Chance Meetings?

Chapter 37-Chance Meetings

Chapter 37

‘Jab, cross, jab, cross, elbow, elbow. Good’ Adam commends as I finish the set of strikes to his padded gloves. ‘Now give me some right hooks and make sure your stance is stable.’

Placing my left foot forward and drawing my right elbow back, I punch Adam’s left glove with more force then I should have because his eyes go wide.

‘Continue,’ he says coughing into his shoulder. I smirk and he composes himself.

Striking his pads nonstop for two minutes with as much force as I could, by this time I was breathing hard and exhausted. Why did they work me so hard? I guess I did sign up for this….

‘You could have been a little faster, but good strength and endurance. You held steady most of the two minutes. Go towel off and get a drink,’ Adam instructs nodding over to the right wall. Walking over, I glance down at my strapped hands and cringe at the soaked material. I flex my fingers.

After wiping my face, neck and hands on the black towel I brought from home I take one last drink before meeting Adam back on the mats.

‘Okay. We’ll stretch for one minute then go straight into fighter burpees.’ Adam catches my frown and adds, ‘You remember what those are right?’

I don’t answer.

‘Touch your toes, jump your feet back, two knee strikes, jump up and give me four punches to the gloves and repeat. Ready?’ I nod my head once in agreement and shake my legs out.

Finishing stretching our hamstrings, we begin the fun-sucking set of burpees. Someone increases the volume of the old boombox in the corner and the cool rhythm of the intense beat gives me the extra motivation to finish the workout. I wouldn’t have noticed if my arms were ripped from their socket that was how sore they were. My legs were wobbly and my heart was beating double time, close to the pace it beat when I was around Sam.

‘YO SAM! She’s done for today!’ Adam’s yelling echoed across the main room. This was the room they used to set up the fights in but now it was done up like a gym for normal hours. Sam stops bench pressing, places the weights back behind his head and beckons me forward with a finger. I glance to my left to check Adam’s expression if he saw Sam’s sly smile he sent me and almost shyly make my way over to him.

‘Hey.’ I was instantly lost in his endless, green eyes, anything he would have said, I would have done without question. His finger beckons me closer once again to lower my head until our lips met, and just before they do the strong stench of sweat off the both of us travels to my nose. The trance breaks in that instant, pinching my nose I step back and begin to cough. ‘Wow Sam, you stink….’ I wave a hand before my nose and watch how his expression turns from cocky to mischief.

‘Really?’

I see the dangerous edge flicker in his irises and slowly retreat. It was the look of a lion about to devour a helpless deer. Let me guess which role Sam played….

I turn to run at the same moment Sam begins to give chase; laughter was fighting to rise up out of my mouth as adrenaline took over. Weaving in between people on exercise machines and punching bags, I duck behind a smaller ring in the room. Peeking a look where I last saw him near the entrance doors. I only see Adam talking to his father, so I creep closer to the corner of the ring, crouching low. Pausing before checking around it, I let out a deep breath with my heart still hammering away at my rib cage. Now or never….

‘Gotcha!’ I shout expecting to see him sneaking up on me too, but he wasn’t there.

All of a sudden my shoulders fall back on hard, lean muscle and I shriek, letting myself accept the defeat flopping my arms out to our sides.