Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy-Chapter 83 - 84 | A Masterpiece in Tiny Shorts

I finished my set and straightened, and Cheon’s hands dropped away from my hips immediately. Her face was flushed, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the workout or from touching me.

Probably both.

"Last set," she announced. "Then we move to combat drills."

"Finally," Mera said, pushing herself off the mat. "Something interesting."

We rotated through the final sets. My muscles screamed. Sweat dripped down my back. But I kept going because Cheon was watching with those sharp grey eyes and I’d be damned if I tapped out in front of her.

When we finished, all three of us were breathing hard and thoroughly drenched.

Cheon grabbed water bottles from the bench and tossed one to each of us. "Good work. You kept up better than I expected."

"You sound disappointed," I said.

"Maybe a little." She smiled, small and genuine. "I was hoping to see you struggle more."

"Sadist."

"You already said that."

"It’s still true."

Mera sprawled out on the mat like a starfish, gulping water. "If combat drills are worse than that, I’m out."

"They’re not worse," Cheon said. "Just different."

She walked over to the equipment wall and grabbed three sets of training pads. The kind that strapped to your forearms for blocking and striking practice.

"Partner up," she said, tossing a set to me and another to Mera. "We’ll rotate."

I strapped the pads on while Cheon explained the drill. Basic combinations. Jab, cross, hook. Work on speed and accuracy, not power. Three-minute rounds with one minute rest between.

"I’ll hold first," she said, raising her own padded forearms. "Rome, you’re up."

I stepped into range and threw a light jab. The pad made a satisfying thwack.

"Harder," Cheon said.

I threw again. Harder this time.

"Good. Again. Jab, cross."

I fell into rhythm. Jab. Cross. Jab. Cross.

"Hook now. High."

I threw the hook. My fist connected with the pad, and Cheon absorbed the impact with barely a shift in her stance.

"Faster," she said. "Don’t telegraph."

I picked up the pace. Jab, cross, hook. Jab, cross, hook.

My hands were moving on autopilot now, and I could feel the burn starting in my shoulders. But Cheon kept calling combinations, kept pushing, and I kept throwing.

"Uppercut," she called. "Then cross."

I switched it up. Uppercut. Cross.

"Better. Again."

We went another two minutes without stopping. By the end, my arms felt like lead and my lungs were on fire. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Time," Mera called from the side, checking her phone.

I dropped my hands and stepped back, chest heaving.

Cheon lowered the pads and smiled. "Not bad for your first session."

"High praise coming from you."

"Don’t let it go to your head." She turned to Mera. "Your turn."

They switched positions, and I moved to the side to catch my breath. Watching Cheon work the pads was something else. She moved with complete control, absorbing each strike without wasted motion. Her hair swung with each pivot, and the way those tiny shorts hugged her ass when she shifted her weight was a fucking masterpiece.

Mera noticed me staring and grinned mid-combination. "Eyes up, Romeo."

"I’m watching the technique."

"Sure you are."

Cheon’s face went pink, but she didn’t miss a beat. "Focus, Mera. Jab, jab, cross."

Mera threw the combo, and Cheon called the next one. "Hook. Low this time."

They worked through the rest of the round, and when time was called, both of them were breathing hard.

"My turn," Cheon said, pulling off the pads. "Who’s holding?"

"I will," I said.

She handed me the pads and I strapped them on while she rolled her shoulders and shook out her hands.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Whenever you are."

She stepped into range and threw her first combination. Jab, cross, hook.

Jesus Christ.

Cheon hit like she did everything else. Fast. Clean. No wasted movement. Each strike landed perfectly centered on the pad, and I could feel the impact vibrating through my forearms.

"Harder?" she asked.

"Go for it."

She did. Her next combination came faster, and I had to brace harder to absorb the force. Jab, cross, uppercut, hook.

"Good," I said. "Again."

She kept going. Her breathing stayed even. Her form stayed tight. And that focused expression on her face, the way her grey eyes narrowed with each strike, was doing things to me that were definitely not appropriate for a public gym.

The sports bra was riding up slightly from the movement, showing more of her stomach with each rotation. Sweat gleamed on her skin, and her hair stuck to her neck in damp strands.

I was trying very hard to focus on holding the pads and not on the fact that I knew exactly what she looked like underneath those clothes. Exactly what she tasted like. Exactly how she sounded when she came apart.

Not helping.

"Time," Mera called.

Cheon stepped back, breathing hard but grinning. "How was that?"

"Terrifying," I said honestly. "Remind me not to piss you off."

"Too late. You already do that constantly."

"And yet you keep coming back."

Her grin softened into something warmer. "Yeah. I do."

We did two more rounds. Rotating partners. Mixing up combinations. By the end, all three of us were completely spent and the gym was starting to fill up with more students.

Aurora waved from across the room. Nolan was doing pull-ups nearby, completely focused on his reps.

"We should probably get cleaned up," Cheon said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "First period starts in an hour."

"Plenty of time," Mera said, stretching her arms over her head.

Cheon started gathering the pads and returning them to the equipment wall. I helped, and Mera wandered over to the water fountain.

"Thanks," I said quietly when we were out of earshot.

Cheon looked up at me. "For what?"

"The workout. You didn’t have to do this."

"You asked me to."

"You could have said no."

She shrugged, but I saw the small smile tugging at her mouth. "Maybe I wanted to see if you’d actually show up."

"And?"

"You did better than I expected."

"High praise."

"Don’t push it." She finished stacking the pads and turned to face me fully. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Good." She paused, then added, "And Rome?"

"What?"

"Thank you. For listening."

"To what?"

"To me." Her voice dropped. "Most people don’t."

The drain pulsed between us. Warm. Steady.

I reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I’m not most people, Panda."

She leaned into the touch for just a second before pulling back. "I know."

Then she walked past me toward the locker room, and I watched her go with my hands in my pockets and my heart doing something complicated in my chest.

Mera appeared at my elbow. "You’re in deep, huh?"

"Shut up."

"I’m not judging. Just observing."

"Observe quieter."

She laughed and looped her arm through mine, her tail wrapping around my wrist. "Come on. Let’s shower. I want breakfast before class, and I’m not sitting through homeroom smelling like a gym."

We headed toward the locker rooms together, and I tried not to think about the fact that I had two girlfriends now, a quest deadline in six hundred and ninety-six days, and a Battle Trials session in forty-eight hours where I’d have to prove I wasn’t completely full of shit.

Normal morning.

Totally normal.