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“Thanks.” I walk over and sit down next to her.
“Are we going to talk about how the fucking Cannon wants to own your ass?” Tasha chirps.
“Why do you call him that? And no, he doesn’t,” I scoff. Though the idea heats me up in certain places.
“I heard a rumor he was moving back here. You know he grew up here, right?” Tasha tells me. “The Cannon. The current UFC champion.”
“What?” I squeak. My aunt told me my father was a professional fighter. An angry soul, she’d always called him. She also told me that my mom was one of those girls who followed fighters around wanting to hook up with them. I guess like a groupie or something. I’m not sure.
“Yep. He’s got so many endorsement deals. Wonder why he’s living here and not in some fancy house.”
I look around my apartment. Is the place really that bad? I guess it’s not the greatest, but when I look around I just see a place that needs a little love and care.
“If I had to guess it’s because the gym he used growing up is only a block down. Heard he’s training there. You know how athletes can be.” Tasha adjusts her dress. No, I don’t know how they can be. Unless you count the boys I went to high school with in my tiny town. We didn’t even have enough of them to make full teams to play against other schools. They only played for fun, so I don’t think that counts. “They get so into their training it’s all they can focus on.”
“I get that,” I admit. I can get lost in a project for days.
“He only looked focused on you, though.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“He was saying hello,” I say, feeling defensive for some odd reason.
“I think he wants to say more than hello,” she laughs. “I heard what he said to you.”
I pick up the pillow and hit her with it, making her laugh even harder. “I don’t date fighters,” I tell her.
“I’m not sure he’s going to give you much of a choice.”
I shake my head and stand up. “A man like that goes for someone like you. He thought I was a minor!”
“We’ll see.” I hear her say as I make my way to the kitchen to get us something to drink.
Why does the idea of him wanting with me make me excited? It should scare the crap out of me with the stories I’ve heard about my father.
Chapter Two
Bear
“You keep hitting it like that and I’m going to have a cracked rib,” Rico says as he holds the bag for me. He steps away rubbing his chest and I apologize.
“Don’t be sorry. He knows how to hold the bag,” Coach says, and I nod.
Rico starts cursing in Spanish as I go back to working on my kicks. I’m in rare form today. My muscles feel fresh and I’m ready to work hard. I’ve been at this for five hours already and yet it feels like I just walked into the gym. No matter what Coach has thrown at me today, I’ve given it back to him tenfold.
“All right, that’s enough for today,” Coach calls, and I pull back from the bag, bouncing on my toes.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “More.” I’m out of breath, but my body is still wound too tight. This can’t be it for today.
“Bro, you’re going to crash,” Rico says, pulling off his protective gear and throwing it into his bag. “Tell him, Coach.”
“You can’t keep going this hard, Teddy. You’ve been like this for two weeks now, and I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”
I glance over at Rico who gives me a look like really?
“Why don’t you ask him about his neighbor?” Rico says, and I glare at him. He presses his lips together, but he’s still smiling as he turns around to grab me a towel.
Coach comes over and grabs one of my gloves to help me take the tape off. “It’s a girl?”
“It’s none of your business,” I say, but my tone is friendly. Coach is like a father to me, and though I wouldn’t ever disrespect him, there are some things that are just mine.
“Hey,” he says, pulling my wrist to get my attention. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong with dating. It would do you some good to have someone beside me and Rico in your corner.”
“Hey, I’ve got great legs,” Rico says, looking offended. “You guys are lucky to have me. I make that corner look good.”
Coach and I roll our eyes in unison as he finishes removing the tape.
“She’s a good girl,” I say, just for his ears, and he nods.
He knows how this life can be. You’re on the road a lot, you’re surrounded by women and men throwing themselves at you. There’s lots of drugs and drinking, which I don’t ever touch, but it can be hard for people to be around it. I’ve lost a lot of good friends to the party scene around the ring, and it can be tough on relationships.
