Shifting Gears: The Complete Series (Sports Bad Boy Romance) (74 page)

“I can do that. But I don’t know how much
help I’ll be since I find your form to be beyond reproach….”

He laughed and said, “Good to know, but I
was talking about my boxing form. My next fight is going to be mostly a battle
of the fancy footwork from what I’ve seen of Trent.”

“Oh! Those moves,” I said with a grin. “I
can help with that, no problem.” He looked around and when he was sure we were
alone he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me up tightly against him.
My ribs were still sore, but I didn’t want him to stop so I willed myself not
to flinch.

He leaned down and with his face only
millimeters away from mine he said, “If I get the moves down, maybe you’ll give
me a little reward later.”

“Hmm, is the one I gave you in the shower
this morning not enough?”

“Not even close. No retro-active rewards.”

I laughed and said, “Okay then, you keep
track of what I owe you and we’ll settle up tonight.”

“Tonight? I have to wait all day? You know
how much I like instant gratification.”

I swatted him on the butt and said, “Go
get started on your drills or you’ll never make it to the ring and there won’t
be anything to reward.”

He grinned at me and went out to where Sam
was waiting for him. I was burning up all of a sudden; just thinking about
touching him gave me hot flashes. When I finally cooled down, I went out front
too. I helped Mark who was still maintaining his perfect gentleman status. He
was benching and I acted as his spotter. I could see Paul doing ladder drills
with Sam across the room. It made me happy just to look at him. He was so
freaking hot. Mark and I moved on to the biceps machine and I watched as Paul
and Sam moved over to do box jumps. I liked watching him jump too. All of the muscles
in his thighs and calves stretched and flexed. It was really sexy. Everything
he does is really sexy. He was turning me into a pervert.

I was finished working with Mark by the
time Paul and Sam were ready to get in the ring. They were wearing their mouth
guards and head gear, but I heard Sam tell him “no connecting with the
punches.” Today was just about footwork.
 
I stood next to the ring and watched as they circled around each other.
Every time Sam came at Paul, his job was to get out of the way. I kept my eyes
on his feet for a while and I noticed that he did a lot of plodding forward and
running away. That was going to kill his legs and by round three…if he made it
that far, he was going to be too tired to go on.

“Hey! The whole point is to use your legs
to get in and out of punching range. You’re backing out too far and giving him
the chance to rush at you.” He looked at Sam and the big man gave him a subtle
nod. I found that a little insulting. “Excuse me. You asked for my input.”

He spit his mouth guard into his glove and
said, “And I appreciate it.”

“Good answer,” I told him. “Then don’t run
it by Sam. Take it to heart. I’m not a boxer but I did study this stuff. I know
what I’m talking about.”

“I know you do, babe,” he said with a
grin. It was the first time he’d called me that in front of anyone. I felt my
face go hot and I glanced quickly at Sam. He was being polite but I could see
the traces of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

I watched again for a few minutes before
saying, “Okay, see right there. He was coming forward with his arm. You weren’t
moving yet. You were on your toes and going nowhere. Always time your footwork
so that when he’s punching, you’re moving.”

Paul spit out the guard again and said,
“What about when I’m punching? Won’t he be moving?”

“Yes, and so will you. Use your footwork
going in for the punch and moving away from it as well. In other words, never
stop moving. Just do it in a way that doesn’t use all your stamina in the first
round.”

He winked at me and said, “Baby you know I
have stamina to go for days.” He slid his mouth guard back in and left me with
a red face, I’m sure. I’ve never seen him so relaxed and playful. I guess
having Mitch out of the picture really did do wonders for him. I liked this
side of him, a lot.

I shook off my embarrassment and started
talking to him as he was moving in and out. “Okay good; create space as he
throws the punch. Just back step enough so that you’re out of range. Don’t run,
just step back! That’s it. Now, what do you do?”

He didn’t take the mouth guard out that
time but I heard him say, “Create space again.”

“Exactly. It’s easy, just keep doing the
same steps over and over…not working too hard but making him work harder.”

“Hi Jessie!” I turned around and saw
Victor and Marie coming towards us.

“Hey kid! How are you?”

“I’m good. Are you okay?” Victor asked me
with a concerned look on his face.

“I’m doing great. Teaching your uncle a
few moves.” Marie walked up behind him and I saw a subtle wince when she looked
at my face. It looked a hundred times better than it did, but evidence of the
cuts and bruises were still there, faded but still evident when I wasn’t
wearing make-up.

 
“Hi
Marie.”

“Hey Jessie. It’s good to see you.”

“You too, and you!” I told Victor.

“Hey Jessie…I’m sorry for what my dad did
to you.” Victor said it so sweetly that I felt worse for him than I did me. It
was the first time since what I’ve dubbed “AM” “After Mitch” that I felt like I
wanted to kill that SOB myself. This sweet little boy should never feel like he
has to apologize for something that monster does.

I sat on the edge of the ring with the
ropes behind me so that we were eye to eye and said, “You have nothing to be
sorry for. Grown-ups are supposed to know how to handle themselves without
using violence. Unfortunately, some of them don’t learn that so well. You’re a
great kid. We can all only be responsible for ourselves. I like you and
consider you my friend. I don’t hold you responsible for anything that anyone
else has done.”

He smiled at me and his little freckled
nose wrinkled as he did. I found myself hoping that someday Paul and I had one
just like him. I was beginning to accept that even with all the drama I wanted
to keep him around. Kids are so resilient and I saw that in the next instant when
Victor said, “Hey Uncle Paul, can I spar the winner?”

Sam laughed and took out his guard and
pulled off his headgear. “He already won,” he told the boy. “Come on up.”

I got one of our smaller head gears and a
new mouthpiece for him. Then Marie and I watched while the two of them went at
it. Neither of them was really throwing punches, but at one point they hooked
arms and Paul took him down to the mat.

They wrestled until Victor was on top and
he held up his arms and said, “I am the champion!”

Paul reached up and tickled him underneath
his arms, knocking him to the mat in peals of laughter. I looked over at Marie
and saw the love for both of the in her eyes. She finally looked at peace.
 
I was happy for her…for all of them. If
anyone deserved some, it was this little family.

Victor and Paul played for a couple of
hours and Marie and I talked, getting to know each other more as I cleaned the
machines and finished cleaning up the things from my party. She was like
Victor, apologetic and feeling bad about what Mitch did to me.

“I know that I of all people shouldn’t
have a hard time believing he did that to you. He gave me a few beatings when
we were together that I thought I wasn’t going to see the other side of. I’m
just so damned sorry that you got caught up in our nightmare.”

“And I’ll tell you the same thing I told
Victor: There is only one person responsible for what happened to me and that
is Mitch.” I looked over at Paul and said, “I wouldn’t go back and change any
of my choices about letting any of you into my life.”

“We’re lucky to have you in ours,” she
said. “You’re good for my brother. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy or
so at peace. He’s been wound up inside since he was fourteen years old.”

“Thanks. He told me that his teen years
were pretty rough.”

“Yeah they were. A lot of it was or dad,
but a lot of it was worry over me too. He couldn’t get his own life on track
because of it all. I’m so praying that will all change now that Mitch is going
to be out of the picture…at least for a while. The night that Paul told me he
was in jail I slept through the entire night for the first time in six years,”
she told me.

I shook my head. “I can’t even imagine how
you’ve done this for so long. You’re a lot stronger person than me, that’s for
sure.”

She laughed and said, “Are you kidding? My
ex-creep is a moose. You tangled with him and the fact that you’re standing
here today and he’s in jail says that you won. You have to be incredibly strong
to walk away from what he did to you and just go back to your usual routine.
You look great and again, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“Thanks, Marie. I guess we all just do
what we have to do.” I was glad that everyone saw me as strong and brave. I
liked that. I never wanted to be seen as weak or incapable of taking care of
myself. The truth was though that inside; I wasn’t the same person I used to
be. The paranoia I’d been feeling before Mitch attacked me had turned into full
blown panic attacks sometimes when I was at home alone. I hadn’t told anyone…I
was sure it would pass eventually and again, I didn’t want anyone to look at me
like I was a “victim.”

CHAPTER
SIX

Paul and I stayed at the gym until closing
time and he continued to work on his skills while I helped out where I could.
He was determined to win that title and I was determined to do anything I could
to help him. It could be life-changing for him and I wanted that for him more
than anything. When it was time to leave and we walked out into the dark I
could feel the tiniest bit of anxiety beginning to take hold in my chest.

“You want to leave your car here for
tonight and take mine. We can get a movie on the way home?”

I liked the way he said “home,” like it
was where we both lived. Most of all, I liked that he was planning on staying
with me tonight. The anxiety was gone as quickly as it had come on.

“Sure, I have stir fry vegetables and
pork; I can make us dinner…”

“Nope,” he said as he closed the car door
on my side and went around to the other side.

He got in and I said, “You don’t like my
cooking?”

Smiling as he started the car he pat his
flat belly and said, “I love it…too much. But tonight I’m going to take care of
you. I’ll cook.”

“You cook?”

He laughed. “Yes, I can cook. As a matter
of fact, I’m so good at it that if this MMA thing doesn’t work out, I was going
to be a chef.”

He said it completely serious so I wasn’t
sure if he was kidding or not. I waited a few beats and said, “Really?”

Laughing he said, “No, not really. But I
can cook.”

We stopped at a Redbox on our way home and
Paul asked me what I wanted to watch. “I don’t care,” I told him. “Whatever you
think looks good.” He looked over at me and wiggled an eyebrow.

“I think you look pretty damned good. Will
you entertain me?”

“You know I will. After you make me dinner
and show me a movie.”

“Women, always with strings attached,” he
said. “Do you like Mark Wahlberg?”

“Yeah, he’s hot.”

He made a face and said, “That wasn’t what
I was asking, but thanks for sharing.”

I laughed. “Sorry, but he is.” Trying to
straighten the smile out of my face I said, “Why yes, Mark Wahlberg is an
amazing actor. Why do you ask?”

He rolled his eyes and said, “Have you
ever seen The Fighter?”

“Nope. What’s it about?”

“Micky Ward and his brother who trained
him…”

“Who’s Micky Ward?”

He was shaking his head at me. “I will
never know how a girl who knows so much about boxing can know so little about
it at the same time.”

“So who is he?”

“You’ll see when we watch the movie. I
know you’ll pay attention because Mark Wahlberg plays him and he’s “Hot.” He
said “hot” in a girlie voice. It was cute.

He got the movie and we went back to my
apartment. I took a shower and put on my comfy pajama bottoms and tank top
while he cooked the dinner since he ordered me out of the kitchen. The first
thing I realized when I got out was how good it smelled. As I came down the
hall I saw him putting the plates on the table filled with brown rice and
stir-fried vegetables. He left out the pork, but as it turned out, that was
okay. After my first bite I was in love, both with the dish and the chef.

“Oh my God, this is delicious.”

He smiled. “Thank you. See, I could be a
chef.”

“I didn’t doubt it for a second. I think
you can be anything that you want to be.” The last part just came out but he
looked like he was touched by it.

“What about an MMA champion? I go up
against Trent in two weeks. Beating him is probably going to be the biggest
challenge I’ve faced in the ring yet.”