"Ow! Damnit," I cursed, letting a string of other profanities fall from my lips as Jack pinned my arm behind my back.

"You were distracted."

"You distracted me."

"That was the point."

I huffed and blew my bangs out of my face. "Whatever."

"Juliette, you have to pay more attention to what I'm doing. Otherwise this is what is always going to happen. Or worse." He made his point even clearer by twisting my arm harder, causing a shooting pain to rip through my shoulder.

I hissed at the sensation and tore myself out of his arms the way he had shown me, and proceeded to throw a punch at his chest as hard as I could. I was pissed. However, I was pleasantly surprised when Jack acted as if he were short of breath. "Shit, are you okay?" I asked, dropping my fists and hurrying to his side.

A flicker in his eyes alerted me to his intent, and I was able to sidestep him when he lunged for me. "Much better," he applauded when he turned back to face me.

"You're tricky," I said with narrowed eyes, but I couldn't help the smile that overcame my face.

"And you're a quick study," he replied. He walked over to the far side of the room to a mini fridge that I hadn't noticed earlier. Bending down, he withdrew a bottle of water and held it up in question. When I nodded, he tossed it to me. After I caught it I greedily ripped the cap off and began to drink. "Slow down," he told me as he raised his own bottle to his lips. "You don't want to shock your system."

Nodding again, I capped the bottle and set it next to my feet. "Thank you," I said. "For all of this."

"No problem, it's always nice to get some new people in here that are actually willing to follow instruction."

"Are we done for today?" I asked, grinning as I rubbed my knuckles. His chest was hard.

"Yeah, but I want you back in here in a few days."

"How much do I owe you?" I questioned, making my way over to my purse.

He followed me and placed his hands over mine when I brought out my wallet. "Nothing for today." His warm eyes met mine as he grinned. "You can have your next few lessons for free. If you want to continue seeing me after the start of next month, we'll talk money."

"I'm not going to not pay you," I stated, narrowing my eyes again. What was transpiring felt awful close to flirting, and I was not ready for that. He was offering me a full month of training for free.

"Think of it as a trial basis, okay?" he reasoned, taking a step back from me. "A trainer-trainee relationship like this can never work out if there isn't trust. I know you don't trust me, so I don't want to take your money."

"How do you –"

"You lied to me about why you're here," he said, his voice so matter-of-fact that I was taken aback. "Your moment of hesitation was all I needed. Whatever – or whoever – you're afraid of, you need to be able to tell me."

"I'll think about it."

Jack searched my face, but backed off all the same. "Then I'll see you on Wednesday."

Hiking my bag up onto my shoulder, I nodded and headed for the exit. I threw a quick goodbye over my shoulder, but then I was out the door. The sun was warm on my face, and I heaved out a sigh before heading home. I was exhausted. Muscles that I didn't even know I had were sore. There was no way I was going to be worth a damn at work that night, and I knew it. I would be moody and more than likely end up scaring people away. It took a few minutes rummaging around in my purse, but I was finally able to dig out my phone. Anthony was my first contact, and I hit the call button.

It rang until I was almost sure he was going to ignore it before his gruff voice said, "Hello?"

"Mornin', sunshine!" I chirped.

"Jesus, Jules," he grumbled, and I heard some shuffling around and I assumed he was getting out of bed. "What time is it?"

"Not sure," I said, pulling my phone away from my face. My eyes about bugged out of my head. "It's two," I told him. I had been with Jack for that long? No wonder I was so sore.

"It's too early!" he whaled, and I could picture him throwing himself back down onto his bed. He was such a drama queen sometimes.

"Don't be such a baby."

"I'm not a baby."

"Are you sure?"

"Is there a reason you called?" he huffed.

"Of course. I was going to see if you would cover my shift tonight."

"Jules!"

"Tony!"

"Tonight's my night off!"

"I know," I said, a little defeat slipping into my voice. "But I really don't feel the greatest and I'm supposed to work with Devyn –"

"I'll cover for you," he stated, cutting me off.

"Well that was easier than I thought."

"Jules, if you're not feeling good Dev is the last person you need to around."

I smiled at that. "Thank you."

"You owe me."

"Whatever, I'll bring brownies in next time we work together."

"Sounds like a fair trade."

"Thanks, Anthony. You're the best," I said, a broad grin stretching across my face.

"Don't I know it? Talk to you soon, Jules." And with that he hung up.

My day was looking a whole lot better now. I slipped my phone back into my purse and resisted the urge to skip home. Not only would I embarrass myself, but it would probably hurt thanks to my overworked muscles. I was in such a good mood that I should have known it wouldn't be allowed to last.

"Juliette!"

I froze. Slightly turning, I saw Brandon and the member of Vincent's gang whose name I had never learned coming towards me. Seriously debating just making a break for it, I sighed at my own thoughts. They had no reason to hurt me, or anything negative. In fact, I knew that they harbored no ill will for me. Shaking my head, I raised my hand in a wave and allowed them to catch up to me. "Still stalking me?" I teased once they were within earshot.

"Of course not," Brandon told me, grinning as he slung an arm over my shoulder. "This one is strictly coincidence."

"Sure."

"It is! I'm offended."

Rolling my eyes, I addressed the other man. "In all the nastiness that night, I never did catch your name," I told him.

"I'm Arkin," he replied, a small smile slipping onto his face.

"I would say it's nice to meet you –"

"Don't be rude, Jules," Brandon scolded me.

"Who gave you permission to call me that?" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

"Me!"

"You're obnoxious."

He shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Huffing, I turned on my heel and continued on my way home. Laughter sounded behind me, and then I heard the pursuing footsteps. Why was I not surprised? Slowing to a halt, I let Brandon and Arkin catch up to me again. "What's up?" I asked.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"You hungry?"

"No." However, my stomach decided to rumble at that moment and make a liar out of me.

"Come to lunch with us," Brandon offered, a grin stretching across his face.

"Your treat?" I questioned, my voice layered with faux sweetness.

"Of course."

At that I blinked. He wasn't going to fight me on that? "Well if you insist –"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Brandon had my hand in one of his, and his phone in the other. He dragged me in the opposite direction of my apartment before putting his phone to his ear. "Meet us at the Rev Diner!" he ordered, his voice chipper.

"That had better not be Vincent," I threatened, narrowing my eyes at Brandon's back as he continued to tug me along.

Arkin chuckled from beside me. "I wouldn't put anything past him."

"Between him and Lucas," I grumbled.

"Yeah, they're hard to deal with sometimes."

"You'd think they were related."

"They are."

My head whipped around to stare at Arkin. "What?"

"Cousins, but they grew up together, so they're more like brothers," he said.

Everything made so much more sense now. Finally, I zoned in enough to catch the very last of Brandon's conversation with whoever was on the other end of the line. "Don't argue with me. Just be there in five minutes!" And with that he punched the end button and shoved his phone into his pocket. He glanced back and caught my glare. "What?"

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Nobody," he replied, a cheeky grin overtaking his face.

"Brandon," I whined, tugging on my hand to try and remove it from his grasp.

"Juliette," he whined right back.

Scowling, I jerked my hand out of his with all I had. "I think I'm going to go find my own food . . ." I trailed off, turning to go the other way.

Once again, I was thwarted as Arkin stepped in front of me. "C'mon, don't let him get under your skin. It's free food."

"Fine," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. He had a point. With a sigh, I turned around and continued on with them. It didn't take us too much longer to reach the Rev Diner, and once it came into view my stomach tied into knots. I did not want to see Vincent today.

The three of us trooped in and found a booth in the back of the restaurant. The sixties themed diner brought a smile to my face, but did little to ease the tension in my stomach. Sure, Vincent had been nothing but nice to me lately, but he still made me nervous. So, when I spotted a familiar blonde making his way towards us, all my stress drained in an instant. "Lucas!" I exclaimed, tempted to jump out of my seat next to Arkin and hug him.

"Well, hello to you too, sugar," he said, grinning as he slid in across from me, next to Brandon.

"Sorry," I said, laughter bubbling out of my mouth. "I was worried I would have to see Vinnie too."

"Not today," he replied, reaching for a menu. "He's busy."

"So looks like you're stuck with just us," Brandon threw in.

"I'm still irritated with you," I told Brandon, narrowing my eyes at him.

He pouted. "Why?"

"You wouldn't tell me who you were calling."

"You're a child."

"And you're not?"

His blue eyes sparkled in amusement. "Touché."

At that moment, our waitress arrived and took our drink orders. She was a sweet girl, and I was going to make sure the guys left her a good tip. Throughout the rest of lunch, they kept me busy by taking turns asking me things. Naturally, I interrogated them just as hard. They laughed at me when I asked if their gang had a name, so I took that as a no. Granted, I pouted the longer they laughed at me. "It's not that funny," I snapped, throwing a fry at Lucas.

"Yes it is."

"I don't know anything about gangs, genius," I grumbled, taking an angry bite out of my burger. He still had a smug smirk on his face. So, after I swallowed my food I threw another fry at him. "All I know is you like to abduct young women."

"Hey, now," Arkin said, deflecting a fry when Brandon threw it at him. "That was a one-time thing."

I snorted. "Sure."

"Cute," Lucas commented, throwing my fry back at me.

"Shut up."

Lucas threw the tomato he had pulled off his burger at me. It smacked me in the face before I even had a chance to dodge it. Without thinking I tossed it back. To my horror, it landed dead center on Lucas's white t-shirt, staining it pink. My face paled when he turned an accusatory glare on me. What had I done?

"Now guys," Arkin started.

"Shut up," Brandon and Lucas chorused, both of their eyes trained on me.

"I'll wash it, Luke," I said, giving him a smile. Please don't start a food fight in here, I pleaded in my head.

"Do you promise?" he asked, lowering his hand that filled with fries.

"Pinky promise!"

"Too bad," Brandon cried, his voice gleeful as he launched his attack.

I was instantly pelted with French fries. Arkin, bless his heart, tried to help me deflect some of them, but it was no use. When they were finished, I gazed around at the mess we had made. A little voice in the back of my head was muttering about what a waste that was, but a bigger part of me was terrified of what was going to happen to us. All four of our heads whipped towards the front of the restaurant where a very tall, very round man was very red in the face.

Long story short, we got kicked out.

"Look at that, Jules! We didn't have to pay for lunch at all!" Brandon exclaimed, draping an arm around my shoulders as the four of us made our way down the street.

"I also didn't get to eat at all," I grumbled, batting his arm away.

"Are you still going to wash my shirt?" Lucas asked, tugging at the pink spot on his chest.

I sighed. "Of course. I'll also order pizza as long as you guys swear you're not going to trash my apartment."

"Deal!" they hollered in unison.

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