Fighting by Cat Phoenix Read Free Book Online Page A

pity. 
Destroy her."
    August
rolled her eyes affectionately and moved her pasta around her plate. 
"Does he know I'm sitting right here?" I asked her a touch
sarcastically. 
    Her
eyes bounced to mine and she gave a soft laugh.  It sounded delicate, kind of
like wind chimes. 
    Spencer
focused on me and (again) shoveled food into his mouth before speaking. 
"It's survival of the fittest.  Do what you gotta to survive."
    I
made a show of looking him up and down and said, "You're relaxing in a
kitchen someone else built, eating food someone else made.  But being a big,
strong, manly man, you killed the pasta yourself, right?"  He scowled at
me and August laughed.  "Oh no wait, you murdered the marinara
sauce," I said in faux amazement.  Oliver started chuckling, too.  I took
a bite of my food.  "This tastes a bit . . . chewy.  Is there something I
should know about a recruit who came before me?  Maybe he never left after all?"
I asked.  I held my spoon up like a weapon and eyed them all suspiciously.
    Spencer
cracked a smile at that and gave a small, reluctant laugh himself. 
"Whatever, man," he said good-naturedly.   
    I
knew it was lame, but it made them laugh and made me feel good.  We chatted for
a bit, laughing here and there at each other.  I may have been a bit of a loner
most of my life, but that didn't mean I didn't know how to talk to people.  I
paused mid-laugh to look up as someone entered the kitchen.  Ethan walked in
and then stopped, his eyes bouncing between our smiling faces.  He scowled at
me as my laugh died on my lips. 
    The
others carried on, unbothered by his presence while I watched him fix his plate. 
I averted my gaze as he sat down beside of Spencer and I figured that if I
didn't have anything good to say, I wouldn't say anything at all.  And at that
point, the only good thing I'd be able to say was, " Nice biceps," and no way in hell was I saying that.  Ever.
    I
felt his eyes on me a few times, but I ignored him as best I could and
continued to make cracks at Spencer with Oliver's help, sparking more
laughter.  I think Spencer secretly enjoyed being teased and I had a feeling it
was probably why he accepted me.  August hadn't actually spoken yet, but she
didn't hold back her laughter and by then I knew it was because she was a
little shy, which was endearing. 
    After
only a few minutes, Ethan put away his plate and left the room, glaring at
everything and nothing in particular. 
    We
all watched him leave and I heard Oliver say, "Yeah, Ethan can be kind of
intense."
    "No
shit," I said. 
    "He's
a nice guy, though."
    "To
you, maybe," I muttered.
    "You
just gotta give him a chance."
    I
shook my head subtly and said, "Sorry Ollie, not happening today."
    He
stared at me a moment then shrugged his shoulders.  "One day."
    I
didn't want to burst his bubble so I didn't say anything else.

CHAPTER 4
     
     
    Fighting
wasn't the only thing I had to learn.  Brooks took it upon himself to weaponize
me with more than just lethal fighting skills.  If fighting was the hardware,
knowledge was the software, and he dropped a lot of it on me every day in a
private tutoring session with me.
    "So
you walk in a room, what's the first thing you notice?" Brooks asked me
during our afternoon tutoring the following day.
    We
were alone in a random, empty classroom, sitting in desks that were facing each
other.
    "Are
you quizzing me on what I should do, or what I would do before coming
here?" I asked.
    "Before
you came here," he clarified.
    "Okay. 
Well.  I'd walk inside and I guess I'd scan everyone inside for a familiar
face.  Then I'd zero in on whatever I was there to do.  Like I'd walk directly
to the counter if I went inside for a cup of coffee."
    "Right. 
You wouldn't talk to anyone?"
    "Not
unless I had to.  Or unless I was in a particularly good mood."
    "That's
it?  You would stop observing at that point?"
    "Other
than just taking things in as I looked around, yeah I guess.