Beast Behaving Badly
Page 20

And yet, even while he didnt respect her sport as a sport, he still worked her like he was getting her ready for the Olympics.
After thirty minutes, she wanted nothing more but to lie on her side and pant. She doubted the hybrid would let her get away with that, though.
Shooting around the track, Blayne got stopped again in a way that she was finding extremely annoyinghe grabbed her by the head with that big hand of his and held her in place.
He shoved her back with one good push, and Blayne fought not to fall on her ass at that speed. When someone shoved her like that, they were usually pissed. He wasnt.
I need to see something, he said, still nursing that cup of coffee. Hed finished off the cinnamon twists in less than five minutes while she was warming up. Come at me as hard as you can.
Are you sure? she asked, looking him over. He didnt have any of his protective gear on, somehow managing to change into sweatpants and T-shirt and still make it down to the track exactly at seven. I dont want to hurt you, she told him honestly.
The laughter that followed, however, made her think she did want to hurt him. She wanted to hurt him a lot. When he realized she wasnt laughing with himor, in this case, laughing at herself since he was obviously laughing at herNovikov blinked and said, Oh. Youre not kidding.
No. Im not kidding.
Oh. Oh! Um . . . Ill be fine. Hit me with your best shot.
Like Pat Benatar? she joked, but when he only stared at her, she said, Forget it.
Blayne sized up the behemoth in front of her and decided to move back a few more feet so she could get a really fast start. She got into position and took one more scrutinizing look. It was a skill her father had taught her. To size up weakness. Whether the weakness of a person or a building or whatever. Of course, Blayne often used this skill for good, finding out someones weakness and then working to help them overcome it. Her father, however, used it to destroy.
Lowering her body, Blayne took a breath, tightened her fists, and took off. She lost some speed on the turn but picked it up as she cut inside. As Blayne approached Novikov, she sized him up one more time as he stood there casually, sipping his coffee and watching her move around the track. Based on that last assessing look, she slightly adjusted her position and slammed into him with everything she had.
And, yeah, she knocked herself out cold, but it was totally worth it when the behemoth went down with her.
Bo had been hit by four-hundred-plus-pound guys since he joined his high school team. Hed had guys who literally wanted him dead slam into him with the force of a rampaging herd of cattle. A few had managed to take him down. A couple had managed to ring his bell. But none, absolutelynone, had managed to catch him off guard.
Shed been coming at him one way and, as he sipped his coffee and let his mind readjust his schedule for the day to allow for this hour of non-personal-training, shed abruptly changed direction, hitting him on his weaker right sideand dumping him right on his ass.
The remainder of his coffee sprayed across the track, the back of his head hit the ground hard, and Bo suddenly remembered what it was like to see the world from this position.
It took him a moment to shake himself out of that stupor that comes with shock. And he wished he could dismiss it as merely a lucky shot. But he knew intent when he saw it. Shed wanted to knock him on his ass and she had. A tiny wolfdog had done what guys who had trained for years had been unable to do.
Worried shed really hurt herself in the process, Bo released the empty cup he was still holding and brought his hands up to grip Blaynes shoulders.
Blayne? Blayne, can you hear me?
She groaned and he let out a relieved sigh. She placed her hands on his chest and slowly levered herself up. What he found most disturbing, though, was that when she did, he heard what could only be called a series of snapping noises that did nothing but kind of weird him out.
Blayne gritted her teeth as the noises continued and let out a breath when they stopped. She shook her head, glanced around.
Blayne? Big brown eyes focused on him. Are you okay?
Uh-huh. Her head tilted to the side. Why are you on the floor?
Because this is where you put me.
Where I . . . She shook her head again. What?
You dropped me like a ton of bricks, Blayne.
Me? I . . . I did this?
Yeah.
Are you serious? Or are you just being nice?
Nice? he asked. Is that a real word or did you just make that up? Im not familiar with this word . . . nice. Is it French?
She sat up straight, her hands covering her mouth. Oh, my . . . oh, my God!
She scrambled off him and got to her feet, shooting around the track with her arms high in the air. And, not surprising since she was from Philly, she began singing the Rocky theme, but she didnt know the words so it pretty much consisted of, Something, something now! Getting something, something now!
He should be livid or, at the very least, morbidly embarrassed. He wasnt. He couldnt remember ever making someone so happy before, and it had to be the most pleasant experience hed had in a very long time.
Bo sat up and watched her. Blayne?
Something high now!