Ms. Green Eyes starts running her fingers through my hair. What the fuck is this witchcraft? My eyes immediately start to feel heavy as my body relaxes into the bed. I lock my eyes on hers.
"There yah go," she says, smiling at me.
Holy fuck, she h...
Sekou throws a bolo punch at me, which I dodge. I use this as an opportunity to throw a check hook, catching Sekou off guard. He stumbles backward, catching his footing as he sizes me up, calculating his next shot.
"Come on, Sekou, be first!" I bark at him, holding my guard up.
He narrows his eyes at me and charges, throwing another punch at me. I bob and weave around his punches, watching him closely. He has a tell that I've picked up on, he probably doesn't even know he has it. I grunt as I throw a right hook that Sekou blocks. He twists my arm, pushing me away from him. I stumble away, breathing deeply.
"That's what I'm fuckin talking about. Come on! Let's go!" I challenge.
Sekou sizes me up again but I don't wait for him. I take a leap forward, landing a combination of jabs to his body. He grunts in frustration as I back away, jumping on my toes to keep my body loose. Sekou takes a step forward and throws a jab, but I execute a pull counter, backing away from him just enough for him to miss me but still close enough to land a jab on him. This throws him off his rhythm.
I use this weakness as an opportunity and charge at him. He blocks me with a shoulder roll, but I recover. I dodge his next blow and deliver a knockout combination, sending Sekou on his ass. I drop my guard and stand up straight as he pulls off his gloves, laughing at me.
"You are a great competitor, Captain Hart," he says to me in his thick accent. "You should visit my home country, Zimbabwe, and teach your methods." I pull off my gloves and reach my hand out to him to help him up. "You're too kind," I tell him as I pull him up. "And I thought I told you to call me Jackson." "But using your title is a sign of respect," he assures me. "It also gives him an even bigger head than the one that's already up his ass!" Connor yells from the other side of the gym. "Fuck off, Connor," I grumble. I hear Connor's laugh get cut off abruptly as Jordan throws a jab across his jaw, making Connor fall to the ground as he groans in pain. "Nice shot, Jordan. Keep it up. Connor, never leave your guard down for that long." "Fucker!" Connor yells at me as he stands up. Sekou throws a punch at me, thinking I'm not paying attention, that I catch in my hand. My wrist absorbs the shock as I turn to look at him, surprise clear on his face. "See, Connor? Guard always up." "Fuck off, Jackson!" he yells, rubbing his jaw. "You feelin' lunch?" I ask Sekou. "Yes, that sounds good," he agrees, nodding his head.
We all pack up our sparring stations, throwing our gloves and hand wraps in our lockers. Conversation continues as I isolate myself, like I always do, while we walk to our lunch room. I'm not lonely, I just like time to myself. I pull out my phone and smile at the texts from Jet.
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I tell her that I love her and pocket my phone. I wait my turn to heat up my lunch in the microwave, some sort of chicken teriyaki bowl meal prep that Jet made that's fucking addicting, watching as the team talks to each other. Connor leans on the counter next to me, nodding his head at me.
