Crazy Maybe (3 page)

From my peripheral vision, I see Andi’s hand moving to Will’s arm and he finally looks away from me.  She speaks to him again and I see him relax somewhat.  He likes her – no doubt about it.  But he wants to protect her more than anything else and right now he sees me as a threat to her.  When Will turns to issue an indirect threat to me, I am ready to throw down.  No man threatens me and then doesn’t back up his words. 

I am planning my first move when I feel Andi sq
ueeze my hand and lightly tug on me until I look at her.   I can see her barely shake her head, telling me not to carry out my plan of jumping the un-jolly giant standing beside us.  I can see pleading in her eyes and she distracts me long enough that Will walks off with the last word in our silent war of determination. 

When I realize he not only got away with threatening me, but I didn’t even say one word in retaliation, I am beyond furious with her but even more with myself. 
Since when do I let some girl distract me this way?  This is un-fucking-believable!
   I can’t help but think that she did that to get back at me for hurting her little feelings earlier.  Add
getting played
to how I was just made to look like a chump and pussy and now I’m beyond pissed.  I can’t even see straight.

Keeping my voice low to avoid causing a huge scene, I basically hiss my words at her.  “
What. The.  Fuck
.  Do you think you’re doing?  Don’t
ever
even try to call me down again.”  I lean in closer to her face with each word until I’m really in her face.  I know I’m a big guy and I expect her to be scared and yell for Will to come save her.

And I’m completely wrong in assuming she’d be scared of me.  I watch the fire build in her gray eyes until they become more of a gray-blue as my words and my stance sink in.  She closes what little gap I left between us as she hisses her retort to me.

“You have NO. FUCKING. IDEA. Who you were just dealing with.  Not only is he far more trained than you are, he has been coming here for YEARS and Mack would never tolerate a new guy fighting with Will.  Especially over something as stupid as your fucking pride.  I just saved your ass and no one else in here even knew what was going on.  You should be kissing my ass right now!”

“How would you know he’s ‘mo
re trained’ than me?”  I growl back at her.

“I sai
d FAR more trained,” she growls back. 
Damn, this girl isn’t backing down from me even one inch. 

Then she continues
to shred me with her next words, “And I
know
because I’ve seen you fight before!  Professional boxing rules are quite a bit different than your
street boxing rings
, but Will’s been trained by the best and he’s damn good.  From what I saw of your fight with
El Toro
, you wouldn’t stand a chance against Will right now.”

I glance
around the room, checking to see who all had heard our little interaction, but thankfully no one was paying attention.  Not even Will.  I needed a minute to think about my response but I had none. 

If she knew I’d fought El Toro, she must have been there.  And if Mack trusts her to “check me out,” then there’s no doubt she knows what to look for in a fighter.  And add yet another strike to my ego and confidence.

“Can I do my job now?”  Her voice is calm again and holds no trace of the anger she just spewed at me.  OK, I started the fight and deserved the anger from her in return, but I’m not admitting that it’s my fault right now.  She just keeps surprising me and throwing me completely off balance.  I simply nod once and she starts her examination of my other hand in the exact manner she’d done the first one.  She gives no indication of any confrontation at all and after a minute or two, her touch has a calming effect on me.

“I didn’t mean to be so harsh, Luke.  I’m sorry for that.  I had planned to tell you that I’d seen you fight before and I know the rules of the street circuit are different than pro boxing, but you have real talent.  But I didn’t plan to make it sound like a put-down.   If this – going pro - is what you really want, I believe you can do it.”

She is so genuine – her tone, her words, her demeanor – they all prove she means what she said.  She isn’t just blowing smoke up my ass.  And those words, her apology and her belief in me, is the best thing anyone has ever said to me.  In my whole life.  And just like that, she showed me again that she deserves every bit of respect I can give her.

And again, all I can do is nod at her, hoping she kno
ws with that one nod that I both accept her apology and appreciate her words.  The irony of the situation isn’t lost on me though – I’m not that stupid.  I’m the big, strong fighter but I can’t even find the damn words to apologize to this petite, beautiful woman who keeps throwing me lifelines even though I’ve done nothing to deserve them.  Or her. 

I have to question which one of us has the real strength.  That’s not even true – I can already see she has me beat, hands down, no contest, game over. 

I’m with you, Andi.  I’m with you. 

ANDI

After the intensity of
the morning, Luke and I settle into a more comfortable routine as we make our way around the gym.  He is tireless as we work on weight lifting, noting his max-out weight, before moving to the speed ball and the punching bag.  After that, we move on to his cardio-max with running sprints, mountain climbers and burpees. 

By early afternoon, Mack has
Luke in the ring sparring with one of the other newer guys.  What I said to Luke was true – he has skills and he’ll be a good fighter, but he still has a lot to learn before he can get ring time with the more experienced guys.  I know he has something to prove but putting him in that situation would do more harm to his confidence than he even realizes.  If – or I should say
when
– he lost to someone more experienced, he wouldn’t even consider that they’d had years more training than he’s had.  He would only see failure and defeat.

Only a few people here at the gym knows this, but every week day after work, I volunteer at a youth center.  I see people every day with the same look Luke has in his eyes – hunger for his dream but no one to believe in his ability to attain it.  Skill, stamina and training are important but so is having someone believe in you.  I see the talent in him, just like I see the talent in the underprivileged teenagers I work with, and I want to help him see it, too.   See it and believe it.

I’m standing back now, just watching him spar.  Mack and Tom have taken over with Luke after my initial assessment and having nothing to do gives me way too much time to think.  This, working at the gym with the fighters, isn’t my official job.  Pop took me under his wing and started teaching me to defend myself when I was 16 and became legally emancipated from the state.  I started hanging out here with him and learned everything I could.  Now I do it just because I like it.

When I see the sparring match is about to end, I approach Mack at the side of the ring.  “Hey Pop, think you can get a couple of the guys in here to spar?  Might be good for me to explain to Luke what I’ve been doing ringside.”

Mack smiles at me knowingly – he knows my word choice is to let Luke save face with the other guys, at least in his mind.  Everyone in here knows me and knows how long I’ve been with Mack and they have no problem taking input from me.  Luke, however, would see it as a weakness since he doesn’t know me or any of the guys here.

“Good idea, Andi.  Come on down here, Luke.  That’s enough for one day.  Let Andi explain her job to you.”  Mack waits for Luke to remove his headgear and gloves then climb out of the ring before he continues.

“Listen, son,” Mack levels Luke with his dead-on gaze, “Andi’s been with me for a long time now.  I’ve personally taught her everything she knows about boxing.  She’s helped every guy in here improve his skills – so don’t be shy about asking for her opinion or taking her advice.  She wouldn’t steer you wrong.”  A couple of the guys standing nearby confirm Mack’s praise of me and I watch as Luke’s face and shoulders visibly relax, just a little. 

Mack calls for a couple of the lighter weight guys to climb in the ring and I explain to Luke what my role is in these matches.  I point out how one of the fighters always cocks his right shoulder back, even just slightly, before he throws a right cross.  Even that slight movement would give away his intentions and allow the other guy time to block and counter punch.  Something as small as that gives the enemy the edge, and no fighter can afford that. 

Then I encourage him to help me watch for other clues.  This is part of his training even if he doesn’t realize it.  It will help him just as much if he pays close attention to his opponent’s body mechanics when he’s in the ring.  It’s not all about brute strength – strategy and intellect plays a big role in who gets to the title fight. 

I’m impressed but not shocked when Luke identifies a couple of key giveaways on his own.  I smile at him as I say, “Good eye.  Very good eye.  Try to remember to watch for this next time you’re in the ring – every fighter has their own quirk to some degree.  It’s hard to keep the next planned move a complete element of surprise.  The really good ones keep most of their moves under wraps, but sometimes something as simple as which way they shift their eyes will give them away.”

Luke nods but has a faraway look in his eyes for a minute.  Then he turns and looks at me and I see a newfound understanding in his facial expression.  “I think I know why I almost lost my last fight now.  Damn, that makes perfect sense.”

We watch the guys in the ring for a few more minutes before Luke speaks to me again.  He doesn’t look at me, but leans over slightly so I know he’s talking to me when he says, “I’d appreciate it you’d watch me next time I spar and tell me what you see.”

I turn my head and look up at him and, seeing me turn to him, he looks down at me.  His expression is genuine – there’s no double entendre meaning to his words.  “Ok, I’d be glad to, Luke.”  His return smile is warm and appreciative.  So I continue with a semi-teasing tone, “But be warned, if you argue with what I say, I will video you and prove it to you.”

His laugh comes from deep in his chest and he is thoroughly amused.  “You’ve got a deal, Andi.”  With a blatantly flirtatious wink and his beautiful blue eyes sparkle with mischief as he adds, “Any time you want to video me, you just let me know.  Especially if you’re my co-star.”

Damn, the man is sexy
.  He makes me rethink my self-imposed “no-dating fighters” rule for a minute.  But I mentally shake some sense back into my head.  I’m sure he’s a complete player and I’m not interested in the whole friends with benefits thing.  Still, I enjoy spending time with him way too much and I feel drawn to him more than I want to admit, especially to myself. 

Being in a gym full of testosterone-laden alpha males, there isn’t much I haven’t heard before so it’s pretty hard to offend me in that aspect.  His retort was pretty tame in comparison, so I just laugh and gently shake my head in response.  The clock on the wall grabs my attention, though, as I note how late it is and I have things to do before meeting my girlfriends at The Beta Room, our
favorite watering hole, night club and general hang-out spot. 

“Hey Pop, I’m taking off now.  Need anything before I leave?”  I call to Mack across the room.  He turns and smiles at me, “No, darlin’, you go ahead and have fun with your girls tonight.  Call if you need me.”

Suddenly my feet leave the ground and I’m being hoisted up in the air by a pair of big, muscular arms that have encircled me from behind.  I let out a squeal of laughter while playfully yelling, “Put me down, you lunatic!”  Of course, he doesn’t.  He turns me upside and keeps walking towards Mack, completely ignoring the choice names I lovingly call him.

I know exactly who it is because this is how he greets me every time he returns from one of his trips.  I met him soon after I met Pop and he’s the guy who’s slated to be the next light-heavyweight champion.  He’s a phenomenal fighter and an all-around great guy who’s been like a brother to me since we first met. 

When my head is finally right side up and my feet are back on the ground, I quickly turn and jump in his arms for a big bear hug.  “Shane!  ‘Bout time you came home!”  He’s been away at a special conditioning camp a friend of Mack’s owns in Vegas for the past couple of weeks and I’ve really missed him.  He’s the one person I can talk to about anything and the one I trust implicitly. 

As my arms go around his neck and my cheek is close to his, I catch a glimpse of Luke’s face over Shane’s shoulder.  He doesn’t look happy at all.  In fact, he looks downright pissed off and possessive – like he wants to throttle Shane for touching me.  I don’t know why I suddenly feel a twinge of guilt for being so excited to see Shane but I’m not about to examine that right now.  Luke is making his way over to us and I suddenly feel the need to diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand.