I spent my first-year and a half of my modeling career traveling worldwide for exclusive photo shoots and magazine interviews. It was an amazing experience, but I needed to stabilize my life more. I’ve opted to traveling out of the country once every month or two now instead, leaving a lot more time for working out and more national shoots.
However, I was taking the majority of the summer off. She was able to move my press appearances for early fall.
Kickboxing has become a constant in my life. Maya helped train me by using my emotions into my workouts. She helped relieve all the pent up stress and misery I was feeling. In fact, she’s been a complete life changer.
After a good six months of showing up for classes twice a week, she asked if I’d be interested in training others. My traveling schedule had slowed down, and I was game for anything she was offering. I had hoped helping someone the way she’d helped me would be fulfilling. And it is.
Now I train and instruct classes three times a week, plus working out one to two days on my own. It’s definitely a different lifestyle than I’m used to before, but it’s been the one thing that’s kept me happy, and my mind free from wandering—thinking about her.
Cecilia West.
I couldn’t help myself and looked her up a while back. She was attending the University of Nebraska and living on campus. Since I hardly left the gym or my house, and she lived on campus an hour away, our chances of running into each became slim—and I wasn’t sure if I was happy or sad about that.
* * *
“Maya!” I call out as I walk into the gym with all the lights already on. I open up on Mondays usually, so no one should be here yet. “Maya, you here?”
“Bentley? I’m in the office,” she calls back.
I round the door and step into her frantically clicking away on her keyboard in front of the computer.
“What’s going on? You look like shit.”
She slumps her shoulders as she scowls at me. “Will just bailed on me. He was taking over the intro classes this summer. Now I’m short staffed and have no extras to cover the class.”
I think for a moment before responding. “That one is Monday evenings, right? I can teach it,” I offer.
Her eyebrows rise as she finally stops slamming her fingers down. “You already teach the morning and afternoon classes on Mondays. Plus, you train in between.”
“So?”
“That means you’ll be here like all day.”
I cross my arms as I lean up against the doorframe, cocking a smile. “Are you doubting my ability to work a full day or something? You’re aware of who you’re talking to, right?”
She rolls her eyes up at me. “Oh, yes. The all-powerful, all-too-perfect Bentley Leighton,” she mocks. “I almost forgot.”
“Well, I don’t know about powerful, but I’ll take perfect.”
“You’re so egotistical.”
“And you love it,” I fire back.
“Guys like you are the exact reason I don’t date them.”
“Oh, come on. Not all guys are like me.” I grin. “I mean, it takes a lot of time and determination.”
“You’re annoying.”
“And your life saver.”
She groans and slouches before giving in. “Fine, you can take the class. But you had better bring your A-game. No slacking because you can’t handle a nine-hour day.”
“Maya, please. Give me a little credit.”
She laughs at my confidence. “You start today. Hope you had your Wheaties.”
I smirk as I push off the doorframe. “Always do.”
June is the first month of summer classes. They only last through August, which means they are longer and more intense. I have my ten a.m. Kwando kickboxing class, which is a combination of techniques of boxing, Taekwondo, and karate. It’s the most intense but pumps me up for the entire day.
My three p.m. class is Cardio Kickboxing, which is a medium-level based kickboxing class. It’s a step above intro and a step below the combined class.
And starting tonight at six p.m. is my new women’s intro class. Intro classes are twice a week, whereas the other two classes are three times a week.
I go to the studio where my first class is held and begin setting up. I crank the music and get myself pumped up for the first day of summer session classes.
* * *
By five p.m., I’m ready to die. Spring session ended two weeks ago meaning I had only trained on my own, but now I was getting my ass kicked working out back to back.
“You going to make it?” Maya pops into the studio and questions.
“Yeah…” I nod. “I’ll be fine.”
“Make sure you get something to eat. I don’t need my best instructor passing out.”
I curl my lips into a smirk. “I’m your best instructor?”
She sighs and begins walking away. “This is exactly why I don’t date guys!”
I laugh and crank the music back up. If I’m going to make it through another class, I need to stay awake.
I eat a protein bar and drink another bottle of water before setting up for my last class. I can already feel my body burning and know I’ll be sitting in an ice bath later.
At quarter to six, people begin piling into the room. Most are younger—between twenty and thirty—and once they notice me, they smile wide and take the closest spots in the front of the room. Great.
Some recognize me and ask for my autograph. I try to kindly reject, but I can’t say no to a fan, so I sign whatever they have for me to sign and tell them that in this class, I’m their instructor. It’s not always easy setting those boundaries right away.
At exactly six p.m., I welcome the class and introduce myself. It’s packed to the max, and I can barely see everyone that’s here with all the kickboxing bags.
I begin going through some basic things such as stance. I show them the proper way to stand, part their feet, and hold their upper bodies up. It’s all very introduction-like, and probably the most boring part of the whole session, but if they don’t nail it down right away, everything else will be a complete mess.
I walk around the room, and as they all work on their stances, I guide some of the ladies with my hands on their hips to make sure they can feel the difference in between what they were doing and what they need to be doing. Some of them giggle and shimmy their asses in front of me as if I’m going to be impressed. I’m not.
I should’ve known teaching a woman’s intro class meant a handful of girls who were only there to gawk. Will was definitely a ladies’ man. He’s been the intro instructor since before I started here, which meant people were definitely familiar with him.
“Ladies, is something funny?” I scowl, backing away.
“No, not at all,” one replies in a serious tone, but her face is anything but serious. She thinks she’s flirting.
“Carry on then.” I walk away annoyed and back to the front of the class where a few more are completely on the wrong side of their bag.
Just as I’m assisting another student, I hear the door open and slam shut. All heads turn toward it, but I’m on the opposite side of the room, so I can’t see what all the commotion is about.
“Shit, sorry,” a young girl’s voice echoes through the room. “C’mon, let’s go in the back.” I hear her say to her friend next to her.
The disruption has interrupted my class and it ticks me off. I walk back to the front of the room and clear my throat to get their attention.
“Ladies, please make sure you are on time. Tardiness isn’t something I take lightly. Next time, the door will be locked,” I say sternly. I need to make sure they are all aware of how inconsiderate it is to show up late to my class.
“Sorry!” One yells from the back. “It won’t happen again.” I angle my body so I can get a glimpse at who I’m talking to, but they’re all the way in the back, and I can’t see between all the bodies and bags.
“All right, I’m going to demonstrate stance one more time—girls in
the back, please pay attention so you can keep up.”
Everything runs smoothly as I transition to the different types of punches—jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. I go slow, making sure they can all keep up and walk around as they practice the different punches once with their bags.
“You need to angle your body more to the right. And part your feet,” I instruct to one girl. “That’s it. Keep your chin up.” She demonstrates for me once again. “Good.”
I notice I’m running out of time, so I walk back toward the front of the class and go over basic kicks—front, side, and roundhouse. I demonstrate several times and tell them all to practice with me.
After a few minutes, I have them rotate between punching and kicking. I remind them to focus on keeping their stance while working on both.
I look around and notice many unbalanced girls. I chuckle to myself as I see them all try really hard. I make my way to the back since I haven’t been there yet. I notice a few girls stumbling as they try to switch between punching and kicking.
“Steady.” I grab her hips and angle her body the right way. “Balance your hips and keep your feet apart. Flex your arms and focus on keeping everything tight.” I align my body with hers, showing her exactly what I mean.
“Like this?” Her voice is laced with seduction and I know exactly what she’s doing.
“Yes. Great.” I back away and brush a hand through my hair. This is definitely going to be a long eight weeks.
I walk behind the last row and watch as they all try to mimic my moves. There are a couple of girls on the way end whom I presume are the ones that stumbled in late.
I rub the back of my neck as I watch the one on the end. She has legs for days, all tan and solid. It’s not hard to notice them, but her stance is all wrong as she pushes her ass out and bobs her feet back and forth.
Oh, god.
“There’s a reason being late to my class is not something I usually allow,” I growl, gripping her hips with both hands. I immediately feel her body tense from my fingers. I push myself closer to her and she shivers underneath me.
She’s clearly nervous around me, so I take the opportunity and adjust her body to what her stance should be. I place my foot in between her feet and push her foot farther to the right, opening her legs wider.
“Make sure your legs are parted. Bend your knees slightly.” I hear her swallow. Hard. She doesn’t speak. She only nods at my demands. I can feel the heat radiating off her skin the longer I touch her. “Relax. You’re too tense,” I say against her ear. Her long blonde hair is pulled up in a high ponytail, exposing the goose bumps on her neck and shoulders.
Her body eases into mine as she straightens her back and perfects her stance. My foot is still in between her legs along with my hands on her hips. She trembles, her body giving her away completely. She’s obviously affected by me and from the way that I’m touching her. I haven’t even seen this girl’s face, but I know there’s something about her that makes me eager to spin her around.
“Perfect,” I whisper.
At that moment, it’s just her and me. I feel her steady breaths as I stand against her. Back away, I tell myself.
Hell no.
I notice the rest of the room is silent as everyone stares at us. Shit. I rub both hands up her arms and land on her shoulders, placing a quick, easy pat. “Good job,” I say casually as the class watches me intently. I hear her breath hitch, as I feel something rough against my thumb on her right shoulder.
I glance down and notice a scar underneath her thin tank top strap. My own breath hitches as I recognize that very fucking scar.
Chapter Ten
Cecilia
I CAN’T BELIEVE I made it through another year of college. It ended up being better than my first—much better. I was finally able to open up more and even make friends besides my roommate, Katelynn.
I met Brandon spring semester in World History. He sat behind me, and we were matched up to be partners on an assignment. He’s smart, funny, and so sweet. The very opposite of Bentley’s domineering behavior.
We had spent six weeks together researching and planning our presentation. We’d meet at the same café every Tuesday and Thursday, and he’d always buy me a latté and a croissant, without even asking me. He always insisted that I needed my caffeine and food. After a while, we’d hang out outside of class and study sessions. I found myself really opening up to him and feeling comfortable in my own skin. He made me feel again. He had become a really good friend, and I was truly grateful for that.
On the day of our presentation, we both stood up and spoke as the slides displayed pictures and graphs. It really went perfect because he was the perfect partner.
The last slide was our ‘credits,’ which was really just our names and references we used in making the presentation—or so I thought was our last slide.
The class applauded lightly, and I began shuffling the papers on the podium together so I could go back and take my seat. However, Brandon clicked one more time to a slide I hadn’t seen before.
Counting Stars by One Republic begins playing through the speakerphones as I read over the slides.
Cecilia West…I’m crazy about you.
Crazy about your face.
Crazy about the way you tap your feet when you’ve had too much caffeine.
Crazy about how you scrunch your face up when you’re thinking too hard.
Crazy about the way you snort when you laugh too hard.
Like I said…crazy.
My eyes widened as I read over the words. The class was stunned silent as he clicked for another slide.
Cecilia West…Please, tell me you’re crazy about me, too.
Otherwise, I’m just plain crazy.
I stood frozen in place. The entire classroom was quiet, looking eager for my answer. Even the damn professor was smiling like a hormonal teenage boy about to see tits for the first time. Fuck…I bet he was in on it.
God, this is so embarrassing.
I turned and looked at Brandon. A hundred feelings rushed in that I hadn’t ever felt before. He was one of my best friends. How had I missed this? Had he always had feelings for me? Suddenly, I was seeing him for the first time. His charm, his looks, his wall-of-steel body. How had I missed it?
Bentley. Oh, right.
Jackass. He ruined me for all men. It was hard not comparing every other guy to him. My feelings for Bentley were raw and real, and came out of nowhere. Those feelings needed to be bottled up and put away. I had to move on.
I told him yes and we’ve been together ever since. The room filled with gasps and applauses, embarrassing me completely, but I felt lighter somehow. Like I had finally decided to let someone else in.
* * *
Cora begged me for two weeks to go to this new intro to kickboxing class with her, so finally, I agreed. I was sick of her begging me, so I caved.
“This better not leave any bruises on me,” I groan as she drives us to the gym. “I haven’t worked out in like…forever. I’ll probably fall and hurt myself.”
“Stop whining. It’ll be fun. Plus, we can impress all the guys with our new moves.” She wiggles her eyebrows as if that should sell me on the idea.
“What guys? You mean the old, drunk ones that come into the bar every night?”
Cora and I both got our summer jobs back. She and Simon spent another school year in Florida while I stayed in Nebraska with Katelynn.
“School just ended. Trust me. College guys will be coming in.”
“And why does that even matter? Are you talking about Simon coming in every night?”
Simon and Cora are still pretending they aren’t anything, but I’m not stupid. Once I called Cora and she answered the phone half-asleep. She quickly brushed me off saying her guy friend was out grabbing donuts and that she had to go. Curious, I called Simon right after and he told me he was out running to the bakery. When I asked what he bought, he said donuts.
Ever since then, I’ve tried to cat
ch them in their lies, but they’ve made it pretty hard. In person, they pretend to hate each other, but behind closed doors…well, that’s a completely different story happening.
“I don’t care about Simon. But yeah, I’m sure him and his stupid friends will come and bother us.”
I grin as I watch her cheeks blush as she talks about Simon. She’ll never admit it though. I’ll have to physically catch them in the act—which won’t be something I willingly want to see.
We end up stuck in traffic and end up being fifteen minutes late. “Shit, I hate being late.”
“Let’s just not go in,” I offer. “I’m sure we’re not allowed to come in late anyway.”
“Fuck that. I paid for us to join this class.” She shuts the engine off and grabs her bag. “We’re going. Let’s go.”
I reluctantly follow her inside. She slowly opens the door to the studio, but I don’t catch it in time and it slams shut.
I close my eyes, embarrassed. Shit.
Cora announces our apologies and grabs my hand to lead me to the back row. “C’mon, we can hide back here.”
I take the very end spot in the last row, hoping to keep eyes off me. I have no idea what I’m doing and am still pissed Cora dragged me here.
I don’t notice him right away. In fact, it’s not until I hear his voice that I instantly recognize him. I angle my head toward the front where he’s standing and see him—all six feet plus, messy golden locks of him. He’s barely changed in two years, yet he looks different. He’s definitely more buff, which seems hardly possible considering how built he was back then. However, he’s obviously been working out more and paying more attention to his physique for his modeling career. And the eighteen-year-old girl from two years ago is still very affected by him. My body responds to him the same, my heart—still shattered and ashamed.
I try my best to stay out of his view until I can successfully bail and never return. I can’t tell Cora because if I tell her now, she’ll definitely make a scene. I finally broke down last summer and told her the whole truth about Bentley and Leighton Enterprises. I told her everything I knew about my dad and the lock box that I’ll be allowed to open next year. But she doesn’t need to know that our new kickboxing instructor is the Bentley.
The Intern Serials: Complete Box Set Page 21