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Not everything has to have a meaning and purpose… does it?
ELEVEN
“Damn, you are quick,” Del, our boxing coach, chuckles as I lower my gloves.
I wipe my forehead with my forearm and smile. “My specialty.”
He laughs and points with his chin for me to exit the ring. “You’re all done, good job.”
“Thanks.” I hold out my glove for him to tap and count my lucky stars for the hundredth time this afternoon. I still can’t believe I’m training with Del Stanton. I watched him fight professionally out of St. Louis when I was a kid, and wanted to be just like him. Before my mom turned it off because it wasn’t appropriate. Well, Mom… joke’s on you. Even though she was the one who put me in kickboxing in the first place… Anyway, I’m here now so it all worked out.
I hop out of the ring, joining Rosa and Noah at the bench.
“He’s right,” Rosa nods, “you are fucking fast. And you have a mean uppercut.”
I huff out a laugh as I pull off a glove. “Nothing compared to this guy here.” I elbow Noah and he blushes. Such a shy little dude.
Noah starts to protest but I hold a hand up. “Take the compliment.”
Rosa nods seriously at him. “And not only the uppercut, you have a sick left hook too.”
I smile as Noah mumbles his thanks, and he and Rosa start in on a discussion about weight shifting when throwing a left hook. I try my hardest to listen and participate, but the thumps from the MMA bag in the corner of the gym competes for my attention. And I let my eyes slide towards the sound.
Ty is training alone, unsurprisingly, as he works on some drills and low kicks.
I slowly take off my other glove as my eyes roam over his legs, abs, the muscles in his shoulders, his pecs…
“What do you think, Luca?”
“Hm?” I turn to Rosa who is looking at me expectantly.
She gives me a quizzical look. “We were talking about training this week, and maybe Monday we’ll get back in the ring.” She gestures with her head to the boxing ring.
“Oh,” I nod, smiling, “yeah, totally.”
She gives me a half smile. “You must be tired from being here so early this morning.” She chuckles and quickly glances at Ty, then back to me. “Glad to see you both survived.”
I take the opportunity to bring my gaze back to him as well for a moment. “Yeah, barely,” I mutter.
“Well, it’s a step in the right direction.” Rosa pats my back as she takes off towards the locker room.
I blow out a breath and head to the shelves on the wall to grab a towel. And the thumps once again beg for my attention. As I lower the towel from my face, I watch as Ty stops his drills and backs up a step, keeping his eyes on the bag.
He’s laser focused, even at rest. He taps his gloves together in a rhythm, and I realize he’s tapping to the timing of his drill for his punch combos and kicks. Damn… he never lets go. He is always on.
He lifts a glove to push his dark hair off his forehead, and goes back to work.
“Any plans tonight?”
“Jesus.” I jump and look to my left where Noah is standing. I blow out a breath and stare back at him. “Where did you come from?”
He furrows his brow. “I was here the whole time.”
“Oh.” I quickly glance towards Ty again, then back to Noah. Well, I hope he didn’t realize I was watching Ty and... doing whatever I was doing. “Well, you certainly are light on your feet.”
He chuckles and blushes again which makes me laugh. He’s a fucking demon in the cage, but outside of it he’s like a little mouse. A demon mouse.
“And, no,” I say, tossing the towel onto the bench, “no plans tonight. I’m going to finally finish getting my apartment all sorted out and probably just have an early night for once. You?”
