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I rolled my eyes at his arrogance, but raised my fists in front of my face. All of my focus was concentrated on hitting my target, and my mind could not wander anywhere else. The more T.J. yelled, the harder I hit. I enjoyed feeling the impact of my fists on the pad, as it rippled up my arms and jolted my body.
After a while, T.J. ditched the pad, and put his hands up to block my punches instead. We circled around each other, watching and waiting for the other to make the first move. A devious smile crept onto his face while his eyebrows lowered. I watched his body movements, trying to anticipate his plan of attack. I flinched with every step and jerk he made.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, his eyes locked on mine.
“Not for one second,” I replied from behind my fists.
“I’m going to take you down,” he informed. “I just need you to go with it.”
“Should I be wearing headgear?”
“No, because you trust that I won’t hurt you.”
“How do I know you won’t?”
“You don’t know. That’s what trust is – you give someone the chance to hurt you, and hope that they don’t.”
I inhaled deeply, and signaled that I was ready.
I did not even see him move. One second, I was upright on my feet, and the next second, my back smacked against the floor of the ring. T.J.’s body was pressed against mine, one hand hooked around my leg, and the other supporting the back of my head. He stared into my eyes, barely out of breath, and awaiting my reaction.
“Well, I can feel my legs,” I said, wiggling my toes. “That’s a good sign.”
He laughed, and pulled me up to my feet as he stood. “That wasn’t so bad, being vulnerable, was it?”
I tilted my head from side to side. “I’d much rather be the attacker than the one being attacked.”
“That is a very informative and revealing statement.” He patted his left leg. “You’re going to come at me, and lift this leg up. If you ram your shoulder into me at the same time, you’ll be able to tackle me to the ground. You ready?”
Now, I was the one wearing the devilish grin. “Ready.” I did as he said, and slammed my left shoulder into his stomach. My right arm hooked around the back of his leg, lifting his foot up off the ground. We crashed onto the floor, though not as gracefully as when he had tackled me.
I laughed as I sat up, rubbing my shoulder. That was the most physical activity I had done since the shoulder surgery, and the dull ache was a reminder. “That was awesome.”
T.J. reached out and ran his thumb over my surgery scars. Though his hands were used for causing pain, they were soft and gentle on my skin. “What happened here?”
“Shoulder surgery. Last year.”
“From the accident?”
I jerked back from his touch. “You know about my accident?”
“It was all over the news. It’s not exactly a secret.”
I quickly stood, adjusting the waistband of my pants around my hips. “Can I hit the pad again?”
He grabbed the pad without question, and jumped to his feet. “Go.”
We spent the remainder of the hour in silence, with the exception of T.J.’s commands.
Our time came to an end when Tanner stood outside of the ring, leaning against the cage.
“How’d she do?” he asked.
“I have to say, I’m impressed. Once she learns to trust me, she’ll do even better.” T.J. winked at me. “See you tomorrow, Adams.”
“Tomorrow?” I looked to Tanner.
“In the beginning, you’ll be training here every day,” Tanner answered. “You can leave straight from work. That’s usually when I come.”
