I’m with you, Andi. I’m with you.
CHAPTER THREE
ANDI
After the intensity ofthe morning, Luke and I settle into a more comfortable routine as we make our way around the gym. He is tireless as we work on weight lifting, noting his max-out weight, before moving to the speed ball and the punching bag. After that, we move on to his cardio-max with running sprints, mountain climbers and burpees.
By early afternoon, Mack hasLuke in the ring sparring with one of the other newer guys. What I said to Luke was true – he has skills and he’ll be a good fighter, but he still has a lot to learn before he can get ring time with the more experienced guys. I know he has something to prove but putting him in that situation would do more harm to his confidence than he even realizes. If – or I should saywhen– he lost to someone more experienced, he wouldn’t even consider that they’d had years more training than he’s had. He would only see failure and defeat.
Only a few people here at the gym knows this, but every week day after work, I volunteer at a youth center. I see people every day with the same look Luke has in his eyes – hunger for his dream but no one to believe in his ability to attain it. Skill, stamina and training are important but so is having someone believe in you. I see the talent in him, just like I see the talent in the underprivileged teenagers I work with, and I want to help him see it, too. See it and believe it.
I’m standing back now, just watching him spar. Mack and Tom have taken over with Luke after my initial assessment and having nothing to do gives me way too much time to think. This, working at the gym with the fighters, isn’t my official job. Pop took me under his wing and started teaching me to defend myself when I was 16 and became legally emancipated from the state. I started hanging out here with him and learned everything I could. Now I do it just because I like it.
When I see the sparring match is about to end, I approach Mack at the side of the ring. “Hey Pop, think you can get a couple of the guys in here to spar? Might be good for me to explain to Luke what I’ve been doing ringside.”
Mack smiles at me knowingly – he knows my word choice is to let Luke save face with the other guys, at least in his mind. Everyone in here knows me and knows how long I’ve been with Mack and they have no problem taking input from me. Luke, however, would see it as a weakness since he doesn’t know me or any of the guys here.
“Good idea, Andi. Come on down here, Luke. That’s enough for one day. Let Andi explain her job to you.” Mack waits for Luke to remove his headgear and gloves then climb out of the ring before he continues.
“Listen, son,” Mack levels Luke with his dead-on gaze, “Andi’s been with me for a long time now. I’ve personally taught her everything she knows about boxing. She’s helped every guy in here improve his skills – so don’t be shy about asking for her opinion or taking her advice. She wouldn’t steer you wrong.” A couple of the guys standing nearby confirm Mack’s praise of me and I watch as Luke’s face and shoulders visibly relax, just a little.
Mack calls for a couple of the lighter weight guys to climb in the ring and I explain to Luke what my role is in these matches. I point out how one of the fighters always cocks his right shoulder back, even just slightly, before he throws a right cross. Even that slight movement would give away his intentions and allow the other guy time to block and counter punch. Something as small as that gives the enemy the edge, and no fighter can afford that.
Then I encourage him to help me watch for other clues. This is part of his training even if he doesn’t realize it. It will help him just as much if he pays close attention to his opponent’s body mechanics when he’s in the ring. It’s not all about brute strength – strategy and intellect plays a big role in who gets to the title fight.
I’m impressed but not shocked when Luke identifies a couple of key giveaways on his own. I smile at him as I say, “Good eye. Very good eye. Try to remember to watch for this next time you’re in the ring – every fighter has their own quirk to some degree. It’s hard to keep the next planned move a complete element of surprise. The really good ones keep most of their moves under wraps, but sometimes something as simple as which way they shift their eyes will give them away.”
Luke nods but has a faraway look in his eyes for a minute. Then he turns and looks at me and I see a newfound understanding in his facial expression. “I think I know why I almost lost my last fight now. Damn, that makes perfect sense.”
We watch the guys in the ring for a few more minutes before Luke speaks to me again. He doesn’t look at me, but leans over slightly so I know he’s talking to me when he says, “I’d appreciate it you’d watch me next time I spar and tell me what you see.”
I turn my head and look up at him and, seeing me turn to him, he looks down at me. His expression is genuine – there’s no double entendre meaning to his words. “Ok, I’d be glad to, Luke.” His return smile is warm and appreciative. So I continue with a semi-teasing tone, “But be warned, if you argue with what I say, I will video you and prove it to you.”
His laugh comes from deep in his chest and he is thoroughly amused. “You’ve got a deal, Andi.” With a blatantly flirtatious wink and his beautiful blue eyes sparkle with mischief as he adds, “Any time you want to video me, you just let me know. Especially if you’re my co-star.”
Damn, the man is sexy. He makes me rethink my self-imposed “no-dating fighters” rule for a minute. But I mentally shake some sense back into my head. I’m sure he’s a complete player and I’m not interested in the whole friends with benefits thing. Still, I enjoy spending time with him way too much and I feel drawn to him more than I want to admit, especially to myself.
Being in a gym full of testosterone-laden alpha males, there isn’t much I haven’t heard before so it’s pretty hard to offend me in that aspect. His retort was pretty tame in comparison, so I just laugh and gently shake my head in response. The clock on the wall grabs my attention, though, as I note how late it is and I have things to do before meeting my girlfriends at The Beta Room, ourfavorite watering hole, night club and general hang-out spot.
“Hey Pop, I’m taking off now. Need anything before I leave?” I call to Mack across the room. He turns and smiles at me, “No, darlin’, you go ahead and have fun with your girls tonight. Call if you need me.”
Suddenly my feet leave the ground and I’m being hoisted up in the air by a pair of big, muscular arms that have encircled me from behind. I let out a squeal of laughter while playfully yelling, “Put me down, you lunatic!” Of course, he doesn’t. He turns me upside and keeps walking towards Mack, completely ignoring the choice names I lovingly call him.
I know exactly who it is because this is how he greets me every time he returns from one of his trips. I met him soon after I met Pop and he’s the guy who’s slated to be the next light-heavyweight champion. He’s a phenomenal fighter and an all-around great guy who’s been like a brother to me since we first met.
When my head is finally right side up and my feet are back on the ground, I quickly turn and jump in his arms for a big bear hug. “Shane! ‘Bout time you came home!” He’s been away at a special conditioning camp a friend of Mack’s owns in Vegas for the past couple of weeks and I’ve really missed him. He’s the one person I can talk to about anything and the one I trust implicitly.
As my arms go around his neck and my cheek is close to his, I catch a glimpse of Luke’s face over Shane’s shoulder. He doesn’t look happy at all. In fact, he looks downright pissed off and possessive – like he wants to throttle Shane for touching me. I don’t know why I suddenly feel a twinge of guilt for being so excited to see Shane but I’m not about to examine that right now. Luke is making his way over to us and I suddenly feel the need to diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand.
LUKE
I love the way Andi’s face flushes red with embarrassment when I compliment her or flirt with her. It tells me that I’m getting to her like she does me. She wouldn’t respond this way if she didn’t feel at least some attraction towards me. She tries to play it off like she isn’t affected when I offer to let her co-star in a video with me.
But what really impresses me is how giving she is – even though she just met me and I’ve even been an ass towards her more than I’ve been nice today. I’m trying to make up to her for that now – I was out of line and I know it. After Mack and a couple of the other guys openly praised her about how she helps improve our skills, there’s no way I would even think of refusing her help.
That’s why I asked her to watch my next sparring match and give me some tips. That, and because she’s the first person who has genuinely believed in me and my dream. And I appreciate her more for that than she will ever know. Being looked down on by the rest of family because I don’t meet their definition of “success” is getting old but I don’t get the sense she’d ever make anyone feel that way. It’s just not in her nature.
I’m more than a little concerned at how quickly I’m becoming enamored of her. She has a way of just pulling people to her. That’s obvious as I watch how the other guys in here interact with her. They’re protective of her and they respect her, but they also include her in conversations that would embarrass lesser women. She just takes it in stride and gives just as good as she gets. It’s obvious she’s earned their trust and a lot of these guys don’t seem to give that up easily.
