Ch 8 - Challenge

SHAY'S POV

I woke up bright and early on Monday since I was leaving with my dad at eight. I got ready, getting dressed in my camouflage pants, a black tank top, a black leather jacket, combat boots and my sister’s dog tag which my dad had made us when we were younger. I tied my hair up in a ponytail before heading down for breakfast.

“You look like you’re going to address my soldiers,” my dad teased when I got downstairs. He was dressed in his General uniform.

“I must look the part. My dad is one of the most feared people around, so I must follow in his footsteps,” I argued.

“Touché! Well, eat up so that we can get out of here. I’m actually eager to see this equipment,” he said excitedly.

“I know! This is you we’re talking about,” I teased.

He stuck his tongue out at me. “You’re just as excited and you know it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I shrugged indifferently.

I tortured him by taking extra long to eat. He kept groaning the whole way, not getting the fact that the more he groaned, the slower I became. By the time I took my last bite, my plate was in the sink before I even finished chewing.

“I should’ve threatened to leave you behind,” he frowned at the realization as we hit the road.

“It’s too late now,” I laughed.

“I guess it’s something to note for next time,” he smirked.

“Now I won’t take long next time because I know what you’ve got planned,” I pointed out.

“There’s just no winning with you, is there?” he asked amusedly.

“Rarely; unless if your name happens to be Pixie Giuliani. Only then do you stand a chance,” I stated.

“I’m glad to see that you made peace with her and found a friend in Cyrus. I like the fella,” he noted.

“I like him too, but not as a potential lover. I like him as my best friend. There’s someone out there for him, and that I’m sure of,” I said happily.

“Well, he’s definitely a good influence in your life. I love that the two of them bring the old you out so much. Did you tell him about the incident?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah, I did! He says he thinks that there’s a bigger reason for this and that I should trust Kay to stick to her word,” I replied.

“And what do YOU think?” he asked.

“I can feel her close daddy. I don’t know how, but I can feel that we’re going to be reunited again soon,” I smiled.

He beamed. “Well, that can only be a good feeling right?”

I nodded. “Let’s hope so!”

The rest of the way was spent with us singing to some songs we used to listen to when I was younger. My dad, Kay, and I absolutely loved singing together. We were pretty good at it, something my mother never was. She always listened to us sing for her. Those were definitely some of my best memories.

The familiar military base camp gate came into view as we got closer to it. My excitement levels took off as we drove up to the gate. My dad flashed his pass before the gate was opened. We drove in just as a group of soldiers were running past.

Let me tell you a little something about soldiers.

They’re hot.

Like sexy HOT!

You know what they say about a man in uniform.

I could watch them the whole day. I may be a bit of a tomboy, and I may not be those kinds of girly girls, but even I know eye candy when I see it. We parked the car and the soldiers came to a standstill when they saw my dad. I also stepped out of the car and some jaws dropped.

I had my sunglasses on and I’d applied lip gloss when I was in the car. There’s a confident part of me that comes out to play when I’m around the army base – much like now as I smirked at the guys. I could see the pure lust in some of their eyes.

“General Montgomery!” they saluted.

“Good morning boys! You know my baby girl Shay,” my dad introduced. There was nodding all around.

“Good morning Miss Montgomery,” they chorused.

“Morning guys,” I greeted.

“How are they looking Jimmy?” my dad asked Jimmy, the drill sergeant.

“They’re looking good Sir,” Jimmy replied.

“Yes they are,” I unconsciously said. I blushed a deep shade of red when everyone started chuckling at my expense.

“Well, it would seem you’ve impressed my daughter, though I’m not sure in the right department. Good job boys! We’ll be seeing you later for your challenge,” my dad smirked.

“Challenge?” they all asked.

“Yep! My daughter is going to challenge all of you. If you can pin her down, you get a reward,” my dad explained. This was news to me, but I was excited about it.

After all, I’d trained with the best.

“General, you can’t expect us to take down your tiny daughter. Hell, I would squash her with my thumb. Come up with a better challenge,” one of the guys scoffed. The other guys stared at him in disbelief.

My dad shrugged. “For that statement alone, she’ll make an example of you.”

“Yeah right!” a lot of the guys scoffed. I just stood there while they underestimated me, itching to take them down there and then.

I pouted to my dad. “Do we have to wait for later?”

“Want to do it now? That piece of equipment only comes in four hours from now,” my dad informed me.

“Jimmy, how many guys are there here?” I asked.

“Thirty,” Jimmy replied.

“Hmm, that should be what? An hour tops?” I looked up to my dad. The guys looked super curious about what was going on.

“More or less,” my dad nodded.

“Let’s do this,” I said with an evil smile. I watched fear cross some of the guys’ eyes, and rightly so.

We moved off to the gym after I grabbed my kit from the car. When I come here, I always bring a bag in case my dad wants me to train. You’d swear I’m a cadet with how much training I actually do. It’s funny because I have no intentions of being in the army.

I do want to be a leader and philanthropist of some sort.

I changed into my black yoga pants and a black and white sports bra. My hair was already tied up, so that wasn’t an issue. I changed from my boots to my black and white trainers. Just for the fun of it, I added my sweatbands. When I stepped out of the changing rooms, the lust filled looks landed on me once again.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop looking at my baby girl like she’s a piece of juicy steak,” my dad warned. Immediately all gazes dropped from me, making me laugh.

“Alright! Under General Montgomery’s command, Jones, you’re up first,” Jimmy shouted.

I was standing in the middle of the mat, having stretched in the changing rooms, when ‘Jones’ stepped forward. He’s one of the bigger guys here, that’s no doubt, but I wasn’t the least bit intimidated. The fact was that he was smaller than Claude, and if I can take Claude, then I can take him.

“You’ve made your daddy proud little girl. We get it now. Why don’t you run along before I hurt you?” Jones taunted.

That honestly pissed me off. I punched him in the stomach, and when he doubled over, I grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the gut. He landed on the ground with a loud thump as he breathlessly held onto his stomach. I wasn’t even anywhere with him yet. I wanted to hurt him.

I wanted to hurt him.

Something in me was infuriated by the fact that he felt that he could disrespect me like that. I wanted his blood. I was even thinking about the different ways that I could actually kill him. When he recuperated, he got up and sent me a deadly glare.

“You got a lucky hit,” he spat.

“Come at me bro,” I smirked, knowing I would be pissing him off.

One of the things I learnt from Claude is that you should never let your opponent taunt you out of focus. Jones unfortunately, didn’t know that since he came charging at me. It took one move to take him down – I just stepped out of the way and stuck my foot out. He tripped and was sent flying to the ground. He landed with a loud grunt.

“Still think you can squash me with your thumb ASSHOLE?” I asked him. He got up and faced him.

“I’m certain of it, PRINCESS!” he smirked.

He came charging at me again, and this time I didn’t move. Instead, I faced him head on. I stopped him mid punch before actually fighting back. He still didn’t get any hits in. He wasn’t focused enough to be fighting with me.

He was fighting using his anger, which never gets you anywhere really. I was hitting him to the point where his own fellow cadets were cheering me on. He was bruised and bloodied when my dad ordered me to stop.

My dad stepped up to Jones. “Listen here boy! I’m the General around here, and you WILL show me the highest respect. My daughter just served you your ass and she’s only eighteen. Disrespect her once more, and I will not stop her from using ALL her skills on you. Understood?”

“Yes Sir,” Jones coughed out.

“Good! Someone get him to the infirmary!” my dad ordered.