Page 16 of Sunflower Persona
“Do you promise you won’t think I’m weird?” The words are muffled against her palms.
I grunt in response but make no promises. As cute as she is, if she says she hacked my phone or put a tracker on me, I won’t be able to withhold judgment.
She lets out a deep groan and flings herself back on the mat.
“Fine. I saw the name of the gym on your shirt the other day and looked it up. I know nothing about fighting, but I thought it might be fun.”
“That isn’t that weird. The whole point of those shirts is marketing, anyway.”
“Really?” she asks, sitting back up.
“Yup. Coach David will be glad to know it worked.”
My chest tightens again at the way her whole face lights up as she relaxes.
“I’ll spare you the pitch,” I tell her and cough away the weird sensation. “If you aren’t sure, don’t sign up now. Come back next Tuesday at seven and try out a class. If you like it, then we can talk membership.”
“It’s a date.” Her eyes widen as the words spill out, and she drops her focus back to the ground, sucking her thick bottom lip between her teeth.
A shiver courses through me at the sight. She needs to stop doing that shit, or I’ll show her exactly how those lips deserve to be treated.
“Come on, I’ll walk you out.”
In one smooth motion, I’m on my feet, and I help her off the floor. She stands with as much grace as a newborn foal, stumbling forward and catching herself on my arm. Another wave of her fruity scent washes over me. It’s even more mouthwatering mixed with the sharp pinch of her nails digging into my skin.
“Sorry,” she hisses as she jerks away.
“No personal bubble, remember?”
“Right. How long have you been doing this, exactly?”
“I’ve been with the gym since it opened, but I’ve been training under Coach since I was sixteen. So eighteen years, give or take.”
“Holy shit, that’s a long time.”
Almost as long as you’ve been alive.
Fuck me, she’s young—too young for me to have any business messing around with. Whatever this weird…interest…I have for her is, it can’t go any further, or I’ll cross the line into creep territory. Despite my growing trepidation, I keep talking. I’ve been an ass to her enough already.
“It’s all I ever wanted to do,” I tell her with a shrug. “My dad showed meRockyfor the first time when I was six, and I was hooked. I knew I wanted to be a fighter. While the other kids were playing games during recess, I was shadowboxing.”
More spills out than I intended. Something about this woman makes it far too easy for me to bare my soul. That might also be the sleep deprivation.
“Why here? I know you said no sales pitches, but this place has to be special if you’ve stuck around this long. So sell me on it.”
“It’s a good gym. We are way more family-oriented than some of the others in the area, and it’s a lot more welcoming to those who are looking for a hobby, not a career.”
“That’s great, but it doesn’t tell me why you’ve stayed.”
“What do you know about Coach David?”
She cocks her head to the side in question and thinks. “Not much. That’s the owner, right?”
“Yes. David Boyd: two-time UFC featherweight champion, and he holds the record for the fastest submission in UFC history.”
“That’s impressive?” she says, but her inflection sounds as if she isn’t quite sure.
“Sure.” I shrug.
