Page 741 of The Bonding Games: Part 1

I suppress the refusal that tries to make it past my lips and focus on the need to obey. As just proven, she can protect herself without strain, and even if I did manage to make a blow connect, I doubt it’d do much damage. My Score of 62 tells everyone my strength really isn’t paramount. So, despite my reluctance to attempt to harm her, I shake out my limbs, fortifying myself as every cell within me charges up with determination.

And I lunge.

Soaring across the short space between us, I prepare myself to take her down, limbs outstretched—

My arms and legs wrap around her like a koala.

I don’t move a muscle, stunned.

Oh . . .

my . . .

gods . . .

This is the most mortifying experience of my lifetime.

I will never, ever recover from this.

As I’m mentally digging my own grave to comfortably curl up in for the rest of eternity, I’m dimly aware of the amusement I can feel radiating from the wall on my left. A cough pierces the silence that holds barely contained laughter.

Ezla herself stands perfectly stoic. Not one twitch of her muscles.

Then, ever so slowly, her hands find my waist.

I gasp. My entire body ignites, and I tighten my arms around her neck, instinctively pressing closer—

Until I realise she’s trying to pull me off her.

Oh.

For a moment, I’m so utterly humiliated, I simply go blank.

Stupidly, foolishly blank.

Then I scramble into motion like a bonfire has just been lit beneath my ass, landing on the floor in a heap. I get back up as quickly as possible, hands coming up to frantically pat at my hair as if I think the electricity buzzing through my body from overstimulation may have made the raven strands stand on end, visible for all to see since we didn’t need helmets for today’s lesson.

Ezla only says one thing as I try to compose myself, revealing not a speck of what she’s feeling:

“Again.”

***

It’s a Sunday today, but we don’t get any reprieve. I’m not sure I’d even want one if I were given the option though—largely because Game 2 is on Friday and I want to be as prepared as possible, but also because it means spending time with Ezla.

In the private training room we used before and seemed to have claimed for our Bonded group—the other Players of TBG quickly getting the message with the Champion at our helm—we practice hand-to-hand combat again. I don’t know if I’m just imagining things, but I could swear I’m already stronger, my techniques better. It’s not like I’m an expert now, but I actually feel like I’m making progress, and fast. Ezla’s a great teacher, and I’ve never obeyed quicker than I do when she barks her commands. The need to impress her is equal only to the need to impress myself; I want her to be proud of me, and I want to feel that pride too.

She has me on a new personal fitness plan that she’s told me she’ll go through with me an hour a day, splitting her attention when needed between the other guys to monitor their own plans, which she only tweaked around a little bit instead of giving them each an entirely new one like she did for me. But mostly, her focus is on me, and after that became clear in our first session earlier this morning, Tate looked ready to explode with envy and turn my skull into a thousand tiny little shards of bone. I, on the other hand, had insides all twisted with nerves, yet also piped full of a bubbly feeling that had me quashing moon eyes half the time.

I’m not sure if the others are jealous as well, but if they are, they don’t show it. And they’re more rational than Tate either way; I know they’re as aware as I am that Ezla’s extra attention on me is due to the fact I need the most work rather than any favouritism.

I’m also extremely happy with my new meal plan, and every time I eat, it’s a struggle to not get emotional as I get to taste all the foods I’ve been missing out on for years because of Aider Cole. The only downside is the bloating, but I take Avritabs when the cramping gets too much, and Ezla told me they’ll both decrease in time as my body adjusts to the new intake and to just eat as much as I can from each of the items on the meal plan as long as it doesn’t make me feel too sick or pained.

To all our disappointment, she didn’t show up again in our Bonded chambers after providing the feast yesterday morning—the feast she didn’t join in on, leaving the moment we all sat down. But she’s updated the options we can order on the screen beside the dumbwaiter, adding an entire boatload to my list, and she shows up for training each day without fail, ensuring we all have what we need—which she can no doubt do without issue when she’s the Game Master’s daughter—so we shouldn’t complain. Especially when none of us expected anything like what she’s already doing.

But the more she gives us, the more we all seem to want.

“Watch out, Bestie!”