Twenty-Eight
OLIVER
I’m using every ounce of my will power to stay focused, but Mia’s laughter is debilitating.
She has been on the mats working a takedown with Eli for the past hour.
Meanwhile, Max and I have been working the bag, trying to execute the training plan AJ left behind.
Her and Rory are a few states over at a gym for a training conference that she was personally invited to.
Dad surprised her with the email and I could hear her stop breathing from across the room.
Liam Henderson is one of the most accredited striking coaches in the nation.
He has multiple titled fighters under him and he wanted AJ to come help run part of his training conference.
It’s a huge fucking deal and we were all more than happy to run all the things while they were gone.
She demanded our dad go with her. I think she is nervous about meeting Liam.
Rory went to actually participate in the conference.
A new song plays over my headphones and I take that as a sign for me to get back to work.
I walk around the bag, landing every hit with precision and accuracy.
Training the basics consistently leads to quickness and strength.
I remember Dad making us run the same drills, over and over again, just to show us that repetitive behavior becomes a habit.
And it’s vital to fighting in every way.
Eli trains jujitsu because it is where his mind goes the quietest. Max loves to dabble in everything.
He loves being able to do a lot of things and he is never pressed to be the best in anything.
He just enjoys it. I like the physicality of fighting.
I like the rush of blood through my whole body.
The way that my skin feels alive with every cheer that vibrates through the crowd.
The charge in the air that makes you breathe differently. It’s addicting.
I pivot around the bag after throwing a low kick and nearly stumble bringing my foot back down when a squeal rings through the air.
Reaching out to stop the bag from swaying, I peek around it to see Mia jumping up and down while Eli is on the ground.
Mia has been working that move all morning.
She’s been so frustrated that she has struggled so hard, but Mia is one of the hardest working people I know.
She never quits. She hasn’t trained as long as we have, so she still overthinks every move because the mechanics aren’t natural to her.
Watching her finally get it makes my chest expand with pride.
“Atta girl, Sunshine!” Max yells across the gym and slams his hand against the bag. I watch her eyes go right past him and find mine.
She has a hesitant smile on her face and she’s breathing heavily.
A few wild pieces of hair are framing her face but her eyes are steadily searching mine.
I saw it, pretty girl. I do my best to tell her through the distance.
She must understand because she nods and grins before turning around to help Eli back up.
Her new tattoo glimmers in the raw sunlight.
She spent the day after her birthday with AJ and Devyn getting it done.
It’s a small circle encased by dots and lines, creating a sun at the base of her neck.
Stray rays of light and feathers stretch softly down her spine ending in a soft drawing of Icarus.
Devyn captured Mia’s soul in ink. Mia is always burning so bright and reaching for so much that she risks getting burned and falling.
We were lying in my bed, soaking up the warmth of the sun and finding peace in the quiet, when I asked her why she got that tattoo.
She looked up at me with her eyes so full of color and loud thoughts.
She said that it’s to remind her it’s not the reaching for something that is dangerous, it’s not being grounded that makes you fall.
That has sat on my heart since she said it. What is she reaching for?
“She’s getting stronger.” Maxwell steps up beside me and breaks my concentration on her.
“She’s already strong.” I throw a controlled punch on the bag.
Max grips the sides of the bag to hold it still while I work a few combinations. When my hands start to feel the familiar burning sensation, I pull away to catch my breath.
“You should take her on a real date.” Max raises an eyebrow at me, daring me to try and avoid this conversation with him again.
He and Eli have been relentless about trying to get me to push things further with her.
But they don’t understand her the way I do.
She’s comfortable with what we are right now and I don’t want to push her away by making her feel like she needs to do more.
“She goes on dates.” I switch places with him and hold the bag for him to work.
“Those don’t count.” He tosses a few punches before looking back up at me, “and she hasn’t been on a date in weeks. She is either here, at the coffee shop, or with you. That girl deserves a real date.”
“I’m going to her birthday gala this weekend with her.” I remind him. He throws a punch and kicks so hard that I feel it travel through the bag.
“That’s not a date.” He isn’t wrong. But I feel like it is a step towards making sure she knows I’m serious about the time I spend with her.
“I hear you, okay? I’m working on it.” I toss the bag back in his direction, hoping he will take the hint to stop harassing me.
“Working on what?” Eli joins us and I sigh.
“Taking our girl on a date.” Max fills him in.
Eli laughs before gripping my shoulder. “Afraid of being turned down?” He jokes.
“Remember when you two were unsure about her because we don’t know anything about her?” Eli and Max line up next to each other and cross their arms before staring me down. AJ hates when we do this to her, rightfully so. It’s annoying as fuck. “What?” I grunt.
“She has grown this gym twice the size it was. She has single handedly reminded AJ what fun is. And you haven’t been moping around the gym nearly as much as you usually do since your injury.” Eli points out.
“All because of her.” Max adds.
“She deserves someone to chase her, to want her.” Eli points at me, “Don’t be a dick.”
“I’m not a dick! It was my idea to throw her a birthday party.
” I lower my voice before continuing, “And I’m still mad at you for showing her that damn drawer and telling her I’m the one who buys her all the cherry shit.
” They both die laughing now and I have to glance over my shoulder to make sure Mia can’t hear us.
She is at the front desk doing her work before she has to leave to work at Melinda’s this afternoon.
“You shouldn’t have made Maxie pretend to be the one doing it to begin with.” Eli corrects.
“She doesn’t want more than what we are doing.” I mumble.
“How do you know?”
“Have you actually talked to her or asked her?”
They both shoot off at the same time. I bite my tongue before I scream out of frustration and bring attention to us.
“No. Because Mia goes after what she wants. Always. If she wanted more from me, she would tell me.” I let go of the bag, we’re obviously not going to continue our workout.
“Or maybe you should just ask her. Communication is key, man.” Eli says softly.
“Are you really going to lecture me about communication with the girl you want? How’s Devyn?” I watch Maxwell drop his head out of the corner of my eye. That was a hard shot, but Eli doesn’t even flinch.
He just steps forward and says in a low voice, “I’m never at risk of losing her.” And suddenly it’s harder to swallow. The thought of losing Mia never occurred to me.
“She doesn’t have to stay here. She isn’t AJ.
This place didn’t raise her. Mia has a heart that will change the world.
And you can’t change the world by staying in the same place.
” Maxwell says softly, trying to defuse the tension.
I just stare at both of them before turning to look at her.
They are right. I need to find a way to tell her that I want more with her without making her want to pull away.
AJ is always saying what she loves most about Mia is that she is so free.
I don’t want to take that away from her.
But the ominous weight that now fills the deepest pits of my stomach reminds me that I desperately don’t want to lose her.
I make it home after the fights, limping from the hard hits I took on my thigh and ribs tonight.
I lost both fights. My head just wasn’t in it.
I was going to ask Mia to come with me but she told Eli she wouldn’t be at the gym today because she has to go help her grandmother set up the gala space for tomorrow.
I didn’t want to make her feel guilty for not being able to be there.
So, I just didn’t even tell her that I was fighting.
I also didn’t tell AJ. She would be so pissed at me if she knew I was fighting back to back like that
My injury has fully healed and I’ve been using restraint on that leg when needed, but she wouldn’t think there is a single good reason to push my body this hard.
And she would be right. I risk getting hurt every time, and this isn’t my career.
Not like it is for Rory. But it’s where I feel like I have purpose.
I keep searching for the same feeling everywhere else, anywhere else. And I always come up short.
My phone vibrates on the counter of my bathroom as I turn on the hot water in the shower. I check it to see a picture of Mia laying on the floor covered in a facemask and a barely there tank top.
Mia
The only thing getting me through today is knowing I get to see how hot you look in a tux tomorrow.
My chest shakes with quiet laughter. Leave it to this girl to always make me feel better even when I’m in pain.
Oliver
I’m pretty sure you prefer me out of my clothes.
Mia
Don’t pretend to know me.
Oliver
I don’t have to pretend.
There’s a pause in her texting. I’m just about to step inside the shower when the phone vibrates again.
Mia
How was your night?
We don’t normally do this. Small talk. But I will never complain about her spending her time talking to me.
I take a selfie from the chest up and send it. The screen lights up and she is FaceTiming me. I quickly wrap a towel around my waist before answering.
“Are you naked?” Her sweet face appears on my screen.
“Are you?” The small string holding up her tank top has fallen down her shoulder, barely visible on the screen, making her look like she doesn’t have clothes on.
“Did you fight?” The pinch between her eyebrows and small scrunch of her nose lets me know she’s concerned.
I glance up at the mirror and take in the small cut on my cheek and dried blood on my neck from where an elbow cut me.
Overall, I could have taken much more damage, but I tried to protect my face more tonight since I have to go with her to this big party tomorrow.
And she made it very clear that it is very formal.
“You didn’t tell me.” The hurt that trickles through her words actually stings my heart.
“You were busy today, I didn’t want to bother you.” I let the water from the shower fill the silence between us as she catalogs me through the screen.
“Did you win?” I can tell that she wants to say something else but she refrains.
I let out a harsh breath. “Not tonight.” I lean back against the wall, resting my arm holding the phone over my other arm folded across my chest. “My head just wasn’t in it tonight.”
“Make sure you treat that cut.” She says softly.
“How is the gala prep coming?” I ask to change the subject. I don’t want to talk about how I lost because if she asks where my head was at, I don’t think I could stop myself from telling her it was consumed by her.
She goes to rub her forehead, but quickly remembers she has a facemask on.
“Gigi said that Mom wasn’t going to be there, but she showed up towards the end and wanted to make changes to everything.
On the plus side, I got to see my grandmother remind her that it wasn’t her event and she didn’t get to make the decisions. ”
“Your grandmother sounds kind of scary to be honest.” Mia beams at my observation.
“She is feral. I love her. Everything she wants to do, she just does. Nobody tells her no. I want to be like that when I’m her age.
” You’re like that now, I want to tell her but she continues.
“She chose a historic art museum for the gala this year. Bleeding Hearts is the theme. So everyone will be in red and black. And I can’t wait to wear my new dress.
My parents will hate it, but I love it.” She never talks much about her parents, but I can tell they are very controlling and expect a lot of her.
She continues rambling about the decorations and the artists that have donated work for the charity auction part of the gala.
But I just get lost in hearing her voice.
“Oliver?” I look back up at her and she has most of her mask cleaned off now.
Her splash of freckles is more prominent on her bare skin.
“Is that the shower still running?” She giggles.
Shit. I reach over and the water is ice cold. I drop my head and grin at her through the screen. “I should probably get off here and actually get in the shower. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She nibbles on her bottom lip and smiles before the screen shows the call ended.
I step under the spray of water and shiver, it’s frigid. But a cold shower is good to wake up the senses. Talking to Mia about her day felt so normal. Something prickles the back of my neck as I recall her exhaustion with having to deal with her mom. I’m going to meet her family tomorrow.