A scoffing noise came from Peter’s direction, so I raised one eyebrow in question. “You think you could kick my ass?” he asked sarcastically, pulling his shoulders back and smirking at me as he opened the door to the gym and nodded for me to go first.

“Yes,” I answered flatly. He was probably about six foot tall and easily heavier than Ashton because he packed in more muscle, but I was pretty sure I could take him.

When I stepped into the gym, I sighed happily. It was indeed as well-stocked as the pamphlet had promised. And another benefit it had was that it was empty. Being Sunday lunchtime, most students were probably still in bed, sleeping off the night before.

Peter scoffed again, following me into the gym and rolling his eyes, before nodding towards the padded mat area off to one side. “Want to try?”

A grin spread across my face as I nodded slowly. Heck yeah, I want to embarrass you! “Sure.”

Ashton shook his head quickly, holding his hands up in protest. “That’s not really a good idea, Peter.”

I frowned angrily, clenching my teeth together. He thinks I’m going to get hurt? Lousy pretend boyfriend! He’s supposed to support me!

Peter grinned, linking his fingers together, stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles at the same time. “I won’t hurt her, don’t worry.”

Ashton snorted. “I wasn’t worried about her. You’re supposed to be on duty tonight, and I don’t think having a broken nose will go down well with the whole blending in thing,” Ashton teased, chuckling. My anger evaporated immediately as I understood his hesitancy, and it wasn’t because he was worried I’d get hurt.

“You think she could beat me?” Peter asked, clearly shocked.

Ashton shook his head in response. “I’ve seen her fight, she could definitely beat you, no thinking involved,” he replied rather proudly, smiling over at me.

Peter just burst out laughing and slapped Dean on the shoulder with the back of his hand. “Can you believe this? As if she’d stand a chance.”

Dean’s smile was tight as he raised one eyebrow. “I’ve seen and felt her right hook. I wouldn’t recommend you fight her.”

I grinned happily and walked over to the treadmill. “I’m going to warm up for a while and then if you want, we can spar or something?” I offered, stepping on and turning it onto a slow walk.

Peter nodded in agreement. “Five minutes and then I’ll wipe that smile off of your face.”

Ashton didn’t look too pleased as he walked over to the treadmill next to mine. His gaze was firmly locked on the speed control dial on my machine as I cranked it up a little faster. I would imagine he was waiting for me to go full pelt again – that wouldn’t happen though, not if I was going to be sparring.

After a few minutes Peter called over to me from the weight bench he was at with Dean. “You ready to get your ass kicked, Anna?” he challenged, smirking at me confidently.

Trying to hide my smugness, I turned off my machine as I nodded over to the mats. “Sure, best of three?” I suggested.

“Anna, take it easy, okay? No broken bones,” Ashton warned, following me over to the mats too with an apprehensive look on his face.

“I won’t hurt her!” Peter protested sternly.

Ashton chuckled wickedly. “I wasn’t talking about her bones.”

Peter waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. Best of three. No hitting in the balls, that’s the only rule on my end. Other than that, you can do what you want.”

I nodded in acknowledgment. “Okay. No taking it easy on me because I’m a girl, that’s my only rule,” I teased. He looked so overconfident; clearly he thought I was some little, delicate doll that couldn’t look after herself. He was in for a shock; this was going to be fun.

“Right then, first down to the mat,” Ashton said, blowing out a big breath. “No pinning down,” he added seemingly as an afterthought.

I nodded and waited for Peter to come at me, standing with my hands down at my sides, not even bothering to defend myself. He wasn’t even going to try and hit me, I could tell. He grinned and came towards me, moving to grab me. Casually, I knocked his hand away and moved to the side, smiling. His eyes widened a fraction before he came for me again. This time I ducked out of his way and kicked him in the leg – not too hard, but just hard enough so that he knew I wasn’t playing around.

“Shit! You actually know how to fight?” he asked, his mouth popping open in shock.

I nodded, grinning. “Kickboxing or karate?” I changed my stance to show him I knew both.

His eyes narrowed as his shoulders tensed. “Er, I don’t know that shit, I know how to street fight,” he stated, coming for me again with his fists up to hit me this time. Effortlessly, I moved to the side, hitting him in the stomach and arm, spinning around low on the floor and sweeping his legs out from under him so he landed flat on his back. I smiled triumphantly as I offered my hand down to help him up. “Ouch, damn it! What was that?” he whined, rubbing his stomach.

“Karate. Want to go for kickboxing now?” I asked hopefully. If he really wanted to fight, that was undoubtedly my favourite.

“Er, I guess,” he answered, looking a little uncomfortable as he glanced at Dean, who was just watching with a grin on his face.

I nodded and stood waiting for him to come at me. He seriously tried this time and managed to get a couple of hits in that would have been good if I hadn’t gotten my guard up, but again, I easily put him down on his back.