36. Gray #2
I wince every time she gets hit, but I can tell it’s more training than real competition. She gets in some solid blows, taking McGregor by surprise a few times, and I’m completely mesmerized by how fast she is.
After a few minutes, Marlo saunters around the edge of the ring and extends a hand.
“Marlo Romero, head of the club,” he says. “You joining?”
“More like visiting,” I reply.
“You interested in this kind of thing?” he asks. Anyone else might assume he means boxing, but this guy has the air of a businessman about him. His gaze is very direct, uncompromising, and sharp. I like him immediately.
“I work in nightclubs, mainly,” I say.
He nods. “Well, let me show you around while our girl is havin’ her fun. If you do decide to join, we always love new members. And if you like the place, I’m always looking for new investors too. I think I recognize you.”
I extend my hand again. “I’m Gray Jones.”
He shakes my hand again, his eyes shining with renewed interest.
“Take your hoodie off, there ain’t no way you’re not gettin’ a workout in. You’re tiny.”
I snort behind his back, but it isn’t untrue. Compared to the muscle around me, I’m much leaner than everyone else here.
Reluctantly, I walk away from Jax, shucking off my hoodie as Marlo takes it upon himself to become my personal trainer for the next hour.
By the end of Jax’s twenty-minute fight, I’m sweating so much I feel like I’m going to die. By the end of an hour, I’m so exhausted I could melt into a puddle on the floor. I’m also in awe of Jax and this community.
Marlo is monosyllabic, quiet, and thoughtful, but he knows every gym member by name.
Jax knows everybody, and it doesn’t escape my notice that a lot of the guys give her a once-over as she walks past. I don’t blame them.
She looks fucking incredible, slicked with sweat, toned arms on display, but if I weren’t dead on my feet, I’d try to fight all of them at once.
She comes over to me, squirting some water into her mouth and grinning down at me. I have been lying on a bench for ten minutes and feel as if my arms are about to fall off.
“Did it work?” she asks.
“What?”
“Did it make you forget about your problems for a bit?”
“I’m dead.”
“See? Told you you’d feel better. Nice abs by the way,” she says, as she offers me a hand. “Shower?”
“Yes, please.”
“You can go back to your apartment if you want. Compared to your place, the showers here are shit.”
“Say that again,” Marlo says darkly as he walks behind her.
“Invest in the women’s locker room, then, Marlo,” she snipes back as he waves her off.
“How many women are members here?” I ask.
“Uh, well, me and this behemoth named Judith, who is trying for the world's strongest woman competition. She’s terrifying.”
“I gotta say, this place is pretty great.”
“It is. It’s a gem. Don’t tell anyone else about it, though, I don’t want it getting too popular,” she says, still smiling broadly. It’s clear she’s in her element here, and I can’t blame her. “Come on.”
She carries my bag over to the locker rooms for me, and I’m about to head into the men’s when she grabs my hand and pulls me into the ladies.
“Jax!” I protest, but as I stumble inside, closing my eyes reflexively, I realize that it’s completely empty. I grunt as she shoves me against the door and pushes her hands under my shirt.
“Let me feel those abs,” she says, smoothing over my sweaty muscles. It takes me three seconds to be fully hard.
“You’re a menace,” I mutter.
“Wanna take me in the showers?”
“Oh my god.”
“This one’s on me,” she says, making a mixture of discomfort and desire swirl inside me. “Seeing as you came all this way and paid a hundred bucks for the privilege.”
“I think Rory might have the hots for you.”
She drags me back toward the showers.
“We used to date,” she says casually, as she strips off her clothes. I stop dead, considering whether I should go back and punch the guy.
“When?” I ask irritably.
She smiles, looking over her shoulder at me. “Three years ago. He was not the right guy for me. Way too boring.”
Without warning, she yanks at my shirt, flipping me around so I’m facing her and shoving me back into the showers. I’m expecting a long row of cubicles, but instead it’s designed like a men's shower, with no dividers and only two showerheads.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding that these showers aren’t that—FUCK!”
Jax turns on the shower, and freezing cold water cascades over me, soaking me in seconds. Her high-pitched laugh is drowned out by the water, and then she screams as I drag her under with me.
“You fucker,” I say, shivering as I capture her mouth with mine, and her hand slides down my stomach and takes commanding hold of my cock. “You looked seriously hot in the ring.” I say, peeling the clothes off her one by one. “I could watch you box every day.”
“Back at ya,” she says, her eyes gleaming as I shove her against the wall as we strip off the rest of our clothes, not caring about if anyone else might walk in. She squeals as I push her up against the freezing wall, and her legs wrap around me.
“Fuck me,” she says urgently.
“Oh, I plan to,” I say, slamming my mouth over hers and gripping her tight to my body, the water turning warm as we lose ourselves beneath it.