CHAPTER 19

The next morning I lay there, on the cold hard ground looking up at Griffin as he rubbed his chin and smirked. "Do you need a hand there, Superstar?" His tone was laid thick with sarcasm. I always dreaded sparring with him—it always ended with me on the floor, just where he liked me no doubt.

I got up and tried to punch him again, hopefully using the humour he found in the situation to my advantage.

I failed.

He blocked my punch before sweeping his leg under mine and knocking me backwards. I really needed to learn how to block that move. But just before I could hit the ground again, he caught me; pulling my arm into his chest so our faces were mere centimetres apart. I could feel his breath on my cheek as I stared straight into the depthless grey of his eyes.

I was not gonna fall for this guy. I couldn't.

But I could use his help.

I needed him to train me. I needed to be ready, and he was by far the best warrior in here—even if he was also the most cocky and I didn't want to inflate his ego more than it already was.

When I didn't respond to his offer for help, he laughed. "I'll take that as a no."

I swear he got so much pleasure out of mocking me.

"You calling me anything but my name is getting kind of boring you know," I blurted out. I didn't know why it bugged me so much but it did. I was probably just grumpy because it wasn't the first time he had knocked me to the ground this morning. And because I was restless. I couldn't sleep when I got back to bed last night. I was too busy overthinking every interaction between us. It was probably all the heated temptation that was making me frustrated. I had to try very hard to stand my ground against his charms.

After copious amounts of teasing on the fire escape, when it was clear Griffin was not going to get his way, our conversion took a deep turn, diving into our messed up and unstable childhoods. When I first met the guy, I never would have imagined I'd be spilling my whole life story to him not even a week later. He didn't tell me too much about himself, he was still a very private person, but it was clear we both had some serious issues.

"Can't you at least just pick one?" I snapped again, referring to the nicknames.

He looked at me amused. "You know when you just can't help calling a puppy a bunch of ridiculous names?" My brows furrowed in annoyance at his train of thought and where he seemed to be going with it. "That's how I feel about you."

I was so glad that's how he saw me. Not.

I just stared at him dumbfounded, trying not to notice how good he looked in his black hoodie and track pants. Or think about how sexy I found the chains that gently clattered around his neck.

He laughed and then smiled to himself as he said more sincerely this time, "I'm just waiting to find one that fits."

"And you can't just call me ‘Vee' like everyone else?"

"Nope." And with that he walked away.

I hate to say that I chased after him, but that's exactly what I did. I rushed towards him, grabbing his shoulder. "Wait!" I exclaimed, slightly more puffed out than I would have liked.

By now, everyone was leaving the sparring zone. A couple of people lingered around the corners, packing up to have their morning tea, or morning protein more likely. A few others continued training in different stations. I could see Sienna by the boxing bag, eyeing us attentively. She surprisingly was keeping her distance, although she seemed to be constantly watching us, keeping me on high alert as I waited for a sneak attack or some shit. The high school mean girl thing she had going on was already a lot, but top that off with the fact that she was an experienced and extremely skilled fighter trained to kill, and you had yourself a recipe for disaster. So you understand why I was always slightly on edge. Mean girls were the worst.

He turned, suspiciously eyeing me down. "Did you want something, gorgeous?" He smirked again and it sent tingles through my body. Stupid, traitorous body.

A part of me wished I could be the type of girl that just had the one night stand with the extremely hot guy without thinking of the consequences—just gave in so I could stop wondering about it. But I couldn't. Or at least I didn't think I could. Not so soon anyway. Even if the guy was incredibly sexy and constantly tempting me. I was clearly very confused right now. He had my hormones all jumbled up.

I swallowed, hoping he didn't see how flustered he made me. Was I this pathetic with River once upon a time?

"Train me!" I spat out before I lost the nerve.

"Train you?" he questioned as he folded his arms across his chest, again with that stupid half smile that was way too satisfied for my liking. "I already train you."

This time I swallowed my pride. "You know what I mean. Give me extra lessons. Show me how to fight. Make me better."

"Let me get this straight. You want me to put aside extra time in my day to give you private lessons?"

"Yes."

"What do I get in return?"

I pretended I didn't hear it and hoped that sincerity from me and playing on his ego instead would be enough to persuade him. "Please. I'm out of touch and I'm behind and I need help. I need to stay here. I want to earn my spot." I knew I couldn't get kicked out but I still wanted to feel like I belonged here. And I still needed to be able to defend myself and others from people—or should I say creatures—when I eventually went back to Saint Claire.

"Any particular reason you need to stay here?" He questioned. I knew he was referring to himself so I played along this time. At least that's what I told myself anyway.

"I just can't stay away from you and need more time in your presence, Griffin," I stated dryly.

"I love it when you beg, baby."

His reply didn't surprise me but still made me want to slap him. Slap him and then maybe rip his clothes off.

Instead I just muttered "prick" as I started to walk away. Clearly he wasn't going to be humble about me asking for his help.

This time it was him that grabbed me, pulling my wrist and riveting my body back into his. He had stepped closer, so that I was now inches away from his chest. With my wrist still held in his hand, tightly between us, he lowered his face, hovering just above my neck. My breath became shallow.

"I'll train you, Venus." He whispered against my ear. "I can think of a few reasons I want you to stay."

A shiver coursed through my body. He had used my name. And it sounded damn good in his mouth.

Then he dropped my wrist, smiled seductively and walked straight past me, exiting the gym.

I stared after him, breathless, confused and I hate to admit, a little excited.