Page 34 of Fight for Forever

“So what’s the issue? You like her?”

“Yeah… I do. But she has a history.”

“Of?” he narrows his eyes, automatically suspicious.

“Domestic violence.”

“Oh,” he rubs his chin. “That’s tough.”

“The worst part about it is she killed him.”

“No shit,” he says in surprise.

I explain what happened, and he looks as if he approves. Being an ex-soldier, he knows how tough it is to take a life. It’s something I have absolutely no experience of.

“You like her enough to figure a way past that? Does it bother you?”

“Not in the slightest. I’m glad she took that asshole off the board. But she’s got trauma, you know. I’m not sure how far to take things. I’ve been training her for a while. This is only the second time we’ve gone out in any other capacity.”

I fill him in on how she asked me out the first time.

“Then she’s interested,” Dixon says matter-of-factly. “But I see what you mean about treading carefully. I guess all you can do is take it at her pace. Let her take the lead.”

“It’s come at the wrong time, with this fucking fight.”

“If she’s interested, she’ll wait.”

It’s almost seven thirty. I need to get going soon if I want to be on time to pick her up.

“I’m worried about what I do. The fighting. She lived with a monster who beat the shit out of her for five years. What if she sees me that way?”

“Have you ever lifted a hand to a woman? Or anyone outside of a ring, for that matter?”

“No, Jesus, you know I wouldn’t do that.”

“Then you don’t need to worry.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

“She knows. Come on, she wouldn’t have come around here as much as she did. Or gone out with you, and accepted your invitation tonight, if she felt that way.” He eyes me for a moment. “Is that all this is about, or is it about how you feel about her?”

I almost want to laugh, the big tough navy seal and an MMA fighter discussing their feelings.

Dixon has always been open. He’s a thinker, big on philosophy. He works on the premise that talking things through to avoid misunderstanding is a way of life. If you want an easy life.

We’ve never had problems talking about stuff before. Doesn’t stop me feeling like a dick asking for relationship advice.

"You've done this before, with that chick in college,” he points out.

Yeah, Veronica. We were together for a little under a year. It was good while it lasted, but we outgrew each other. He’s right, I am capable of it. I’ve just never met anyone I wanted to take that step with.

Trust me to pick a woman with enough baggage to fill a train car. At the same time, I want to help her clear that baggage. I want her to see she’s worth so much more.

“Whatever that thought was, hold on to it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Just go have fun. What will be, will be.”

---