Then she noticed a figure move on the far side of the hall. Grayson, she thought. “Hey.” She said softly as she walked up to him. Grayson was bouncing on his toes getting ready to kick into a bag but stopped turning to look at her.
“You’re late.” He groaned.
“No.” Lilly shook her head.
“I said, seven am sharp.” He snapped.
Lilly frowned looking up at the big clock on the wall. 7:02. “It’s just two minutes.” She said with a shrug.
“Two minutes of my time that YOU…” He jabbed a finger at her, “wasted.”
“I’m sorry. I was looking for you.” She snapped back.
Grayson huffed turning away he pushed off the floor and swiveled around kicking the bag as hard as he could. Nobody he ever trained dared be late.
He was going to make her not dare be late again. “You won’t be late again when I am done with you.” He shook his head and pointed “Mats now.”
Lilly flinched at Grayson’s harsh tone, dropping her bag and running toward the closest mat. Grayson turned around and walked over to the storage closet pulling out a pair of sparring mitts. He strode over to the mat where Lilly wiggled around anxiously.
Grayson stood towering over Lilly’s five foot two stature with a big smirk. She stared back at him without a clue as to what he really wanted from her to do. “Well…” Grayson huffed.
“What?” she asked back in curiosity.
“HIT!” he scolded. His words word sharp and they made Lilly flinch in the usual way. She jumped back away from Grayson with so much fear she fell back against the mat cringing away.
Grayson’s eyebrows furrowed staring down at the red headed girl who held so much fear in her eyes. “Please don’t hurt me.” She whimpered. "I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about?” Grayson grumbled. He moved the sparring mitts to one hand and extended the other hand down to her.
“Huh?” Lilly mumbled looking at Grayson curiously. His last words had snapped her out of whatever had scared her. Sighing she grabbed his hand and Grayson quickly yanked her back to her feet.
“Okay…” he drawled. “You ready now?”
“Yeah…” She nodded. Grayson then put the mitts back into his separate hands and nodded.
“Okay. Hit me.” Grayson braced himself slightly. He figured that Lilly couldn’t hit him hard enough to make a dent anyway.
Lilly’s fist practically slapped the spring mitt. “What was that?” Grayson laughed. “Hit me again.” He told her. “Pansy!” He yelled as he pushed her with the mitt. “Move your feet, your too stiff.” He barked.
Lilly had been hitting the sparring mitts over and over. Her arms were beginning to ache and she was getting sweaty. Sighing she dropped her hands to her thighs, breathing in quick breaths. “What’s your problem?” Grayson growled.
“I’m hot.” Lilly huffed tiredly “And tired.”
“Then strip down some clothes and take a drink of water. Let’s go!”
Without thinking Lilly gripped the edges of her sweatshirt and peeled it off. She tossed it effectively to the far edge of the mat and smiled. “What the hell is that?” Grayson barked as he glared at the bandage adorning Lilly’s tender arm. He could see how much weight she had lost over the summer and frowned.
Grayson snapped his hand over Lilly’s wrist and yanked her toward him. “What happened?” He demanded.
“Nothing” Lilly argued yanking her arm away. She scrambled away from Grayson grabbing her shirt and racing toward the exit.
Lilly had skipped out on Grayson and the gym on Sunday and it angered him. So when school came around, Grayson heard the rumors and he couldn’t believe them. Lilly had tried to commit suicide only a short time before. Why would she do that, he continued to question himself.
Lilly tried her best to stay away from Grayson the entire school day. When it was time for gym class, Grayson caught her before she could hide in the locker rooms. A strong hand grabbed hold of Lilly’s wrist pulling her back and pushing her up against the wall. “Where have you been?” He huffed as he hovered over her. His face lingered just barely in front of her and both of his hands placed on the wall on either side of her, pinning her in place.
“I…” She muttered nervously. Lilly couldn’t help but feel terrified at the moment.
“I don’t really care what happened to your arm, Lilly.” He snarled. “But if I am going to train you then I expect you to be there every day.” His tone was harsh and threatening.
Lilly knew at that moment she couldn’t do it any longer. Lilly nodded her head nervously.
“You think long and hard about it” Grayson growled. “This is your last chance. If you aren’t there every day… after school at four pm and weekends at seven am then I’m out.” He hissed as he pushed himself from the wall and strode away into the locker room.
Lilly had done exactly that. She thought about it the entire time she was in the gym locker room changing and again she continued to think about it all the way until the bell for the end of the day rang.
By the time she had made it home, Lilly’s decision had been made. She went in her home; she dropped her backpack on her bed then quickly changed her clothing. She pulled on her black shorts, a sports bra, and added a tank top over it. She had realized the last time she was there that being hot caused training to become unbearable and she was determined to not get overly hot today. She grabbed a pair of yoga pants to pull over her shorts. She hoped she didn’t need to take off the pants but just in case she would be prepared.
Before heading out, Lilly grabbed an apple and Will’s car keys. The drive was like any other day. A few other cars littered the parking lot this time and Lilly raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
This time when Lilly walked in, more lights lit up the hallway and gym. She was early today. Lilly wasn’t going to make that mistake again. She quickly ran toward the gym searching for Grayson. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the guys around the room.
“Lilly,” Grayson’s voice broke her out of her thoughts and Lilly turned quickly nearly bumping into Grayson. “Are you nervous?” He raised an eyebrow curiously.
“Uh… No… I …” She muttered, it was such a lie.
“Hey it’s alright…” he said gesturing over toward the far side of the gym “today we’re going to work on weights.”
Lilly cringed. She knew she wasn’t strong. There was no way she would be able to put up a fight against someone as big as Grayson. Grayson pointed toward a bench and Lilly sat down quietly staring up at him. “This weight ten pounds…” he drawled out. “I guess we’ll start there.” He somewhat frowned at Lilly’s gangly tiny frame.
Lilly felt like hiding. She had been rapidly gaining weight since Frank was out of town, but Grayson wouldn’t know that. She was getting better every day. She didn’t feel hungry as much nor did she feel shaky from the lack of nutrition, either.
She gripped tight to the weight and lifted it up into the curl which Grayson showed her. After a while, Grayson began to stop scowling and grabbed on to a heavier weight. “Well let’s see what you can do with this one.” He said grabbing the ten-pound weight from Lilly and replacing it with a fifteen.
“Hey.” A voice said from Lilly’s other side and she turned to look at the man who was now standing there. She had figured it was only a matter of time before someone interrupted their training and now… someone did.
“Hello.” Lilly said softly.
“Get lost.” Grayson growled.
“Hey…” the voice complained. “Why do you get to hog all the beauty in this place…” the man complained. He was around Lilly’s age, tall, tanned, and muscular; and handsome too, she thought.
“Lilly, this is Duke. Duke this is Lilly.” Grayson rolled his eyes. “Now get lost.”
“Lilly, that’s a pretty name for a pretty girl.” Duke smiled. Lilly blushed as she looked down toward the floor. She wasn’t pretty; she knew that for sure. “If you ever get sick of a
ll Grayson’s lack of emotion and compassion crap…” Duke had bright blue eyes and blond spiked hair. Lilly compared the two men before her; Duke was short and slender compared to Grayson but seemed to be just as big in mass.
“Duke, I swear if you don’t get lost and quite bothering my client you’re going to get your ass kicked.” Grayson hissed stepping around Lilly and up to Duke.
“It’s been forever since I got to fight you…” Duke drawled. “I would like that.”
“Lilly,” Grayson said slowly. “Practice is over for now. I’ve got a problem to take care of.” Lilly’s face paled as she looked back at Grayson’s angry expression. Would he hurt the man just for talking to her?
Lilly couldn’t help but imagine what the fight was going to be like. The thoughts of Grayson smashing Duke into the mats continued to play over and over in her head. “Carl!” Grayson yelled breaking her out of the thoughts.
“Carl!” Grayson yelled again as he stomped through the gym.
Carl’s form appeared from his office quickly with a worried expression on his face. “Grayson, what’s the problem?”
“I’m going to spar this idiot.” He said pointing a finger back over toward where Duke stood smirking beside Lilly.
“Well, it’s about time we got a good match going in here.” Carl barked in laughter. “I’ll get the wraps; the ring is ready to go. Don’t enter until I get back.” Carl shuffled away shaking his head with a grin.
“Lilly,” Grayson said turning back around.
Lilly stiffened and hopped to her feet, coming up beside Grayson, he smiled at her. “You can stay out here by Carl and watch if you like or see you tomorrow… Which is it?”
Competitors
Chapter 13
Lilly stood transfixed beside Carl on the sidelines watching as Grayson and Duke circled. At first she had been anxiously watching the two men enter the ring but once Duke’s shirt landed on the floor before her she couldn’t help but drool over the man’s body. They seemed to be a good match in sparring. Though Grayson seemed more powerful, Duke seemed to have more speed.
Grayson was patient. He waited until Duke made his move. Grayson took a steady breath preparing himself. Duke’s slender yet muscular frame lunged forward landing a punch into Grayson’s face. Even with the wraps, Lilly could see the power which was contained in that hit. Grayson’s head snapped back, but quickly recovering Grayson raised his right fist. The second blow from Duke went into the air as Grayson effectively blocked it and shoved Duke backward.
Duke stumbled slightly confused until his eyes got real wide. He had stumbled back into the corner and now Grayson took his chance. Grayson’s right fist came first to the face while the second landed in Duke’s stomach. Duke bent forward clutching his gut and groaned.
Grayson didn’t bother taking pity on Duke his fists continued to smash into him until Lilly couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop him!” She screeched. Carl turned quickly looking at Lilly with confusion across his features. “He’s going to kill him!” She cried. Duke was curled over holding his stomach and trying to fend off Grayson. Blood oozed from his split lip, his nose, and a cut slightly below his eye.
“Don’t worry. Duke knew what he was getting into when he…” Carl offered, but Lilly ignored him as she rushed forward throwing herself into the ring with the two men before she could really think of what she had done.
“Grayson stop!” She screamed as she skidded to a stop before him. Her hands pressed against Grayson’s chest as she pushed him back.
Grayson’s eye glowed with anger as he looked down at her disapprovingly. “What the hell?” He yelled stopping his fist from slamming into Lilly.
She pushed him back again, steadying herself. “Stop,” She said more firmly.
Grayson wasn’t a pushover, but this girl managed to push him back into the far corner pinning him with her hands holding firmly onto Grayson’s hips. “Well, this is ah…” Duke mumbled. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” Grayson didn’t bother to look up and Lilly didn’t bother to tear her eyes away from his stony gaze.
“I uh…” She mumbled and begun to step back, but Grayson’s balled fists opened and gripped onto Lilly's shoulders holding her firmly in place.
“You’re going to pay for that one.” He whispered as he gripped her sides and tossed her over his shoulder with an indignant oomph.
Grayson easily climbed over the ropes of the ring and was stalking toward the hallway angrily. “Grayson, I’m sorry,” Lilly whined as she squirmed over his shoulder.
“Hold still,” He growled smacking her butt making Lilly instantly stop moving. Grayson’s body was sweaty and the smell assaulted her nostrils.
Lilly could hardly move. She knew she didn’t stand a chance against Grayson and as she looked around she became more and more nervous. Everyone seemed to clear out of the place. Or … they disappeared to who knew where.
“Where are you taking me?” Lilly whimpered nervously.
“I guess you’ll find out in a minute.” Grayson groaned. “You really are trouble.”
“I’m sorry, please.” She cried out as she watched the gym disappear and the dim hallway fill her view. Where was he taking her?
Her questions soon where answered when Grayson took a sharp turn into his office. Quickly he slammed the door behind him and dropped Lilly onto a couch against the wall. “What are you going to do to me?” She whimpered.
“What I should have the first time you came in my gym. Put you in your place.” He snapped.
“What…” Lilly mouthed nervously.
“There’s only one thing I do with girls” Grayson stated. “If they are not good for my bed, they aren’t good for anything… so Lilly with that said…” Grayson raised an eyebrow at her and stalked toward her as she cowered back against the far edge of the couch.
“You’re going to rape me!” She cried out.
“No. But...” Grayson smirked. “If you want to come back here for more training then I’ll train you but …” his smirk grew wider and cockier as he spoke making Lilly cringe. “I want something more.” He nearly whispered as he walked out of the room leaving her to mull it over.
Giving Up
Chapter 14
Grayson had given Lilly the option of leaving or pleasuring him. If she left, then he didn’t want her to come back and that was more than quite evident. Lilly was conflicted. She needed his help, but she couldn’t do it. She really didn’t know if she could bring herself to give her body’s first sexual contact to a man whom she wasn’t sure about liking.
Lilly’s eyes watered and she cried as she had driven home. It was late anyway. Too late, almost. She had homework to do still. Lilly hadn’t yet made it to the grocer, but she still had a few pieces of food to scrounge through but wasn’t quite hungry. So here she was sitting in her room with her math homework spread across her bed. Trying to figure out what had happened.
At one point, Lilly must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew the alarm was going off and she had to get ready for school again. She felt gloomy, today wasn’t her day. Lilly pushed her hair up into a messy bun then pulled on a new pair of clothing.
Sauntering down the hall in a haze, Lilly didn’t quite notice how the house was a little bit different. She walked right up to the refrigerator and opened it grabbing at a boiled egg she had prepared the day before, “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”
Frank’s voice was shrill and made Lilly jump whipping around and slamming her into the counter. “Frank… uh, I thought you were on a business trip…” she stammered.
“Well, I guess I’m back.” He sneered. “And guess what I saw when I came into the house…?” He drawled.
“I uh…”
“Yeah that’s right you ate up all my food. You have been misbehaving all this time, haven’t you?” He growled as he quickly jumped up, his chair falling backward, as he raced toward her.
Lilly’s eyes went wide. She was still slightly hazy from sleep
and it didn’t occur to her to run instead she did what she hoped would stop him. Her right arm raised and she swung.
“You little…!” He hissed as Lilly’s fist moved away from his face. Frank had barely moved at the pathetic punch she had hit him with. “So you think you can protect yourself now… It’s about time.” Frank snapped, swinging his fist into Lilly’s face in return.
Her head snapped back and her vision blurred. Before Lilly could even move she was hit again and again. Frank never let up until Lilly fell to the floor groaning. “Get your ass out of here!” He roared kicking her sharply in the stomach.
Lilly reached back and grabbed her bag as she crawled toward the house door. She couldn’t stand it much longer. She knew she had to do something; anything to get rid of him.
She had managed to pull herself up into a slow limping walk toward the school. She had no other place to go and hide from Frank today. She hadn’t planned on him being home. As she neared the school people began to stare and Lilly knew she was going to have to answer questions.
“Lilly…” Jake said questioning as she hobbled by.
She didn’t respond just nodded. She would make it to the bathroom before she let up. She needed to see her face to cover up what Frank had left on her.
“Come on…” Jake sighed putting one of Lilly’s arms over his shoulder and lifting her up into his arms, “Where are we going?”
“Bathroom,” She mouthed. For some reason, she couldn’t quite make the words come out.
“Sure thing,” Jake had carried her to the bathroom and even went inside the girls’ restroom to help her fix herself up.
“Man he did a job today,” she mumbled.
“When are you going to get out of there?” Jake asked. “You know I would…” he sighed. He had been considering leaving too, but there was the problem of his father, a very crooked cop coming after him and his mother that would be left behind.
Fight Like A Girl Page 5