Read On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) for Free Online Page B

over backwards and
splaying her legs. An obvious sexual signal, though it wasn't clear who exactly
she was trying to impress. Blaine or Britney, most likely, though it wasn't out
of the picture that Don would be her target. Not likely given everything, but
not impossible . Some people, especially women, actually liked their
lovers to be slightly less good looking than they were, or at least roughly the
same. It had to do with fear, she knew and the desire to hold on to the person
they loved. It was harder to hold on to someone really good looking. Everyone
knew that, at least deep inside, Kate thought as she watched the scene unfold.
This was Kate's first time here, so it wouldn't be about her, she knew. Not yet
anyway.
    The others ignored the woman, except for Don, who glanced toward
the limber woman, a slightly wistful look on his face. Sighing softly, he
turned away and focused on what he was doing.
    Blaine finally took charge after a few more minutes of stretching
and suggested they work without contact, sticking to percussives at first,
since he knew that they'd all be able to do that, it being basic school
training, then they'd work on grappling and throws, if Kate felt comfortable
with that plan. She nodded. Seeing that Don had a strange look on his face,
Blaine added an aside.
    “Percussives, that just means punches, kicks, knees and
elbows. Any move that hits, it's what we normally do, you know... so
that you won't feel all gay when grappling with me gets you turned on?”
    They broke into pairs, with Kate and Blaine going first, so
that the others could observe what they did and come up with plans to take them
down when it was their turn. It seemed clear to her that Blaine wanted to work
with her first himself, just in case she sucked, or came from a school that
didn't stress combative control. Some didn't, just sticking pads on the kids
and telling them to go to, figuring that a real fight didn't need them to pull
their punches, which was true, as far as that went. It also led to lack of fine
motor control in her opinion, which impacted the ability to target on the move.
Her school had required both, work with pads and without, as well as occasional
full contact fights against the instructors, where they'd actually be punched
and kicked, so that they wouldn't be taken by surprise when it happened in real
life. Not everyplace had been so hard on the kids, of course, but since those
lessons had literally saved her life more than once, she could see the value in
them now.
    Today they'd stick to non-contact, punching or kicking within
an inch or so of the other person, making contact only with blocks if possible.
They could be hurt still, if someone mis-judged a distance or time factor, but
at least they wouldn't be trying to hurt each other. Kate liked this,
because it meant that Blaine had bothered to really think about what it meant
to add a new person to their group for the day.
    They didn't bow or anything, though Britney did step forward,
a hand between them and told them to begin, pulling away as fast as she could.
Kate, dropped into a deeply focused state without hesitation. Not as deep as
what Zack could do, she knew, but deep enough that the world seemed to slow
around her a little bit. Blaine had started out with a round house kick toward
her middle, which she saw coming, a line of energy running from her to him
along the path he intended to follow, she noticed. Her friends Troy and Hilda
both did that, though the Taoist masters Wu-Li and Dan both simply moved .
Never showing intent, just pure focus. This, what Blaine did, made it a little
easier for her compared to working with them.
    She raised her left knee to block the move and saw that he
intended a double kick, a weak move, but dropping from the higher position on
the first kick, then trying to take her knee on the second would still be
effective. So rather than put her leg down after the block, she moved forward,
falling toward him, her left foot