Page 22 of Not Fooling Anyone

I shrug, turning on the street that leads straight to the dorms. “I work out a lot.” And, if anything, I’ve been eating more lately and actually losing weight. I don’t get it.

“Yeah, but boxers are supposed to be serious about what they eat. You can’t stay in your weight class, otherwise.”

I stroke my beard, catching a tangle. “Yeah, I need to get better about that.” If I could drop to a lower class, I’d have an advantage.

“Do you compete?”

“Not yet. I’m still training.”

“Don’t let it go too long. Dad complains about the guys who spend yearstraining, and then miss their window to actually fight.”

I nod. “Maybe you could put in a word with him to schedule more sessions with me. He’s always booked up.”

“Nope.”

I turn sharply toward her, then remember I need to focus on the road. “What do you mean? I just bought you ice cream.”

“Oh, so it was a bribe?” I catch her smirking out of the corner of my eye. At least she’s relaxed enough again to joke. “If you’re hellbent on boxing, that’s your choice, but I’m not getting involved. It’s barbaric and pointless and a waste of time.”

“Don’t let Marty hear you say that. You’re an employee of the gym now.”

“I know when to suck it up and keep my mouth shut,” she says.

“Seriously, how can you hate boxing so much? It should be in your blood. Your dad fought for years. He was great.”

She lets out an exasperated sigh. “I love my dad, but he’s washed-up.”

I suck in a breath. That was harsh, even for her.

“Okay, that sounded bad,” she concedes. “But he tried for so many years and never got to the level he wanted to.”

“He made a living off of it, though. That’s more than a lot of people can say.”

She makes a noise of dismissal. “In one place one day, three states away the next, just for a chance to compete. Every fight was going to be his big break. And it never was.” She tucks her leg under her, hugging her other knee. “He was living out of his car at one point because he hadn’t won enough prize money for hotels. He’d call when he could, but man, that sucked.”

My grip tightens on the steering wheel. “You were with him?”

“No, he wouldn’t let me.” She gives a soft smile. “I begged him, but he always said the road was no place for a kid.”

I take my chances and push it a bit. “Because you wanted to be with him? Or didn’t want to be at home?”

She’s quiet for a moment. “Both.”

“Your parents weren’t together?”

She picks at her thumbnail, avoiding looking at me. “They split when I was little. I guess I should feel lucky he wasn’t a complete deadbeat.”

Wow, what a standard.

“Don’t tell Dad I told you all this.” She chews at her nail, muttering, “I’m not sure why I said anything in the first place.”

“I can keep a secret.”

“It’s only, he has a reputation at work, you know?”

“I get it.”

She nods gratefully. “And he’s a great coach. Better than he was as a boxer. But the guys there see him and think wow, he was living the dream. I could be like him. But that’s not the reality. He must have loved it, though, if he kept at it that long.”

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