Page 31 of Fight for Forever

I do my best to emulate what he is doing. Occasionally he has to pause and help me into position, once he stands behind me, but before he touches me, he steps back. I see him in the mirror, his brow has even deeper creases in it.

“I need to just move you,” he says.

“It’s okay, I’m fine with that. I want to get it right.”

His head lifts and our eyes meet in the mirror. His expression gentles. Joey places his gloved hands on my hips and turns me. It’s not the same as being skin to skin, but he’s close. I can feel the body heat coming from him. I almost sway backwards to make more contact, but catch myself.

Once he has me where he wants me, he goes back to my side and shows me how to twist my torso when punching out. How to pull my arms back and put my guard up, then dipping and twisting.

All the while he is explaining what each move is, defense, attack, avoidance. He’s gone monotone and distant. It’s not like Joey.

I’m sweating when he goes to grab us a drink, tossing his gloves onto the floor.

“You’re ready to have a go at sparring with the pads.”

He looks at the floor rather than me.

“Joey? You seem distracted. Do you want to call it for the day?”

“What? No,” he shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Meg, I know I’ve been kind of distant.”

“Is everything alright?”

He sighs and puts his hands on his hips. After a few moments, he lifts his head. “I just had a call with Sam. It’s about this fight someone has asked for. They want to bring it forward. I’ve only just agreed to do it. He was giving me the heads up about something this guy is doing.”

“What do you mean?” I take off my gloves and set them down so I can have a drink too.

“It’s what we call a grudge match. I beat him a few months ago, and he wants a re-match. I hate them because they’re generally more emotionally charged than other fights. Sam just let me know he’s been making comments about the match.”

“I take it they’re not very nice.”

“Not in the least. I checked them out before I came back in. I’m really sorry, Meg. I shouldn’t let myself lose focus while I’m training you.”

“It’s okay. It’s been a good session. I’m just worried about you.”

He maintains eye contact with me in complete silence. My chest constricts because he isn’t looking at me like he’s pissed about that. His lip tilts on one side and some of the old Joey returns.

“I’m not worried, per se. I just hate it when people talk shit. It’s unnecessary. He’s trying to hype things up, and it puts pressure on everyone involved. It’s bad enough it’s a re-match, especially so soon after our last fight.”

I don’t understand the inner workings of MMA fighting, but from what he said last night, how passionate he is about this, how much respect he has for his opponents, it seems this guy is throwing something in his face. There is no respect there if he’s making a point of talking crap about Joey.

“Can you beat him?”

Joey laughs at my question. Not in a you’re asking stupid questions kind of way, more in surprise that is what I’ve asked.

“I don’t like to get cocky about fights. Our last match wasn’t easy, but I beat him by a knockout.”

My nose wrinkles. I blink a few times and look away. It wasn’t often that I lost consciousness when Michael lost his temper, but it happened. It’s no fun when you’re hit so hard you’re knocked out. The last time it happened was when Jenna came to my apartment.

He knocked me out and fought with her. When I woke up, he had her pinned against the fridge in the kitchen. He was choking her even as she fought hard, hitting him with everything she had.

I shake my head hard to forget about it. Joey takes a step towards me, his face full of concern. He guides me over to the bench and helps me to sit down.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Please don’t worry.”

“Maybe we should call it for today. I have some shit I need to deal with over this whole mess.”