“Yep, pretty much.”
She swallowed. “You said a plan for both. How did I get involved though? Unless…” She turned back around. “Someone else has been watching me or something and…” Tears started forming, “They knew I’m tied to you. That if you… fuck I think I’m going to get sick.”
“Whatever is playing in that head of yours, stop.” I took her face in my hands. “Whatever thought is going through your head that you’re responsible for this in some way, you are wrong.”
“Shooter. They wouldn’t have thrown my name into the mix if it wasn’t for you and me.”
“Not your fault. Jesus, unfortunately it’s a dirty trick that we’ve played before, to expose the weakness of the enemy and entice them to comply.”
Her eyes widened. Before she could speak, I kissed her hard and fast, preventing any more lies from spewing from her mouth. I pulled away, “Jesus. Before you start thinking that you’re the problem, you are fucking not. You are the reason I wake up with a smile on my face, why my heart feels lighter. You are not a weakness, you are a motivation to continue in this world we are living in.”
She sniffed. “You don’t play fair.”
“No, I play to win. Now, before you spiral in your thoughts like a chaotic whirlwind, channel all that into the bag. I want to be concerned that it’s about to come off.” I spun her around, watching her adjust to the placement I gave her, with a proud smile, I slapped her ass before returning to the bag.
“Now. All those emotions. All those thoughts that you are better off somewhere else. All those negative ideas that you are not good enough. All those memories of the shithead, everythinginto this bag,” I said, tapping the bag, ready for the storm that was brewing behind her eyes.
She took a deep breath and aimed straight for the bag, the force of her motion leaned into her strength, pushing out the force of the blow. She let out a deep cry, one that seems to have been buried for so long.
“That’s my girl. Punch with your left and jab with the right. You’re keeping them on the edge,” I encouraged her.
She was safe. She was going to know that she was enough for me, she was more than enough. My only hope was that she would never have to feel like this or use it to protect herself. If I had it my way, she would be attached to my hip. I’d never let her go.
“Come on, one more. Give it all you got,” I encouraged.
With one final yell, she about knocked me back a step. She had power in those punches. She was already strong, but I just wanted her physically stronger.
“That’s it. I’m proud of you. I’ll make you a fighter yet.” I reached for her, wrapping her in a tight hug.
Her breathing became steady. She looked up at me, “What’s the plan?”
“One fight.” I said, calmly trying to avoid the outburst she may start.
“Who’s fighting?” She started to pull away, folding her arms across her chest.
“You know you’re so cute when you look fiery and ready to murder someone,” I joked, but she twisted her lips being unamused.
“Me versus one of their fighters, apparently a rookie, someone a part of their family.” I kept it short and sweet.
Her eyes bugged out of her head, her lips went into a tight line, “You want to say that one more time?”
“Their fighter,” I said. She gestured for me to continue, rolling her hands. “And myself.”
Dead silence and then, “Absolutely not.” Her voice was stern, and quite scary for a second.
I approached her cautiously, resting my hands on her upper arms, rubbing them up and down. “I promise. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
She swatted my hands away. “Not that bad. Shooter. A couple of months ago, you were still in recovery from your last incident, which may I remind you, after learning the real truth, was caused in this gym after someone knocked you on your ass.”
“Keep talking, peaches, you’ll understand why I’ll be fine.” I tried to tease her, but it wasn’t working.
She started to pace back and forth in front me. Her feet shuffled as she started thinking out loud. She was like the wind up toy that would hop around until you wound it again, but with her, she never stopped.
“It’s already done,” I said.
“No, it’s not. You can back out. Give someone else the fight. Or don’t entertain the idea.” she rambled.
“That’s not how it works and I’ve already made up my mind.” I stepped back to the edge of the ring, watching her unravel.
