I’m trying to throw him violently to the ground, she told herself. Surely that’s OK, even after everything that happened?
Stepping back, he demonstrated how to shift her weight when she made her move. After she’d practised a few times they decided to do it for real.
‘OK, so … Now I will run at you,’ he said. ‘Just do what you practised and it will work perfectly.’
‘I’m ready,’ she said with false confidence.
I’m going to screw this up. I’m going to screw this up. I’m going to …
Then Sylvain ran at her and the circular thoughts stopped. Her mind went still. Grabbing his arm, she shifted her weight as he’d taught her.
He landed on his back at her feet.
She gave a small cheer and waited for him to tell her how brilliantly she’d done, but he said nothing. In fact, he didn’t move. He lay still on the ground, his eyes closed.
‘Sylvain?’ Her heart thudded with sudden panic as she dropped to the ground beside him. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing. ‘Sylvain? Are you OK? Have I killed you?’
Then she noticed his body shaking with laughter. His eyes flew open. ‘I knew you could do it,’ he said.
‘Don’t do that!’ Allie chided him, but his laughter was infectious and she jumped to her feet. ‘I did it! I did it!’ Dancing through the trees, she clasped her hands above her head in a pose of victory.
Suddenly she stopped in front of him. ‘Hang on a minute. Sylvain, did you actually play a joke on me? Like, an actual joke? Or did I just dream that?’
‘What are you talking about?’ He feigned surprise. ‘I have a very good sense of humour.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘OK … Seriously.’ He led the way back to the clearing. ‘You did very well. I would make a few small adjustments but it was good.’
‘Teach me.’ She could hear the fierceness in her own voice. ‘I want to learn it all.’
Something in his face told her that he understood how she felt. But he said only, ‘OK. Let’s start with an attack from the right. You need to adjust your stance slightly.’
Over the next half-hour he taught her how to handle attackers from different sides – how to pivot into position with no warning. How to fight back. By the end, they were both sweating despite the cool night air.
He was so professional and polite in his approach, she soon forgot her hang-ups about him touching her. He was teaching her how to elude a neck-hold, his arms wrapped around her from behind, her hands on his wrist, when Carter walked into a pool of moonlight and stood looking at them in disbelief.
‘Allie? What the hell is going on?’
NINE
Surprised, she stared at him wide-eyed for a long instant before she was able to react.
‘It’s just … you know … we …’ she stuttered, unable to think of an explanation.
As she spoke, Sylvain dropped his arms and stepped back. With a sick feeling, she realised how it must have looked. Carter’s eyes were fixed on Sylvain – tension crackled in the air between them like electricity.
‘Sylvain was teaching me how to flip people. It was just … practice.’ Her voice quivered before slowly fading into silence.
‘I don’t get it. Didn’t we just have an hour-long lesson from Raj?’
‘Yeah but …’ Heat rose in her cheeks. ‘I don’t know if you noticed. It didn’t go very well.’
‘I could have helped you.’ He was pale with anger.
This is bad.
‘Hang on. You don’t under— It’s not like I asked him. We sort of … I don’t know. Ran into each other.’ She avoided looking at Sylvain, but a strange mixture of panic and resentment flooded through her. He’d just spent ages helping her. And she still had the right to choose her own friends. Didn’t she?
She shot Carter a warning look. ‘It’s not like you’re the only person who can help me. We’re not chained to each other at the ankle. You and Jules seemed to have a good time working together and you don’t see me freaking out about that.’
‘You know that’s not the same thing,’ he snapped. Hectic spots of colour appeared in his cheeks, and tendons bulged on his neck like exposed wires. ‘I can’t believe you’d come out here with him after what he did to you.’
Instantly images of the summer ball flashed in Allie’s mind. Sylvain shoving her against a wall, kissing her hard. Refusing to let her go even as she fought.
It was Carter who had found them. Carter who made him stop.
Just remembering that night made her feel sick. She swallowed hard.
But Sylvain had spent months trying to make it up to her; he’d rescued her the night of the fire. She believed he was truly sorry.
Was she just being naive?
‘This is stupid, Allie.’ Carter sounded impatient, but she could see the hurt in his eyes. ‘I’m not going to stand here arguing with you in front of Sylvain. It’s after curfew. Jules was wondering where you were and she sent me to look for you. You need to get back.’ Then he turned on his heel and strode back towards the school building.
Watching him disappear through the trees, Allie stood very still but her thoughts were chaotic and confused. She was surprised by her own anger – it was as if he’d thought she’d been cheating on him with Sylvain just because she was working out with him.
As if he didn’t trust her.