After unexpectedly having a lot of fun boxing with Thomas yesterday, Ethan had asked the bodyguard to come back the next afternoon for some personal training.

Today's agenda was self-defence, and Thomas had told Ethan he could teach him a couple of things.

Ethan ran down the stairs when he heard the door bell chime. Ethan was faster as he walked past the doorman, opening the door and happy to see Thomas on time.

Ethan vouched for Thomas so that the bodyguard didn't have to go through the task of passing over his credentials. The bodyguard soon moved past the doorman as he entered the grand foyer, bowing at all the staff he saw at Shelton Manor.

"Did you go to the Hocking Hills State Park?" Ethan asked as they walked through the Manor together.

Ethan had suggested for Thomas to see the attraction since he was kind of a tourist, and he hasn't explored Ohio because of his work. He took a wild hunch and assumed the nature side of things would appeal to Thomas.

Thomas wasn't there for long as he described his morning to Ethan. "I took a short hike at the park, and I even passed by some kind of famous waterfall." Thomas added, "The scenery was really pretty."

Ethan was taking Thomas to the sports compound so that they would be able to train in there. They took a different path than the one Thomas used yesterday, and Thomas was constantly in admiration as he saw the pristine and heavily decorated rooms around Shelton Manor.

"Wow." Thomas expressed astonished, "You guys really have everything in this house."

They had walked past an Olympic sized swimming pool, where the water was crystal clear and smelled of chlorine.

There was a home made theatre on the bottom floor, which looked like it was on a grand stage for the whole world to see.

A second parlour room was located near the back exits, which gave Thomas the aura that only the royal family could even sit in there.

"It's a blessing and a curse."

Thomas turned his head at Ethan's statement as he became interested in what he said. "What do you mean?"

Ethan didn't answer Thomas as he directed them to the sports compound.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan closed the door behind them as he wanted to be saved of any embarrassment if someone would ever walk through the door. He was ready for a thrashing as Ethan was eager to learn some techniques to help himself in dire situations.

"You ready?" Thomas asked.

Ethan judged Thomas by the outfit he was wearing. Ethan was already in casual clothes when he offered Thomas a spare t-shirt. "It would be a lot more comfortable."

Thomas threw his jacket away as he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. He declined Ethan's offer as he gestured for the other man to move towards the centre of the room.

"So what are we doing, Teach?" Ethan bounced with enthusiasm as he loosened himself up.

Thomas instructed Ethan to put him in a chokehold. "I want to show you some tips on how to get out of one."

"Easy." Thomas stood still as Ethan walked up behind him. Ethan had a loose hold on Thomas as he tried to be careful with him, "How's-"

Ethan wasn't able to finish his sentence as Thomas flipped Ethan over his shoulder. He took advantage of Ethan's consideration by throwing Ethan flat on his back.

A loud groan came out of Ethan as he was laying on the mat. Thomas blocked the overhead light by standing over Ethan's head.

"Never let your guard down..."

Ethan huffed as he picked himself up from the ground. He ignored the little smirk he saw on Thomas as he went back to use more force on the bodyguard.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?" Ethan asked himself out loud. Given that he was being taught how to get out of a chokehold, the aggressor was most certainly getting his ass kicked.

Ethan was prepared this time as he made sure his arm was pretty snug around Thomas' neck. Seeing the teeniest colour change on Thomas' face, Ethan knew he was doing it correctly as he was now waiting for the bodyguard to make his move.

In a span of a couple of seconds, Thomas had tucked his neck down so he was against Ethan's force. The bodyguard side stepped slightly and grabbed Ethan's wrist. Using the same hand, Thomas swung down so that he could punch Ethan in the groin. As Ethan was rebounding from the pain, Thomas used his loose arm to elbow Ethan in the face.

Ethan had immediately let go of Thomas as he crouched down, and held everything that was hurting. Thomas was right by his side as he checked to see if anything was really bad - despite only using half of his strength.

"I don't know what hurts more, you hitting the money maker, or you hitting my manhood."

Thomas chuckled as he patted Ethan on the shoulders. Knowing that he wasn't in a tremendous amount of pain, Thomas helped him back up as they swapped positions.

Before Thomas grabbed Ethan's in a chokehold, the bodyguard gave some advice to the COO. "Even though your first instinct may be to panic and do anything within your capacity, you need to stay calm and follow through with these actions."

Right before Thomas closed his hold on Ethan, the bodyguard described every action that he needed to do in order to get out of a chokehold.

Thomas was patient as he went step by step, guiding the younger man with every move, and making sure Ethan understood everything he needed to do.

A little while later and the practice runs were over. Thomas had told Ethan to not go easy on him, so the bodyguard prepared himself to be assaulted by Ethan.

The student eventually became the master as Ethan successfully did everything he was taught - closing the chin down, the small side step, the wrist grab, the groin punch, and then the elbow to the face.

As Thomas was forced to let go off Ethan, Ethan used a little extra force to throw Thomas onto the ground - as payback for the start of the session.

A loud thump was created by Thomas' back crashing into the floor. The wind was taken out of him as Thomas was hurt in many places at the same time.

"How'd I do?"

"Pretty good." Thomas laughed in between the pain.

Ethan stretched his hand out to Thomas to help him up. Thomas stayed on the ground for a couple of seconds as he then accepted the help to get onto his feet.

"Let's go again."

~~~~~~~~~~~

They were practicing self-defence long into the afternoon, as it soon became evening in a flash of a second.

Ethan was escorting Thomas towards the front door when they both saw Camilla polishing some candle sticks.

"Mom? What are you doing?"

"That new maid never cleans properly." Camilla then shifted her attention from the candle to her son, with a beaming smile on her face. "Luckily I'm in a good mood today, because I'm having an intimidate dinner with my son."

Ethan laughed nervously as he had completely forgotten about it. Given that both his sister and his dad were in an out of town meeting, Ethan had assumed the socialite in front of him had plans on her own.

Camilla has only just realised that her son was standing with Thomas. Her hostess mode switched on as she warmly greeted the bodyguard with open arms.

"Thomas!" Camilla cheered, "What are you doing here?"

Thomas snickered as he whispered to Ethan, "That's another dollar..."

Ethan let out a little giggle too as he then told his mom about the self-defence training the bodyguard was teaching him.

Camilla showed her gratitude to the bodyguard for going above and beyond with his efforts to help her son. "You must stay for dinner!"

Thomas felt like he needed to check with Ethan first, and the other man just shrugged his shoulders as he let the bodyguard decide for himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

Camilla was in a cooking mood as she felt like she would be bonding with her son more. She had planned to serve an expensive piece of steak with all the fixings for the three of them, however she thought that her son would at least chip in to help.

Thomas decided to pull his weight and help her. Meanwhile Ethan decided to snack on some green beans as he watched the people around him cook.

Ethan found himself taken back by seeing the bodyguard offering to help his mom cook their dinner together. "Is this in your job description too? To out-shine me in front of my mom, and cook for us?"

Thomas continued peeling the potatoes as he multitasked with talking. "Technically it's to look after you and make sure you don't... you know... die."

Camilla reentered the kitchen as she put her phone down on the table. She had just finished planning something for her son, but the knowing look on her face made Ethan feel dread and exhaustion.

"So it's been a couple of weeks since the last date I set you up with..."

Thomas looked up as he found the topic of interest very appealing. He was curious as to why Ethan had a face of a slapped horse.

"Those dates are always disast-"

Camilla spoke over her son as she had described why all of the women she set him up with were perfect. "Beautiful, smart, rich, and successful. What's not to like?"

"An interesting personality?" Ethan laughed, "You think they are all those things you said, I think that I should have high expectations for the people I want to 'date'."

Camilla rolled her eyes as she criticised her son to Thomas. "Ethan never shows commitment to people."

"I'm happy living the bachelor life." Ethan raised his wine glass up into the air as he drank it all down.

Ethan shifted the attention to someone else as he quizzed the person he knew very little about. "What about you Tommy? What do you look for in a date?"

Thomas tried to steer the conversation somewhere else as he laughed it off, and attempted to change the topic. But Ethan was quick on his tail as he badgered him until he got an answer.

"Truth be told, there isn't much of a chance for a relationship. My job puts me in different places all the time, so it's kind of hard to have something stable."

Ethan scrunched his face as he hated Thomas' answer. "I thought you weren't a prude? I said date... not a relationship..."

Thomas pointed the peeler at Ethan as he scolded him. "You really want to talk about this when your mom is standing right besides us?"

"She loves gossip, now spill."

Thomas checked Camilla's expression to see if this was true, and Camilla nodded her head as she shamelessly listened in on the conversation - sipping her wine at the same time.

Thomas heavily sighed as he told them both the things he likes in a 'date'. "Attractive, capable, and funny."

"Those answers aren't juicy..." Ethan threw the green beans at Thomas as the bodyguard dodged every one. "They suck!"

Thomas moved on to prepare the steak as he grabbed the mallet. Thomas began tenderising the meat by letting the steak meet the mallet, softening it up and making it tender.

"Oohhhh..."

Thomas stopped his actions as he questioned Ethan's sudden realisation. "What?"

Ethan drew out suspense by heavily laughing, and remaining silent for a couple of seconds until he spoke again.

"You're very enthusiastic in beating your meat in front of us. You get off to an audience?"

Camilla spat her wine out while Thomas looked at Ethan with shame and disgust.

"You're gross."

==========