Tamed (The Courtside King 1)

“Fuck balls,” Ned muttered. “I do remember that. You said I could wear your karate get-up to Friday night’s party.”

Breck’s lips quirked. “I did.” But his smile quickly ebbed. “Sorry, G. Wish I could help. I’ll stop by and cheer you on when this wraps up.”

“Thanks… Not that I’ll need it.” Just like that, Ned’s dour mood shifted. Breck could hear his best friend grinning. “I’m gonna crush it.”

“Get ‘em, tiger.”

Ned growled and hung up.

Breck pocketed his cell phone and rounded the bend.

Up ahead, the dojang waited just a couple of buildings down, shaded by those oaks on either side. They arrived and headed inside. Breck looked for Kai before he could stop himself. Couldn’t help it. The guy was serious eye candy. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.

“Bring your notebooks to the mats,” the assistant at the counter instructed.

Yeah… about that. Breck hadn’t brought one.

They made for the locker room and, in no time, were headed back out. The second they emerged, Breck’s gaze cut to the right, where a small group of classmates stood shooting the shit with Mr. Eye Candy Kai.

Goddamn did he look fine, his thick arms folded as he sported his dobok.

Breck watched him inconspicuously as he headed for the mat.

Jegs grinned and nodded. “Oh, yeah. Time to Jackie the Chan all up in this place.”

Charlie laughed. “You do know his black belt was in hapkido, right?”

Jegs shot him a look. “Of course, I know. What do I look like, six and a half feet of stupid? He’s my guy. I know all. But they don’t teach hapkido here. Besides, Chan did learn Taekwondo in the past. And you know what else?” His grin spread wide. He waggled his brows. “He was part of a friend trio just like us. The Three Dragons.”

Breck stared at him.

He knew that look in Jegs’ eyes.

Charlie coughed out a laugh. “You are not callin’ us that.”

“Why not? Dragons are cool.”

Breck shoved his head. “We already have a name.”

Jegs laughed and shoved him back.

A heartbeat later, Grandmaster Kai turned to the class. “Cha ryuht. Attention.” He bent at the waist. “Kyung nae. Bow.” The classroom went quiet and quickly reciprocated. Kai straightened. “Ahnja. Sit. And open your notebooks to your notes.”

Shit. Breck frowned, taking a seat. No notebook. No notes.

Spectacular start.

Kai made his way around the perimeter of the mat, checking each student’s homework over their shoulder. When he came to Breck, he paused. Breck stared straight ahead.

“Your notes?” Kai murmured.

“Yeah… I don’t have any.”

“Why not?”

Breck cleared his throat. Glanced around. Everyone was staring.

Unfuckingbelievable.

“I didn’t have time.” He could feel the guy assessing him.

“Didn’t have time?” Kai quietly asked. “Or didn’t make time?”

Seriously? He was really going to drag this out?

Breck clenched his jaw and muttered, “I was busy.”

Kai didn’t reply at first, then, “One-time warning. Next time, push-ups.”

Breck bristled. In his periphery, Charlie fought a grin.

Kai resumed on course, nodding in approval to others’ notes. A few minutes later, he returned to the center of the mat. “Elo soh. Stand. We’re going to start with warm-up exercises. Spread out on the mat, arms’ width apart.”

Tersely, Breck moved to an open spot, still annoyed. Him, the fucking king, publicly reprimanded over stupid homework? He couldn’t remember the last time someone gave him grief over shit like that. His professors never did. Not even his coaches. Clearly, this instructor didn’t know who he was.

But as Kai ran them through a series of bodily stretches, Breck’s irritation receded to the back of his mind.

“Good.” Kai straightened. “Today, I’m going to teach you how to block. But first, let’s review what you’ve already learned, starting with stances. Joon bi.”

He struck his ‘ready’ pose, then rolled through the others. The class followed suit, keeping pace. Finally, he held the ‘sitting’ pose. “Horse stance: juchoom sohgi. We’ll remain in this position to review strikes.”

Breck stared, unable to take his eyes off him, utterly captivated by the way he moved, the sound of his voice.

“Straight punch; bahro chirugi… Double punch; doobun chirugi... Triple punch; saebun chirugi… Knife hand strike; sahnkal jecho…”

When they’d practiced to Kai’s satisfaction, he moved on. “There are four basic blocks. Low, high, inside, and outside.”

Meticulously, he went over the ‘set up’ for each, demonstrating them repeating until the class finally caught on. At first, the movements were awkward. A lot of dual-arm snapping. But eventually, they got the hang of it. Or at least the general gist. At which point Kai continued with his instruction using a partner.

“Dindy.” He motioned for one of his assistants to approach. “I’ll block. You strike.” Both bowed in respect, then the senior assumed position and started punching.

“Ai-yah! Ai-yah! Ai-yah!” Dindy shouted.

Kai blocked in accordance, providing a live-action demonstration of each technique.

Breck watched, eyes glued to Kai’s body. So big and so strong, maneuvering like a fighting machine. So powerful and yet at the same time, fluid. Like liquid vapor.