Page 5 of Punchline
To someone who didn’t know what was going on, it would have seemed violent. Here I was, this bruiser of a man, tossing this guy around like a puppy with a chew toy. But he was no slouch—none of Carson’s students at this level didn’t know how to roll. He was trying things, he was moving, and to his credit he didn’t try to take any submissions, although I could see him eyeing my lower legs with the air of a man who knew heel hooks were going to be his best shot at tapping me.
Not tonight, man.
The second the buzzer went off, I let go and he rolled away from me, gasping for air.
“Holy shit,” he panted, staring up at the ceiling. “That’s fucking exhausting.”
“That’s one of the ways B Team trains,” I told him. “Craig Jones is no slouch.”
“Neither are you, dude.”
I smiled. My T-shirt wasn’t even damp. “If you’re going to take a round off, that’s fine, but do it off the mat.” I looked around for my next victim, and?—
“Care to roll?” the tiny woman asked me with a grin.
Oh fuck.
“I thought you’d be rolling with your husband,” I said, glancing over at the guy who’d cracked the “short person” joke earlier.
“We already did.”
Fuck fuck fuck.
“Maybe you should go with Sarah next. You’re about the same size, and?—”
“Aw, if you’re scared of Clara putting you in your place, just say so,” Carson said, coming out of nowhere and slapping me on the shoulder. He was smiling, but his grip was hard.Don’t fuck this up, he was telling me, and I got it. I didn’twantto fuck it up, but… she was so small, a buck twenty at most. I was more than twice her size. I could hurt her, bad, and not even know it.
But this gym was owned and run by a woman not much bigger. I respected Beth, and I was grateful for the chance she and Carson were giving me. I needed to be able to roll with all their students.
It’s a high-heartrate round. You’re not even going to have to look for submissions. It’s fine.
“You saw right through me,” I said easily, and his shoulders relaxed a little. The buzzer went off, Clara and I tapped knuckles, and then we got going.
I let her work on top the entire time. Sure, I pushed her here and there, did a few sweeps to keep things interesting, wrapped her up and let go a few times, but I never even tried to take top position. I couldn’t. I literally couldn’t makemyself work for top, and this woman wasgood. If this was a real round, I had no doubt she’d be trying to take my back and choke me with her legs. She knew what she was doing. She knew how to protect herself.
It didn’t matter. I couldn’t do it.
The round ended and when we tapped hands again, Clara didn’t seem bothered by how things had gone. Carson, though…
He was giving me that look.
That “I see what you did there” look. I fucking hated that look.
“Last round,” he called out. “Find a new partner.” I didn’t even get a chance to pick a victim this time, though—Carson came over to me and tapped in. “You ready for this?” he taunted, which I felt was unnecessarily mean.
Because I wasn’t ready for it. And he knew it.
The buzzer went off, and Carson being an asshole, he dove right in on me. He moved into headquarters, and for a moment I thought I’d be fine. If I could just let him stay on top…
And then he knee sliced, got into side control, androlled onto his damn back.Son of a bitch… I followed, but the second I began to put pressure on his ribs, my heart began to race.
Remember what happened?my brain taunted me.Because I do.We were almost in this exact position at Abu Dhabi when Carson wrapped me in a buggy choke. It was a last-ditch kind of choke and I’d known it. Given the fact that I had six inches and, back then, almost a hundred pounds on him, I’d stood up with him still wrapped around my neck and slammed him back onto the mat.
I’d meant for him to fall back-first. I overcompensated, though, and spiked him on the top of his head instead.
Onemove, and I’d given Carson head trauma that spelled the end of his future as an up-and-coming MMA fighter.
One move, and I’d put him in the hospital and burdened him with tens of thousands in medical bills he couldn’t afford.
