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Everyone gathers around the boxing ring as Max taps on his phone, excited murmurs filling the space. Luca leans against the ring post, smiling at Rosa as she dangles her legs over the edge of the ring floor, resting her arms over the bottom rope.
“Here we go.” Seb rubs his hands together as he stands beside me. “Fucking pumped.” He smiles at me, and I force a smile back at him.
“Alright.” Max looks up from his phone. “Rosa, you’re facing Teresa Byers.”
“Knew it,” Rosa says with a nod.
Max chuckles. “Guess I don’t need to fill you in on her?”
Rosa shakes her head. “We were bound to meet at some point soon, I’ve been keeping an eye on her.”
Max nods approvingly and lowers his eyes to his phone again. “Adão. You have Roman Haney. Solid, all-around fighter.” He looks up at him. “Looks like he could be a challenge.”
Adão smiles with a shrug. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“That’s the spirit,” Max laughs. “Luca.”
My eyes slide to Luca, and I take in the excitement written all over his face. His eyes are bright, and his smile is wide. And I feel a pang of guilt. He should be excited… and I should be too. I can’t help but feel like I’ve been bringing him down with me.
“Manuel Rojas.” Max looks up at Luca, then smiles. “Striker.”
“Fuck yeah.” Luca’s smile grows even bigger. “I’ve heard of him. This should be fun.”
I’ve heard of him too. He’s fast and tends to use a defensive fight to his advantage. He’s quite similar to Luca in some ways, and the complete opposite in others. Which should make for a really interesting fight.
“And Ty.”
My eyes snap to Max, and he looks up from his phone at me.
“Andrew Giles. He fights out of the same gym as Roman Haney, so he has a similar fighting style. But, from what I’ve seen, he tends to prefer a stand-up fight.”
I nod, crossing my arms over my chest. “Got it.”
The corner of Max’s lips tilt up as he nods back at me. “I know you do.”
As he turns to Noah, I feel Luca’s eyes on me. But I don’t look back at him.Because I don’t want to show him the weird mix of emotions rolling through me right now. It’s excitement and need, but also hesitation, sadness, and frustration. I need this fight, more than anything. I need to get back into what makes me me. But this massive block is in my way, and it just won’t come down no matter how much I chip away at it.
I have just over four weeks. Four weeks to get over this. Four weeks to take a hit, sharpen my defense, strengthen my attacks, work on my balance–
“Alright.” Max’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “I’ll be meeting with each of you over the next week to work on your training plans. You all know what to do until then.”
“Got it, boss.” Elijah nods to him as he hops down from the ring, and Rosa jumps onto his back with a laugh.
I watch as everyone makes their way towards the locker room, and Max heads to his office. But I can’t make myself move.
Luca turns to face me when he realizes I’m not following and points a finger at me. “No.”
I open my mouth to respond but he continues. “I said no. We’re going out. Come on.” He pats his thigh. “Let’s go.”
My eyes narrow at him. “I’m not a fucking dog.”
“Oh, right.” He holds out his hand and rubs his fingers and thumb together. “Psst psst psst, here kitty kitty.”
“Fuck off, Mitchell.” I turn towards the glove locker, an intense need to train taking over me. “I’ll come out next time.”
Luca scoffs. “Right. I’m sure.”
Just as I reach the glove locker and pull the door open, Luca’s hand slams it shut. I turn to shoot him a look, and he just tilts his head with an eyebrow cocked.
