Page 9 of Choke Hold

I’ve been spending too much time with Ty…

But I shake it off and pop my earbuds in, finding a sick playlist to listen to as I head out to the track. “Call Me Maybe” quickly lifts my spirits as I get started on my run, and I let the good tunes distract me from my loneliness. Except there’s something else nagging at me, as my thoughts continue to wander back to my conversation with Max earlier.

He wants to see more sparring. And I know that’s what both Ty and I want as well. Heading into this next fight, we want to move forward in training and continue to push ourselves to become complete fighters. It’s why we’re here, and what we’ve been working so hard for. But I can’t help the unsettling feeling I get when I think of how our drills went last night.

Maybe Ty is right, and it is just rust.

Or maybe it’s not. I know what I saw… and it wasn’t just a misstep or a delayed reaction.

With a shake of my head, I blow out a breath and push those thoughts away. He’s Ty fucking Roscoe. He’ll get it back.

By the time I’m at the MMA bag and working through some combos, everyone is finally starting to arrive, and I’ve never been happier to have a full gym. I’m so not meant to be alone. I’m like a little wolf cub that needs his pack to survive. And honestly, at this point I wouldn’t say no to a hug from someone.

Maybe days off aren’t so great after all.

“Hi, Luca.” Noah smiles at me as he wraps his hands, getting set up at the bag next to mine.

I smile and nod back to him, landing a sick switch kick on the bag.

“Damn.” Noah shakes his head and chuckles. “How are you that fucking fast?”

I chuckle as well and step back from the bag, shaking my arms out. “Practice, young grasshopper.”

He furrows his brow in confusion. “Isn’t it patience, young grasshopper?”

Now it’s my turn to be confused. “Well, you don’t want patience. You need to be quick for a switch kick.”

Noah shakes his head and hesitates for a moment. “Oh, I… I mean the saying is patience…” He pauses before waving a hand in the air. “Never mind.”

I shrug, turning back to the bag. But before I can start another drill, the door to the gym opens and Ty walks in. He keeps his head down as usual, giving slight nods to everyone as they greet him. I lean against the bag, watching him as he heads straight for the locker room. And just when I think the asshole isn’t even going to acknowledge me, he looks up right before he enters the locker room and gives me a small nod.

Good thing I have the bag for support, as I’m weak in the fucking knees.

With a huff and an eye roll, I get back to work while I wait for him to get ready and continue working on switch kicks. The few times I’ve successfully used these in the cage, and in Muay Thai matches, it’s been a complete game changer when I’ve been able to catch opponents off guard with explosive power in close combat.

Ty being one of them.

He soon exits the locker room, wrapping his hands as he heads directly for the ring, in the zone and all business.

This should be fun.

I pull a glove off and grab my water, heading over to join him.

“How was work?” I ask and squirt some water in my mouth.

“Fine.”

I huff out a laugh. “Fine.”

He shoots me a look and I chuckle. But he just continues to wrap his hands and slide his gloves on.

“My day was excellent,” I say as I slip between the ropes of the ring. “Thanks for asking. Played a little Minecraft, did a little laundry, had a dance party…”

“Hm,” Ty grunts as he enters the ring behind me, clearly too focused to have this conversation right now. Which is fine. I’ll be sure to fill him in on all the details later.

But as I watch him move to the middle of the ring, I sense something more than just focus and being in the zone. And I hate that this means I’m probably right about what I saw in him last night.

“Ready, Tiger?” I ask as I stand across from him.

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