it out. “Did you do this to her?” I push forward to the man with so much anger inside me. “Wow, wow. I would never beat a woman like that.” he jugg