Page 20 of Choke Hold

I close my eyes with a sigh as Seb chokes on his water and Rosa cackles.

“Oh my god,” Luca says, and I open my eyes as he whirls around to face me again. He dramatically points at the clock on the wall. “It’s only 8:30 fucking AM, and we’ve already had a full fucking workout.”

“Again, your idea,” I point out, pushing past him to exit the ring.

He follows me with a scoff. “No, my idea was early. Not this early. Especially since you set a fucking alarm after fucking me into–”

“Ok.” Max holds a hand up and blows out a breath, shaking his head. “Luca, go… do what you need to do. Ty, work on takedowns with Seb.”

Luca glares at me for a moment longer, before his expression softens and his lips tilt up in a soft smile. And as I hold his gaze, I can’t help but smile as well, and send him a silent thank you.

As irritating as he can be, he’s also the only one that can really get me out of my head, and help me find my way home.

EIGHT

“What time is it, Mr. Wolf?”

“3 o’clock!”

I chuckle at the sound of giggles from the first graders as they take three steps towards me and Ira at the end of the gym.

“What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” the class calls out again, some of them sounding much closer than three steps would have taken them.

I briefly glance over my shoulder to see a couple of the boys inching closer, before looking down to Ira as he keeps his back to them. “What do you think?”

Ira looks up at me with a thoughtful expression. “Lunch.”

I nod with a smile and tip my head towards his classmates behind us. “Go for it.”

His face breaks out in a huge grin as he yells, “Lunch time!” and turns around to chase his friends. And the little guy does an excellent job, letting out his inner speed demon and tagging five of them to join him as Mr. Wolf.

By the end of the class, and four more rounds of a very chaotic and not at all accurate game of What Time Is It Mr. Wolf, I’m smiling ear to ear and having a fantastic Monday morning. Especially since it’s now recess and I plan to join Dan for playground duty. Fresh air, sunshine, and showcasing my talents as the best swing pusher in Missouri… What more could I ask for?

As I exit the school into the chilly February air, I spy Dan at the edge of the playground helping a student with her coat.

“Hey, man.” I join him as the little girl runs off to join her friends.

“Hey.” Dan smiles. “I haven’t seen you in awhile. You weren’t at hockey on Thursday and then didn’t work Friday. I feel like I need a full catch-up.”

I chuckle and spot some of the second and third graders at the swings waving me over.

It’s my time to shine.

“Yeah,” I nod as Dan and I make our way over to them, “it was nice to have Friday off. And I needed to be in the gym Thursday.”

“Mr. Mitchell, I want to go high,” one of the boys, Grayson, says seriously as he settles onto the swing. “Higher than Matilda.”

“No, I want to go higher!” Matilda furrows her brow at Grayson, a look of absolute determination taking over her features.

“I’m going to go the highest,” Keegan says proudly from the swing next to Grayson.

I laugh, miming rolling up my sleeves. “Well, hang on then. We’re setting records here today, friends.”

The delighted laughter and screams coming from them as I launch these little thrill-seekers into the air has my smile growing even wider. I fucking love this job.

Dan chuckles as he takes over pushing Keegan for me. “So, how did it go?”

I nod as I push Matilda and Grayson again, my smile dimming. “It was alright.”

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