Dating After the End of the World - 32

“All right, everyone, get lined up now! We have a lot to cover, and we’re burnin’ daylight, so double-time, let’s go!” Blake yells out as he paces in front of us, his hands clasped behind his back.

His demeanor and tone are disconnected, like he’s in front of a group of new recruits he’s never met before. “We’re going to pair up and do this activity with a partner. Yes, you will be fighting. Yes, you might get hurt. But the goal is, by the end of this, you won’t be so susceptible to being hurt when you don’t know your attacker.”

The group mills about, small murmurs spreading as people start looking around for who they’ll partner with. Nate bumps his shoulder into me with a smile on his face, an unspoken assumption that, of course, we’ll pair up.

“Nate!” Blake yells. “Since this is your first time, you’ll be with me.”

Oh God. He’s gonna kill him. I shoot daggers at Blake, warning him with my eyes that he better not do anything stupid. Hurting Nate won’t make him go away, and it also won’t magically bring us back together. If anything, it’ll royally piss me off. But Blake doesn’t see my warning, because he’s locked in on Nate.

“Uhh, sure, Blake.” Nate weaves his way to the front. “And it’s Dr. Warner, by the way.”

A large smile spreads across Blake’s face as he drops a heavy hand onto Nate’s shoulder. “That’s good, because you might need a doctor after this.” The group giggles to themselves, though Nate appears confused, unsure whether Blake’s just joking around or serious. He raises his shoulders and puffs out his chest, but even all inflated, he’s still smaller than Blake.

“Everyone else, finish finding your partners.”

Tessa and I pair up. Molly stands beside Greg, holding his hand. Elaine wraps her arm around Aunt Julie. Tessa’s mom takes her spot next to Helen. And Helen’s boys partner up with one another. We all wait for further instructions.

The crisp, cold air cuts its way through the fabric of my clothes, sending a shiver down my spine. The sun is dull, trying to fight its way through a covering of clouds. The light shines a pallid yellow gray, making the world look like it’s part of a low-budget student film. With the state of it, that’s exactly how it feels. Blake stands at the front, hands on his hips as he surveys the crowd.

“To start, I want you to take your opponent to the ground. Keep it clean . . . mostly. But remember if you take it too easy on your partner, you aren’t helping them learn or grow.”

I turn to Tessa and shake my head, letting her know I’m taking it easy, regardless of Blake’s instructions, which feel like are more for him and Nate than any of us. A way for him to hurt Nate, while also being absolved of it. But he better not.

“I’m going to sit this one out,” Elaine says, walking over to a lawn chair and taking a seat. Meredith, Helen, and Aunt Julie echo her sentiment and join her.

“Suit yourself,” Blake says. “Everyone else. Fight!”

Tessa turns and comes at me slowly. We grapple, like two Greco-Roman wrestlers locked in combat, our arms wrapped around each other’s head and arms, circling in what will look to the group like a stalemate. But we’re more so just holding each other so I can focus on Blake.

“I think Mr. Enemy with Benefits is going to kill your fiancé,” Tessa whispers.

“I know, and then I’m going to kill him.”

Blake bounces on his feet, not moving toward Nate, who has no idea how outmatched he is. After a few moments, Nate runs at Blake with reckless abandon, trying to drive his shoulder into him with a tackle, but Blake easily sidesteps him, tripping him with one leg while he shoves his shoulder hard, sending him barrel-rolling into the grass.

“It’s like David and Goliath, but David doesn’t have his trusty slingshot.” Tessa looks on with a mixture of horror and amusement.

Nate peels himself out of the dirt, brushing loose grass off his clothes as he bobs his head, realizing this won’t be as easy as he thought. He charges again, this time being mindful of Blake dodging out of the way. Nate jukes at the last second and tries to shove him backward, but Blake grabs his outstretched arms and dips underneath him, carrying Nate and then standing and flipping him in the air. Nate lands flat on his back, the wind getting knocked out of him.

“Oh God.” I flinch.

Tessa slaps me lightly on the cheek, startling me.

“What?”

“How are you in a love triangle during an apocalypse? I can’t even find a boyfriend, and you have two men.”

“I don’t have two men. And you had a boyfriend. But you killed him, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” she says. “But it looks like we’re both gonna have dead partners if those two keep fighting.”

“Should I stop it?”

“Not yet. It’s kinda hot.” Tessa laughs.

Blake now has Nate in a headlock. I roll my eyes at his childish behavior.

“Blake’s really going in on him,” she adds, raising her brows.

“I think he’s trying to kill Nate so I’ll be with him.”

“What?”

I nod. “He said he wants to be with me.”

“When?”

“This morning during . . .” I trail off. “And right after Nate showed up.”

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Nate screams, stealing our attention.

Blake twists Nate’s arm behind his back, pulling it up high enough that with a small bit of pressure, it looks like he could rip it clean off.

“Uncle! Uncle!” Nate yells.

Blake lets his arm go and shoves him away, sending Nate reeling into the grass. He turns and looks at me, a big shit-eating grin across his face as he gives a quick wink.

I shake my head and press my lips firmly together, not impressed by this macho behavior.

Nate uses Blake’s lapse in vigilance to his advantage, charging into him from the side and lifting him off his feet before spiking him into the ground. Oh, great. Nate’s picked up on the macho behavior too. What is it with men?

The fighting stops for a brief second with Nate on top of Blake, trying to keep him pinned to the ground. Blake’s face turns a deep shade of red, his anger surfacing like a crimson mask.

“Oh no,” is all I have time to say to myself before Nate’s world is turned upside down, quite literally.

Blake whips his legs up in an X over Nate’s chest, the same as he did to me when we first sparred, and sends him smashing backward into the ground, but unlike with me, he doesn’t stop there. He stands and grabs Nate’s legs, lifting them high into the air as he hooks Nate’s knees over his shoulders, grabbing him by the waist and curling his body back upright. It looks like Nate is sitting in a Blake-shaped chair. He drives Nate back to the cold hard earth, body-slamming him like a stunt from the WWE. When he hits the ground, a loud snap reverberates through all of us, sending a chill down my spine. It’s the only noise we hear before a rush of pain screams out of Nate’s mouth.

“Ack! My shoulder!” He writhes in agony, pounding the dirt with his good arm. His injured shoulder is rolled up off his collar, dislocated from the joint.

“Holy shit,” Tessa says.

I’m already fuming as I race to Nate’s side. “What the hell, Blake!?” I glare up at him, and his face briefly changes, his eyes flickering with the same venom that coursed through them all those years ago at the party, right before he stabbed me in the heart. Has the venom always been there? Maybe he hasn’t changed at all. Maybe he’s the same old jerk and his true self surfaces whenever he doesn’t get his way. My heart pounds against my rib cage. Has Blake fooled me again?

“What? We were just horse playing.”

“Tessa, hold Nate still on his side and put pressure into him with your knees so he can’t shift away from me.” She nods and races over to assist.

“Sorry, Nate,” she says, pushing up against him as he winces.

“It’s Dr. Warner.” His words come out breathy and shrieky.

Tessa shoves him even harder, annoyed by his response. A slight smirk appears on her face as he grimaces.

I snap my fingers in Nate’s face to get his attention. “You know what I have to do, and you know it’s gonna hurt.”

“I know! I know!” Nate yells. “Just do it.”

I nod to Tessa, signaling her to hold steady, and then I grab his shoulder and upper arm. “All right. On three. One. Two . . .”

Nate’s shoulder pops into place. “Ack! Fuck.” His rapid breathing starts to even out at the relief of being put back together again.

I stand and turn to Blake, shoving him as hard as I can. It sends him stumbling back a few steps. “What is your fucking problem!?”

“It was an accident,” Blake says, shrugging it off like it’s no big deal.

I narrow my eyes and take a step closer to him. He’s full of shit. He did it on purpose.

“Yeah, and so were we,” I whisper, only loud enough for him to hear me.

I don’t know why I say it. Actually, I do. I want to hurt him because he thinks it’s okay to hurt others, purely for his own enjoyment or to prove himself. His face turns downward, displaying the pain he feels from my words, which cut a little too deep. His green eyes mist over, and he lowers his head. Without another word, Blake walks away—but this time, I don’t feel bad for him.