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“Damn it,” Ethan growls, knowing exactly what I’ve done. He has to learn, though. You can’t let your opponent do what they want with you. You have to take control.
He swipes at me but I easily block it, and he returns his hands close to his face to guard. He’s not aggressive enough.
I keep my stance loose, bobbing back and forth, and wait for him to take the bait. He finally does, coming at me, but I’m ready for him, evading, and he stumbles off balance. I manage to get two into his side.
Instead of retreating, he comes at me, the two of us going for the upper hand, ending up with us both missing, locked together in a clinch. He tries to escape, and I let him, going in immediately again, knocking him against the ropes. He holds his hands in front of his face, and when he pulls them away, there’s a light in his eyes. He’s ready for more.
“Go on the offensive, Ethan.”
I dance around the ring, sidestepping his attempts, enjoying his growing frustration. When people get frustrated, they make mistakes.
After another minute, Lawrence calls time and I touch gloves with Ethan, both of us wiping sweat out of our eyes. The guy’s improved a lot over the last few months, especially as he’s cleaned up his diet and put on more lean muscle. Boxing in his first real fight helped open his eyes to what he needs to work on, too.
“I can’t wait to get to your level,” he says, holding his side gingerly as we leave the ring.
I spit out my mouthguard and undo the velcro on one of my gloves with my teeth. “You got some good licks in.”
“Yeah, but not like yours.”
With anyone else, I’d take his statement as either hero worship or whining, but I know he doesn’t mean it like that. He sincerely wants to get better.
“You still haven’t figured out my weakness yet, have you?”
He leans in with interest.
I pause for dramatic effect. “It’s that I don’t have one.”
A grin splits his face as he punches my shoulder. “I’m going to the diner across the street later. You want to go with?”
“Yeah, sure.” I could eat.
“Lexie works there. I’ll see if she’ll let you use her employee discount.”
“Okay.” It’s a diner. How expensive can it be?
“Give me twenty minutes? I want to work on some of the things Lawrence mentioned on the speed bag, then hit the shower.”
I nod, spotting Tyler and his girlfriend over by the heavy bags. “Catch you later.”
I finish unwrapping my hands, flexing my fingers once they’re free. My knuckles are red and I already know it’s going to hurt moving boxes tomorrow at work.
And it’s only Monday.
I cross the large, open space and wave a hand at Uncle Marty in his office, who gives me a brief acknowledgment back.
Near the heavy bags, Tyler tips his chin toward me and I approach. “Hey, man.”
Next to him, Mia is a red-faced, sweaty mess, her curls wild around her head as she huffs and puffs while punching the bag. Though nowhere near boxing level, she’s incrementally gotten better over the last year or so.
“You didn’t tell me what this study would really be like,” I say, cutting to the chase. “You made it sound easy.”
He holds up a hand, stopping me from saying anything else. “Trust me, if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t have asked any of you to be a part of it.”
His girlfriend grins. “You brought this on yourself, you know. And Austin’s not the problem. Ethan is.”
I glance questioningly between the two of them. I expected Tyler to apologize, not act hassled. “What’s wrong with Ethan?”
Tyler rolls his eyes. “He’s taking this study way too seriously and is all into meditation now.” He must be in that other group. “Does it twice a day, thirty minutes a pop, and can’t have any noise during his meditation time. He’s driving me crazy.”
