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Jesse had been acting weird the past few weeks. Tara couldn’t put her finger on why, but he hadn’t been himself.
He’d missed random days of work. Seemed pensive one minute, and unusually talkative the next. Snuck glances at her like he’d done during their first week working together, back when they were trying to stay away from each other even though they’d just been a collision waiting to happen.
A fatal collision if the way her heart hurt was any indication.
It’d been almost three weeks since that awful conversation in Jesse’s garage. Of course, Tara was doing what life required of her, but losing any chance at all with Jesse felt a whole lot like she was dragging around a lead blanket on her back. One that kept pressing her down and down.
God, falling in love sucked. The heart wanted what it freaking wanted whether it could have it or not. While she’d thought her one-night stand to be fun, this she could live the rest of her life without.
Which was why she was glad that today was Warrior Fight Club. Beating the shit out of something was exactly what she needed, even if the relief it provided would only be temporary. And it would only be temporary—she knew that. Because in the weeks since she’d pulled out of Jesse’s garage, the life she’d previously led no longer made her happy. In the wake of falling in love and getting her heart broken, she often felt lonely and unsatisfied, like there was more she could be doing. Should be doing.
She hated feeling that way when she had a good job, enough of the things she needed, and friends in the club. She should feel grateful for all she had. And she did, of course. But…
Something needed to give.
Tara just hadn’t figured out what it was yet.
So she went to fight club and found herself both relieved and disappointed that Jesse wasn’t there.
“Pair off,” Coach Mack called out after they’d warmed up.
Tara looked for Dani, but she’d already partnered with Noah. Sean held up his hands and grinned at her. “It’s your lucky day.”
Tara laughed despite herself. “Go easy on me.”
“Oh, sure, and then you’ll kick my ass and what will that do for my rep?”
She rolled her eyes and paid attention to Coach as he spoke again.
“We’re going to practice choke holds and joint locks. One of you will be the mount, and your goal is to put your opponent in a hold and keep him there, finishing the fight. The other of you will be the guard, looking to escape the hold, which passes the guard, or reverses your position with the mount. Colby and Hawk will demonstrate different joint locks and then you’ll take turns practicing them.”
Tara groaned when Colby demonstrated with the ankle lock, because it relied on upper body strength, and next to Sean she had no chance.
“Mount or guard?” Sean asked.
She smirked at him. “This is a David-and-Goliath situation here.”
He smirked back. “Yeah, doofus, but David won.”
She appreciated the sentiment. “Okay, I’ll mount then. Might as well start out on top.”
They sat on the floor facing each other, and Tara pinned Sean’s big-ass foot under her arm pit, using her grip on Sean’s shin and the tight press of her arm to try to trap his foot. “Hold on,” she said, adjusting her grip for a tighter hold.
“There you go,” Sean said, tugging and twisting.
Tara held on tight as Sean attempted to break the hold, gritting her teeth as her grip started to slip. Still, she held on.
“See, T? You’re tougher than you think.”
She tried it a few more times, and she had to admit that it felt good to no longer be the newbie here. Her skills had improved a lot since she’d joined early last summer. Even when she got beat, she usually knew what mistake she’d made.
Annnd of course that felt like a life lesson. Tara sighed.
“Okay, my turn,” Sean said, grabbing her ankle.
“Dude, your biceps are crazy. Like, if you flexed hard enough, that thing could snap my ankle.”
He chuckled. “You ain’t that fucking fragile.”
