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I laugh, and Ty shoots me another dirty look. Fuck, I love getting under his skin. It just gives me the warm fuzzies. Especially because I have something he needs.
“And,” Max turns to me, “while you are highly skilled on your feet, you need work on the ground. As a skilled grappler, Ty can support you with this.”
My smile immediately falls as I stare back at Max.
“We train as a team.” Max looks between us. “We learn from each other. You want to be a complete, well-rounded fighter? You do what you need to do to learn, and accept the support from everyone in this gym. That’s what it takes to be on this team.”
I swallow hard and nod. I want to be on this team more than anything, and I want to be a complete fighter. Which means I need to be strong in both Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu.
Max looks at Ty, and he nods as well.
“So, you can both be here?” Max asks, and I turn my gaze back to my rival standing before me.
Anger is rising and threatening to take over, just being in the same space as him. And this will be my daily life now. I have to be in the same gym as him, training with him, every fucking day. Ty looks like he’s ready to explode as he grips the strap of his bag tight and his jaw ticks. My own hands are squeezed tight at my sides, but I stretch my fingers out and take a deep breath in. I have no other choice. I either do this, or I leave.
And I am not leaving. He’s not winning. I gave up everything at home to be here, and this is it. I am doing this. I need this.
“Yeah,” I grit out, keeping my eyes on Ty.
Max looks at Ty expectantly, but he continues to scowl at me for a moment longer. He eventually turns his head to Max and nods. “Yeah.”
“Excellent.” Max smiles and crosses his arms, looking between us again. “You guys will be training together almost every day. So, hang up the metaphorical gloves. You’re teammates now.”
Everybody here is awesome. Well, all except one.
We all spent the morning getting to know each other, and Max has built a great team. There are fighters here from various parts of the world, and some of them I have heard of and have followed their careers so far. And every single person here is an elite quality fighter. Just thinking of the skill in this gym has me so excited to start training.
And besides the people, the facilities are unreal, with everything we could ever need. I am fucking pumped for this.
The only thing that would make it better is if Ty weren’t here.
He kept his distance from not only me, but everyone else, all morning. Training starts tomorrow, so we are just hanging out today to get to know each other and get settled in the gym, and it seems like he wants nothing to do with this. He just stands off to the side with his hands in his pockets, listening but not contributing anything to any conversation. He hasn’t even tried to get to know anyone here and, well, I actually like that. A lot. Maybe he’ll realize this isn’t for him and he’ll leave. It’s obvious the asshole isn’t a team player.
But right now, we’re all seated around the table in the kitchen eating lunch, and I’m trying to ignore his presence so I can just enjoy myself. But as we all chat, his brooding is distracting me.
Adão is talking about the MMA scene in São Paulo, where he’s from, and I love hearing all the stories of everyone’s training and fighting in different parts of the world.
“Did you grow up in São Paulo?” I ask Adão, as I take a bite of my pizza.
“Nope,” he says, shaking his head. “Tiny town not too far from there though. I moved into the city when I finished school so I could train. Not much going on in my town.”
“I hear you,” Rosa chuckles from her seat beside me. “Tzitzio, Mexico, is also not too well known for… well, anything.” She makes a face and I laugh. “I moved the second I could so I could find a gym.”
I nod with a smile. “I may have had a good gym and community in MMA, but small-town Missouri offers nothing else in comparison to Brazil or Mexico. I’ve actually always wanted to go to Brazil.”
Adão smiles at me. “Oh yeah? Why haven’t you?”
“Life just keeps getting in the way, and poor planning on my part.” I shrug. “I’m a teacher, so I can’t go during the school year, and then over the summer I end up working too much at the gym.”
“You wouldn’t want to go during your summer.” Adão shakes his head. “Best time to travel there is during your winter here.”
“Right, so not poor planning on my part, I’ve just been doomed with a terrible work schedule. At least I can use that as my excuse,” I say through a chuckle and everyone else laughs too.
“You able to keep teaching here?” Max asks.
I nod. “I was able to get on the substitute list with the school district. It’s hard to get a full-time position on a good day let alone in the middle of the school year. But I’m ok with just being a sub. There’s enough work, so I can pick and choose what days to go in. Plus it gives me more flexibility for time off when needed.”
Ty scoffs and my eyes dart to him, as his own eyes roll in annoyance. Every muscle in my body tenses as I glare at him and bite my tongue.
