Twelve Miles (Serendipity series Book 1) Read online

  I, on the other hand, knew enough to zoom past the white and blue belt in 1/3 of the time. Knowledge alone didn’t guarantee anything but to be able to execute that in sparring sessions consistently, especially against higher ranked students was what enabled me to move past the rankings quicker than generally permitted.

  “Thank you.” I smiled.

  “Sam here is getting ready to test for his purple belt as well.”

  “That’s great! Congrats to you as well.” I congratulated Sam.

  “Thank you. Took me a few years, but I’m here at least.”

  “That’s because you are incredibly busy, Sam. You don’t always have time to prepare, but under different circumstances, you’d be training for your brown belt by now,” Professor Felix explained.

  “You’re probably right, but I have no regrets,” Sam said.

  “Speaking of which, if it’s alright with you Sam, I wanted you to practice some groundwork with Wily here since both of you are on the same level but have vastly different strategies. It would be interesting to see, and I think it would also help you to practice against someone other than myself. Plus I don’t want to risk injuring myself since I have a match in a couple of weeks.”

  “I have no problem with it, how about you? Any reservations against an old man?” Sam asked me.

  Say what? I had always taken martial arts and my training seriously but the second Professor Felix invited me to practically wrestle with an attractive man, I got nervous and maybe a little too excited.

  “Uh…okay. I wouldn’t call you old, though. You’re still young, I-I think.” I stuttered quietly. That made him chuckle. “Go easy on me.”

  “I won’t.” he chuckled again.

  “Alright, Wily. You can take him.” Professor Felix patted me on the back.

  “That’s not exactly fair, Felix.” Sam teased.

  After Professor Felix had both Sam and I warm up and perform a few precautionary stretches, we began sparring. Sam was not a small guy by any means and probably outweighed me by at least fifty pounds, and even if he used more of his strength, I was confident that I still stood a chance. Sam seemed to be holding back, however. He wasn’t trying to dominate the situation with brute strength and was using more technique instead. Thankfully, I caught on to his strategy early.

  Like Sam, I was in great shape. My strong, curvy legs were long and sleek. I had a flat stomach that showed a hint of muscle underneath. I also had power and strength that I knew how to use which made me a cunning opponent. Being in the dojo especially when sparring was one of the few places I was confident. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sexy kind of confident. Here, I was just one of the guys.

  It had been too long since I was touched by a man and this jiu-jitsu session had started to become like foreplay. I enjoyed it much more than I should have. He wasn’t too bad to look at with his muscles evident through his clothes, he had a broad chest and very muscular arms – two areas I tended to favor on a man. He also had a small gut, but that made him much more perfect to me.

  While rolling around on the mat with Sam, I was sweaty, and frankly, a little bit turned on. Sam’s superior strength gave him a slight edge, and he ended up on top pinning me to the mat with my legs locked at the ankles around his waist. Not wanting to get myself into a vulnerable position, I wrapped my arms neck pulling him tight towards my body which made it tough for him to put me in a choke submission.

  I was trying to take the sparring seriously, but considering the position we were lying in on top of the mat, I couldn’t help but image how erotic and sensual it was. I don’t know what it was – maybe the sweat, the heavy breathing, his woodsy scented aftershave, the body heat the closeness created but I was turned on, and I wanted more.

  I wondered if he was too, but God forbid I peek. Maybe just a little? How can a serious situation turn into something so sexual for me? I’ve sparred against some of the other males in the dojo, and I have never had impure thoughts about them at any point during our sparring sessions. Not once. What was it about Sam that had me hot and bothered and how could just one look from him leave me breathless. I hardly knew the man.

  “Come on, Wily. Get your head on straight. The longer you pause and rest, the longer he rests too. It also gives him ample opportunity to strategize. You have to react quickly and methodically, remember?” Professor Felix shouted.

  I know,” I grunted, but Sam was like my kryptonite.

  “If you know, then do something!” he shouted again.

  “I’m starting to think this is personal, Felix.” Sam laughed and then grunted when he tried to pull out of my grip and sit up. I had to think fast before he trapped my arm and head in his grip. Once he did that, I was beaten. There was no way I could battle with my strength against his and pull out of his grip.

  When Sam pulled out of my grip and sat up, I knew I had to act fast. I unlocked my legs quickly and kicked at his thighs so he would fall on his stomach while I slid on my side and scooted out from underneath him. After he had landed on his belly, I quickly got on his back and wrapped my right arm around his neck and locked it in with my other arm, putting him into a choke from behind. I squeezed tighter as I locked my ankles around his stomach so he couldn’t throw me off. Sam tapped out quickly, and I let go.

  “Alright!” Felix cheered. “There’s the win! I knew you could do it.”

  “Thank you, Professor,” I said out of breath and got off of him. I was completely exhausted. I had to sit down.

  “Whew! You are good. I thought I had you, it was only a matter of time.” Sam exhaled.

  “Thank you. You almost had me, no one’s ever been that close to getting me to submit.” I blushed at the compliment.

  “Ooh, someone’s sure of herself.” Sam laughed as he patted my arm. His touch felt electric and gave me goosebumps. “So you’ve never lost?”

  “No, not yet.” I breathed slowly.

  “That’s why I keep telling, Wily to let us sign her up for a tournament. She’d do great in it, but she keeps refusing.”

  “Why don’t you want to compete?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t know, I just like coming here for fun. I feel like once you participate in an actual tournament or match, then it becomes competitive and I don’t really care for that kind of stress.” I shrug.

  “Yeah, it seems it can be that way. I can understand why you don’t want to. It’s not my cup of tea either.” Sam smiled. “But, I gotta say you are terrific.”

  “Thank you, but so are you.” I blushed again, and I felt self-conscious at the fact that I noticed he hadn’t removed his hand from my arm. Sam must have become aware of the fact that he still had his hand there and cleared his throat and pulled his hand away.

  “I tried using everything – strength, speed, technique and you still got me.”

  “Thank you.” I brushed hair out of my face.

  “That’s why we call her Wily, she’s very tricky. Just when you think you have her close to submitting, she pulls out the win with random escapes and counters and then suddenly, it’s over. The most surprising part of it is that she sometimes she does it with beginner level movements.” Professor Felix gloated.

  “I see what you mean now.” Sam laughed.

  “Thanks, guys,” I said coyly.

  “Do you guys want some water? We have plenty in the office.”

  “That would be great, thank you,” Sam said.

  “Sure.” I managed to agree. I was breathing heavily before I stood up to walk to my gym bag to dry off with my towel. Sam followed and picked up his own towel that was on top of the gym bag placed near mine.

  “So, Wily isn’t your real name?” Sam broke the ice.

  “No, it’s just what Professor started calling me, and then it caught on, now everyone calls me that. My name is Jamie, and you’re Sam right?”

  “Yeah, it’s Sam. Should I call you Wily also or just Jamie?”

  I suddenly felt self-conscious
again, “Well, no one calls me Wily outside of here. So it’s up to you.” I shrugged as he smiled back at me.

  Damn that smile of his!

  “Here you guys go,” Professor Felix appeared thankfully and handed each a bottle of water.

  Thanks, Felix. I better get going, I need to get back home and freshen up. I have a meeting in a few hours.” Sam said as he wiped sweat from his brow and took a sip of water.

  “Alright bro, thank you for coming in. You’ll call me, right?” Felix asked and gave Sam a fist bump.

  “Yeah, I’ll let you know when I can come in for training again. I want that purple belt.”

  “Well, you definitely have been training for it.” Felix smiled.

  “Thank you, I certainly appreciate it. Jamie, it was fun meeting you. Thank you for the loss. I will be utterly disappointed for a long time. I want a rematch.” Sam winked and patted me on the arm.

  Oh, my! Please touch me again.

  Sam put on his slippers, bowed and exited the building. That was it, my time with Sam was now over. Even with the promise of a rematch, it could be for good. I was distracted by the heat of the moment and lost what could be my only chance. If I only had something to keep it going, but I didn’t and couldn’t anyway. He had an outstanding obligation to attend to.

  “Thank you for helping me out, Wily.” Professor Felix broke my train of thought. “I didn’t want to risk getting injured.”

  “Anytime, Professor. It’s good to get an extra practice in especially with someone I’m not used to sparring.”

  “I knew it would be a good match considering his strength and age versus your genius and youth. I was very curious to see who would win in the end.” Professor Felix laughed.

  “Me, of course.” I joked back as I watched Sam pull away in his navy colored pick-up truck. “So, that’s Sam.”

  “Yeah, great guy.” Professor Felix agreed. When he noticed I made no attempts and replying, he added, “Wait, don’t tell me Wily likes what she sees?” Felix asked in surprise.

  “Well…” I shrugged.

  “Hell must have frozen over!”

  “What do you even mean?” I laughed.

  “So, that’s it huh? I would have never guessed you sprung on a guy like Sam.”

  “Why wouldn’t I like Sam? Something wrong with him?”

  “No, he’s a great guy. It’s just…”

  “No, tell me,” I asked.

  Well, to be honest, I thought you played for the other team.”

  “What?” I choked on the water I just sipped. “Why would you even say that?”

  “Well, because you never talked about anyone you were seeing and well you enjoyed rolling around with guys and never giggled about it like the other girls,” Felix explained.

  “That made you think I liked women?”

  “Well, since you always took Jiu-Jitsu so seriously and avoided the other girls, I figured you were doing it so you wouldn’t get distracted by them.”

  “I avoided what little women we had because they never took it seriously enough and we both know they were never a match for me anyway, they always whined.”

  “Well, I’m sorry I misjudged you. Now I know.”

  “Does he attend the morning sessions? I never see him in the evening ones.” I asked.

  “Who?”

  “Sam. Does he attend the morning sessions?”

  “No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t have time to attend. He mostly does private training sessions with me when he can. He has a hectic schedule, and if there is anyone here also, I usually have him roll around with them or me if there’s nobody else. He has attended classes once or twice before, but it’s rare. He just doesn’t have the time.” Felix explained before heading back into his office.

  Interesting.

  I wasn’t quite sure when I would see Sam again, but I was determined to find a way to do it. I wondered at the possibility of asking Professor Felix for Sam’s number, but I decided against it because that would violate his privacy. I could tell that Professor Felix respected Sam a lot in such a way that if you didn’t know any better, the roles were reversed and Professor Felix was the student.

  Besides, getting Sam’s number would be considered stalking as well, and that was illegal. It would be of no use coming to morning sessions because not even Professor Felix knew when Sam would have time to train again.

  I also couldn’t keep grilling Professor Felix more than I already have. He probably assumed it was just a passing fancy, but I was serious about Sam. He was the first man in a long time that had me feeling this way, and I wasn’t about to let it go that quickly.

  Chapter Two

  SAM

  I LIVED A VERY BUSY LIFE, but it was a life that I chose for myself very early on. I had a very unusual childhood being the son of a very famous musician and local celebrity. My father, Jerry Ellis was well known in the rock scene for decades, and in the summers he would take the entire family with him whenever he was on tour, performing at local venues and interviews.

  So much so, I was completely unaware how lucky I was to not only be financially well-off but to have a father that was loved by millions. I didn’t know any different until the day my father let me help him carry the bags of fan mail he would get from his management company because he insisted on personally writing back to each and everyone.

  My father was a good man and there for us despite traveling a lot during the school year. The rock lifestyle eventually caught up with him – the drinking, exhaustion partying was partially responsible for his death. I was in college and had decided to fly home during Spring Break because my mother said his health had deteriorated. He had retired from the music industry at this time but still traveled occasionally to do interviews and other events his management company asked him to do as part of his contract.

  Worried about my father, I came home to spend the week with him before I had to fly back and prepare for upcoming finals. He had been bedridden for days and refused to go to the hospital. I think he had this uncanny belief it made him feel the age that he was. That night he was repeatedly coughing, I tried to walk with him to my car so I could rush him to the hospital, he ended up dying in my arms.

  The doctors called it Bacterial Pneumonia. It was a terrible loss to the music industry and an even bigger loss to my family. He was my best friend, and I missed him terribly. As time passed, I accepted the fact that he was no longer around but it didn’t change how much I missed him. A couple of years later, my father’s business partner approached my older brother Mark who had both an MFA and MBA. He wanted my brother to assist him and lead the foundation he started with my father before his death that promoted the arts.

  He also pitched an idea to Mark that he wanted him to set up a company that maintained our father’s legacy through entrepreneurial pursuits. Mark loved the idea and agreed instantly. After a few years, Mark had to step down to support his new wife’s career and asked if I wanted to take over in his place with the promised he’d help now and then. I agreed and have been responsible for my father’s legacy ever since.

  In the past thirteen years that I’ve been the head of the organization, it’s grown more than billions of dollars not only with the for-profit side but also with the foundation. If I wasn’t traveling doing interviews about my father’s music career, I was promoting products that represented things that he liked. Partnerships with music companies, guitar manufacturers, the scholarship fund, books documenting his life and promotional DVDs. Anything that positively represented my father and what he did for the music industry and anything that he loved or wanted to do, the organization pursued it.

  We were multiplying in both revenue and operations but also in public awareness. We were getting to be so widely known we received thousands of inquiries a day asking when we would be doing this or that if we were going to sell any memorabilia, where they could find XYZ product, and while I loved it all for my father, it left no time for a soci
al life.

  In my younger years, I took advantage of the constant attention the organization received, and I would spend time with the women that paid close and personal attention to me. I would typically choose one that day, and I’d take her out to the best clubs and restaurants in Los Angeles and then take her on my boat and go sailing at night. It always ended up getting me laid. Hell, I didn’t even have to take them out, they would have fucked me anyway. They wanted their fifteen minutes of fame.

  It was a great period in my life – the women, parties, traveling, drinks and I had a great time. It eventually got to be tiresome, and I came back home to settle down and take being the head of the foundation and the enterprise seriously which I can associate its growth with. If I hadn’t made the intelligent choice at growing up, I would have failed the company and my father.

  Now, on the rare occasion, I had free time, I would spend time surfing, training with Felix, on my boat sailing on the bay, hanging out with the family or playing with my dog, Owen. The drawback of being part of a well-known company and having a famous father was that I was constantly approached by fans, a lot of them female. While I appreciated the fact that the public loved my dad, it often times got to be exhausting dealing with the women flashing me their puppy dog eyes or boldly touching me.

  During my wild days, I partied and drank so much I got this crazy notion that me and this woman I had regularly been seeing Gina, should get married in Vegas at this chapel. It was a stupid idea, and we were far from being ready for marriage let alone a relationship with each other. We got an annulment less than a year later.

  Ever since then and especially the day I decided to stop all the nonsense and settle down, my social life disappeared too. While I had a great group of friends and acquaintances, I rarely dated anymore. If I wasn’t spending time with my family, I was focusing on the Foundation. When I had free time, I just wanted to be alone. Even if it wasn’t by choice, it naturally happened that way.