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33
Bobby
Perspective
“Lock it in tight, B.” Aiden crawls around Jim and me as we struggle on the floor. I want my bastard little brother to tap, but he’s not giving it up. We have four days to go – only two of those will be a full training day – and I’m still struggling with this fucking arm bar.
It’s not that I can’t do it, but Jim’s a slippery fucker and I want to be able to perfect it, every time, before Monday.
As far as I’m concerned, I win because I’m confident, and I’ve already won or lost a fight long before I even step into the octagon. Right now, without this lock, I don’t feel like a winner, and if I don’t fix it, I’ve already lost.
So I’ll fucking fix it.
“Again,” Aiden instructs.
I feel like I can easily define my life into two categories.
Pre-Kit. And Post-Kit. I guess you could call it Post-Jack, too. Pre-Kit, I’d thrive on this. Training day in, day out. Out of the house before the sun came up, running five miles, ten when I was feeling extra chipper, then working and training until it was bedtime again.
But now, post-Kit, I hate missing a sit-down breakfast with them. I hate missing dinner because I’m sweating on the mats instead, then going home to eat broccoli and chicken alone while I snooze sitting up.
It sucks.
I don’t hate my job. In fact, I love it.
I love my sport and the fact I’ve had the good fortune to work my way to the top. I just never realized how much I’d miss my family when we’re in lockdown.
Pre-Kit, my family was in lockdownwithme. Not anymore. And because of that, my head isn’t in the game when it should be. Instead, it’s with my wife, whether she’s in her own office across town, or she’s in my gym. And surprisingly, when she’s in my gym, close enough to touch, but I’m not allowed – that’s when I miss her the most.
Maybe, as our relationship goes on and life is calmer, when I can put space between us and the events of last year, maybe then I’ll feel less urgency and need to be by her side 24/7.
But that day is not today.
“Bobby?”
My head snaps up at Kit’s sad voice. My girl is almost always light and happy. She’s the smile when the rest of us are tired and grumpy. So when she walks into my gym and speaks withthatvoice, I pay attention.
We all do.
I tap Jimmy’s arm and crawl from beneath him in a heartbeat. I crawl through the ropes and have her face in my hands less than two seconds from when she spoke my name. “What’s the matter, baby?”
“Umm…”
“Are you okay, Kitty?” Jimmy joins us at the edge of the ring and pulls his shirt up to wipe his sweaty face.
She looks up at him and wipes her eyes, though no tears have fallen. “I got a call from the lawyers.”
“What did they say?” My heart thumps painfully and sends anxiety thrumming through my blood. There’s nothing they can say that’ll make Kit smile. Even if those assholes got sentenced to life, she still wouldn’t smile. Just thinking about them hurts her. She still has nightmares – I wonder if she even realizes. I wonder if she knows that I know.
“I’ve been summoned…” Her shaky hands reach up to hold onto my forearms. “To testify.”
“When? When does it go to trial?” I mentally plan and prepare to walk away from my fight today.
She won’t go there alone. No matter what, I refuse to let her go alone. We don’t need money. I fight for me, because I want to, because I enjoy it, because it’s my sport. But not for the payday.
And not at the cost of my wife.
“November sometime.” She lets out a gusty breath. “They told me the day, but I forget now.”
