Chapter 2 - NO EASY WIN
Connor wiped sweat from his mouth and stared at Maya from across the mat.
“You could’ve broken my wrist,” he said.
“I didn’t.”
“That supposed to make me feel better?”
“No. It’s supposed to remind you I stopped when you tapped.”
A few soldiers exchanged glances.
Rourke heard every word.
“Enough talking. Fight.”
Connor came forward slower this time. Humiliation had made him cautious. He feinted left, drove forward, and tried to trap Maya against the padded wall.
She pivoted out.
He followed.
Maya saw the moment his balance shifted. She hooked his ankle, redirected his shoulder, and dropped him again. Connor rolled before she could establish control and scrambled upright.
“Stay on her!” Rourke barked.
Connor’s eyes flicked toward him.
That tiny glance told Maya something important.
Connor wasn’t only fighting her.
He was trying to satisfy Rourke.
Connor threw another hard combination. Maya absorbed one strike on her forearm, slipped outside the next, and drove a clean palm strike into the center of his chest. He stumbled back.
Captain Cole stepped forward. “That’s enough.”
Rourke snapped, “Stay out of my lane, Captain.”
Every head turned.
Cole’s voice dropped. “Careful, First Sergeant.”
For one second, nobody moved.
Then Connor rushed again.
Maya ducked, turned, and took his back. Her forearm settled under his chin, not crushing, just controlling.
Connor slapped her arm twice.
Tap.
Maya released him.
This time Captain Cole walked onto the mat himself.
“Done.”
Rourke’s jaw tightened.
Maya stepped off the mat and reached for her water bottle.
Rourke caught sight of the name tape on her training jacket.
BENNETT.
His expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
He moved closer.
“Maya Bennett?”
She turned.
“Yes, First Sergeant.”
Rourke gave a humorless smile.
“Well,” he said. “That explains a lot.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
She had been at Fort Meridian for nine days.
May you like
There was only one reason he should know her name.
And it was buried in a report from three years ago.
