I raised a brow. Oh, I couldn’t wait to hear this. “What exactly did he say?”
“Well, Crispin Catholic Day School might give you a leg up when you try college next year. I know you didn’t go immediately because of…” Min cleared her throat, shot a look a Nara, then let it drop. Thank God for that. “Anyway, you and Ash are such a cute couple. I’m really happy for you, girl.”
Somewhere in the middle of Min’s speech, my left eye had started to twitch. I closed my eyes. Bae Bae was the one who’d always wanted me to go to college. He’d hoped I would further my education, get a safe, boring desk job with a nice salary. I had other plans. I still wanted the nice salary, but boring and safe? No, thanks. I didn’t think Bae Bae had outright lied. He’d just told Min-Hee his thoughts—leaving out the whole bodyguard situation—and let her draw her own conclusions. The result? The total shitstorm I currently found myself in.
“Can we all just cut the crap?” Nara said. “That doesn’t even make sense, Min. If they are hanging out—which let me tell you right now, I don’t buy for a second—there has to be some other explanation. Snow’s not feminine or attractive. He’s hot as sin. That body, those eyes…good God, they’re green, right? Gorgeous.”
She threw a smile over my shoulder, and I instinctively knew her gaze was on Ash. That pissed me off more than any of her remarks so far.
“So, what’s the real story?” she said, eyes on me now. “No, wait, don’t tell me. You’re tutoring him, aren’t you? You’ve always had a huge brain, Snow. That has to be it. He’s hot and dumb, and you’re just helping him pass a class.”
“Ash isn’t dumb,” I gritted out.
“Oh, really?” Nara raised a brow, lips curving. She knew she’d hit a nerve. “Boys who look like that are usually pretty stupid.”
She stared at me, waiting for an answer, while I tried not to react. Bruce would’ve played it cool. He wouldn’t have shown any weakness. I tried to do the same, but hearing her insult Ash was really too much. Plus, I hated the fact that she knew Min was wrong. Ash and I weren’t together, but maybe Bae Bae had made that up as a cover story. Nice try, I thought. But a look at Nara’s smug face told me no one besides Min was buying that lie.
“Actually, I’m surprisingly intelligent.”
Ash was suddenly next to me. His grin was in place, but his eyes were hard. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“Hot and smart,” Nara said, making her voice even higher, girlier, smiling like she hadn’t just insulted him. “A lethal combination. Hi, I’m Nara Chung.”
“Ash Stryker,” he said then nodded to Min. “Hey, Min-Hee.”
Looking pleased as punch, Min nodded back. I thought it might have something to do with how close Ash and I were standing. Our shoulders nearly touched. All I’d have to do is reach out, and I’d brush the back of his hand. Ignoring the fireworks in my stomach, I resisted.
“Great to meet you,” Nara said. “We were just talking about you, Ash. Maybe you could settle a debate for us.”
I stiffened.
“Min-Hee seems to think you and Snow are hooking up.” A laugh then, “I told her that wasn’t possible.”
“Why’s that?” Ash said.
She waved him off. “Snow’s obviously not your type.”
“And how do you know my type?”
“A girl just knows these things.” Her eyes went to me. “I mean, I’m guessing you wouldn’t want someone so…butch.”
My cheeks flamed, but Nara seemed to be enjoying herself. Her DDs were up and out in all their glory, long legs crossed, head tilted in the perfect pose. She looked like a poster girl for the Rich and Fabulous. I wanted to puke.
“Well?” she asked. “What exactly is your relationship to Snow if you don’t mind me asking?”
“We’re cousins,” I blurted—and immediately wished I could take it back.
The silence was absolute. I knew it was stupid. Unlike Barbie Buchanan, I’d grown up with these girls. They knew me. They knew Omma was the only family I had. But I’d just wanted Nara to stop.
Which she did for all of five seconds.
“Cousins?” Her laughter was piercing. Lisa and Lynn followed her example, getting a good chuckle out of my lie. “Come on, Snow. Do we look like idiots to you?”
“Do you seriously want me to answer that?” I asked.
Her eyes sharpened. “I knew it. You are such a liar. Min, I told she could never get a guy like Ash.”
“I never said—”
I stopped as I felt Ash’s palm slide into mine, our fingers lacing together.
“Alright, ninja girl, there’s no use denying it,” he said then flashed me a smile. “Looks like our secret’s out.” Leaning down, in a voice lowered so only I could hear, he said, “Don’t worry, Snow. I got this.”
“Ash, this isn’t funny,” I said, trying to pull away, but he tightened his grip.
“I know you didn’t want people to know just yet, but I can’t help myself.” His eyes sparkled as he placed his other hand on my cheek. I froze. “They were bound to find out sooner or later.”
“Find out what?” Nara said, sounding suspicious.
“Snow’s mine, and I’m hers,” Ash announced. “This little lady has stolen my heart, and I hope she never gives it back.”
He’d said it loud enough for everyone in The Academy to hear, and I couldn’t hide my disbelief. It got worse when he planted a sweet kiss on my forehead. The skin there burned.
Good God, I thought as he winked.
Just like that, my first client had become my first fake boyfriend. I thought that only happened in the cheesy romantic comedies I secretly loved.
Nara looked disgusted. Min-Hee looked like she wanted to start clapping. But my physical reaction was downright embarrassing. I couldn’t catch my breath, heart fluttering fast and furious like moth’s wings. It obviously didn’t understand this was all for show. Snow’s mine, and I’m hers. Ash was just helping me out. I frowned. Bruce had taught me there was a defense for just about anything in martial arts—but heartbreak wasn’t one of them.
And had he really called me little lady?
Ash Stryker was dangerous, I decided. The small jolts in my stomach could easily turn into a wildfire. I’d have to lock down my shields if I didn’t want to get burned.
CHAPTER 10: ASH
She wouldn’t talk to me. Heck, she wouldn’t even look at me. I wasn’t an idiot. In Snow’s eyes, I’d obviously messed up. I just couldn’t figure out how. Maybe it was the “little lady” comment?
“No, Wilbur,” she sighed as my partner performed the move wrong. Again. We’d been working on the same escape techniques for about an hour. “You pull away to break away. Remember?”
The skinny guy flushed. “Yeah, sorry. Could you show me again?”
“Sure,” she said, fitting her body behind his.
Even as Snow twisted an arm behind his back and pushed him against the wall, Wilbur smiled. I shook my head. With the braces and comb over, Wilbur might’ve look harmless. But he was smart. The guy was putting the moves on my ninja girl, and she didn’t even know it.
“Now, you just use your body to push back…that’s it. And pull away.” As Wilbur spun out of her hold, she said, “Perfect. Now, try it with your partner.”
I put my hand on his wrist and twisted. He struggled, turning so his mouth was lined up with my ear as he screech/yelled, “NO!” But apart from damaging my hearing, the guy got nowhere. I was stronger and more than a little pissed. So. Snow would permit Wilbur to rub up against her, but I wasn’t worth a glance? Oh, yeah. I was pissed.
As Wilbur went limp, I let up—bullying was never my thing—but just then, he whirled, popped me in the gut with an elbow and broke free.
“Nice,” Snow said, and I glared.
“That wasn’t part of the exercise,” I said.
“In the real world, there’s no plan, Stryker. You’ve got to be ready for anything.”
I
cursed, rubbing the sore spot on my stomach while she gave Wilbur a high five.
“But hey,” she said, eyes flaring, “I’m just a little lady who needs a big, strong man to protect me. What would I know?”
Ah, so that was it.
“Listen,” I said,” Snow, I’m sorry. I—”
She raised her voice to address the class. “Time’s up everyone.” The other self-defense students looked over. “Pack up, and I’ll see you guys next week. We’ll be working on throws and more aggressive defense techniques.”
Following her to the sidelines, I waited while she pulled out a towel, took a sip of water. “Need something?” she asked after a moment.
“Yeah.” Crossing my arms, I raised a brow. She still wasn’t looking at me. Time to fix that. “I just wanted to know how that one got past you. You’re supposed to guard my body. Wilbur has some sharp elbows.”
It worked. She finally faced me, but I didn’t like the closed off expression.
“You’re on Agent Smith’s time now,” she said, nodding to the bleachers where Smith was sitting back, watching us. “Take it up with him.”
“Are you still mad?” I asked.
“No.”
“I said I was sorry about the whole ‘little lady’ thing. I’m a Southern boy at heart. It just popped out.”
She rolled her eyes at this, and a sudden thought hit me.
“You’re not seriously friends with that Nara chick, right?”
The memory of the way she’d spoken to Snow pissed me off even now. It didn’t really matter if they were friends. I’d had to do something. Simple as that.
“Hell no,” she said, taking another pull on her water. “But what was all that ‘stolen heart’ crap? I had it covered.”
“Oh, I know you did,” I said. “The cousins thing went over real well.”
She glared. “That was your idea.”
“I admit, not one of my best.” I waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. “So, a few people think we’re going out. It’s not so bad, is it?”
Snow shook her head, rolled onto her arms and ignored me. I watched as she went through a quick but thorough regime of exercises—pushups to crunches to jogging in place to high kicks, 10 on each leg. A few pieces of hair escaped the ponytail at her neck. The ends swung back and forth, some clinging to her face. The whole thing kind of put me in a trance.
She’d just switched legs when she said all flushed face and out of breath, “So…you’re just going to stand there and watch me sweat?”
Perfect opening.
“Absolutely, it’s the highlight of my day.”
Snow shrugged, moved back into pushup position, but I could tell by the way she’d lost her rhythm I had her attention.
“You gonna keep pretending to ignore me?”
“You’re hard to ignore,” she muttered.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Please, don’t.”
When my favorite part of the exercises came around, I said, “That’s a hell of a sidekick.”
“Thanks,” she said, not stopping. “Coming from The Whip that means a lot.”
Hearing my old nickname, I grinned. “You been checking up on me, ninja girl?”
“No, Koi told me.” The sarcastic edge couldn’t hide her curiosity. “He went all fanboy when you came in. So, what’s the deal? He seems to think you’re some kind of soccer God. Is that true?”
“Not a God,” I said, “but I’m pretty damn good.”
She scoffed. “No need to be humble. Tell me how you really feel.”
“Always.”
“If you’re so great,” she asked, facing me, “then why aren’t you playing now?”
Good question. “No team to play for.”
“Wait…you love soccer, and your parents sent you to a school with no team? That’s bullshit.”
“Technically, they didn’t,” I grimaced. “Crispin Catholic was so bad last year the trustees pulled the soccer team’s funding. Guess they wanted to concentrate on lacrosse.”
“So, you’re just giving up?”
“No way,” I said fiercely. “The dream to play college ball is still alive and well. Even if there’s no chance of getting scouted, I can still walk on.”
At her blank look, I explained.
“A walk on is a player who has to try out instead of being invited,” I said. “It’s harder that way, but I’ll make it. I train four to five days a week, spend most nights at Finley’s Field playing the guys there. You should come around some time.”
“What for?” she said dryly. “Do all the fake girlfriends sit in the stands cheering on their menfolk?”
I laughed so hard it was embarrassing. She’d managed to surprise me again, one of the many reasons I was so into this girl. Snow looked like she wanted to smile, too, but was fighting it. Koi came up, looked between the two of us, shook his head then said, “So Ash, are you coming?”
“Not sure,” I gasped. “Snow, you going?”
“Going where?” she said.
“To the Bruce Lee Marathon.”
“The what?”
Well, that got her attention.
“Yeah, Koi said they’re all going over to his house to watch Lee’s best flicks.” I noticed Koi making a cutting motion across his neck, but I didn’t know why. “Are you in?”
“That sounds great,” she said, eyes bright. “I love Bruce.”
“Ash man, can I talk to you for a sec.” Koi dragged me a couple steps away and bent his head. “The Snow Queen can’t come. It’s just the Elite.”
I was taken aback. “I thought she was part of your team.”
“Yeah, but…well, she’s a chick.”
“And?”
“And this is Guys Night,” he explained. “No girls allowed.”
“Oh,” I said, looking over my shoulder at Snow. She still looked so excited. How could they not invite her? Bae was a few steps behind her giving me the evil eye as Min-Hee leaned against him. “And Bae Bae’s okay with you guys leaving her out?”
“Nah, it’s not like that,” Koi rushed to assure me. “Snow understands. We’ve been having Guys Night for a while now. She knows the deal. Besides, Nara and her fine friends have their own Girls Night. It’s only fair.”
Min-Hee had joined Snow when we came back, their arms linked together. Nara and her crew were flirting with some guys off to the side. She let out a noise that could’ve been a laugh but sounded more like a witch’s cackle. I winced. As much as she liked Min-Hee, I couldn’t see Snow wanting to hang with them.
“So, Bruce Lee tonight?” Snow said hopefully.
“It’s for Guys Night,” Koi said.
“Oh.” As I watched her face fall, I could’ve punched him.
“Nothing personal.”
“I get it,” she said, but her voice had gone so low it was nearly non-existent. Incredulous, I looked back to Bae Bae, but his face stayed stone cold. And I’d thought they were close. Couldn’t he tell she was upset?
“We have plans anyway,” Min-Hee said, squeezing her hand. “Us girls will be having a good old time while you boys are stuck inside watching your dumb movies.”
I looked to Snow. “What are you guys doing?”
She grimaced. “Shopping.”
“Sounds like fun,” I said dryly.
Min-Hee was the one who answered. “Oh, it is! We go and try on shirts and jeans and search for the best deals. It’s like a treasure hunt.” She threw a glance at Snow. “Plus, my girl here is in dire need of some new clothes.”
“Min,” Snow said embarrassed, but Min-Hee was smiling.
“I just love dressing her up,” she said and rubbed her hands together. “She’s like this angry Korean doll that lets me put her in whatever I want because she knows it brings me joy.”
“Because you’re relentless,” Snow corrected.
Min-Hee pretended not to hear. “Now that you two are dating, maybe she’ll even let me buy her a dress.”
Bae Bae sent Snow a sharp glance. “Dating? You’re actually dating this guy?”
“Oh hush.” If I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t have believed it. A big guy like that getting shushed by a tiny thing like Min-Hee? For a second there, I worried for her safety. But like a punctured balloon, he deflated.
“I just don’t see why she needs to get all decked out for him, Min.”
Koi scoffed. “You guys are crazy. The Snow Queen would never trade in her gi for a stupid dress.”
“Well, why not?” Min-Hee said. “Girls wear dresses. Snow’s a girl.”
“Yeah, barely,” he said. “I’d like to see you try and put her in one of those short frilly numbers. It’d be freaking hilarious.”
Koi was too busy laughing to see Snow’s eyes go all flinty. It was like watching a storm cloud roll in. Her face grew darker and darker as he kept snickering. I wanted to tell the guy to stop, but Bae Bae beat me to it.
“Koi, for your own good,” he said, “shut the hell up.”
“Why?” Koi nudged me. “The Snow Queen’s never been into girly stuff. She’s always been one of the guys.”
I raised a brow. “But not enough to be invited to Guys Night.”
“Ash, man, she’s not really one of the guys—but not like Min-Hee and those girls either. She’s like…some kind of weird Snow Queen hybrid. You know what I mean?”
“No,” I said as Snow sidled up to him.
Koi looked scared for a second, but then she smiled. Relief was clear in his voice when he said, “You get me, right, Snow?”
“Sure,” she said, the look transforming to that scary smile I recognized from when she took on Buddy Jr. I wasn’t a fortuneteller, but I knew one thing. This would not end well for Mr. Woo.
“Nothing personal,” he said and patted her shoulder.
“Sure,” she said again, grabbing onto his hand and forearm.
He never saw it coming.
Koi squealed as Snow threw him over her shoulder. It happened in an instant. He flipped, went ass end over teakettle, and landed on his back with an “Oomph.” Koi’s eyes were still wide with surprise as she dusted off her hands. “Payback,” she said in explanation, “for making me do karaoke.” Splayed like a bug on the ground, all he could do was stare up at her.
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