Damaged

Chapter 6

Chapter 6- John

                Luke was getting better I could tell.  Usually he tried to keep our matches to strictly sparring. He hated when I got him down on the mat.  He was never good at his ground game.  He had the strength for it but not the patience. He couldn’t wait for his opponent to tap, he always liked knocking them out. That is how he has kept his record of 21-0. However today I want to give him a lesson in eating a little crow. I start moving my feet. I want him to think I am going to strike next. But then he steps into me. I jump back, I wasn’t expecting that move. Then out of nowhere he nails me right on the jaw. I stumble backwards but catch myself so that I don’t fall. I waste no time and throw a roundhouse kick at him hoping to catch him off guard and it works.  My foot contacts his shoulder with just enough force to take him down off his feet. I quickly move on top of him and put him in a choke hold.  This is going to be fun. Luke hates when I get him on the ground and make him tap. He thinks it is a sign of weakness. I don’t give in though. I tighten my hold on his neck just a little more when he suddenly starts to go limp. I can’t believe this bastard. He would rather pass out than to admit defeat. I shake my head at this crazy psycho and  start to loosen my grip Just a little. How will I explain to Mikey our agent if we are late for the photoshoot?  Oh, sorry we didn’t make the photoshoot Mikey, someone (pointing to Luke) refused to tap.  Just as I start to loosen my grip, I feel Luke start to shift his weight. Before I can react, Luke flips me over his shoulder and gets me in an arm bar. Where in the hell did that come from, I thought? I instantly tap.  He used such force I felt like my arm was breaking. I lay there for a minute catching my breathe and staring at my best friend trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Eventually he laughs and tells me he has been practicing more with Bo on his ground game when I wasn’t around. He wanted to make me “eat crow” for once he said. I guess I deserved that. As we are walking to the showers, I see a couple heading out of the gym arm and arm together. I sigh quietly. I know I am only 27 and Luke is only 29 but we have known each other most of our lives and neither one of us has had a serious relationship before. We have had flings and friends with benefits but nothing serious. I don’t trust people easily. Too many people want to ride your coattails, making it is hard to see if they care about you or your status. So, I have never gotten serious. Luke on the other hand, well his is a different story. I watch Luke’s eyes follow the couple like mine did just a minute ago and I see his shoulders slump. I wish I could help my best friend. He is hung up on a girl he met under the worse circumstances 10 years ago for just a few moments. He never got her name or her age, yet he has been stuck on her ever since and no woman he has met to this day lives up to what he says he saw in that girls’ eyes that night.  We get changed and head over to the photoshoot for the fight. I can’t believe I let him talk me into this. Yes, I am a fighter, but I am a very private guy. I don’t do publicity at all. I am only doing this because Luke said it was to raise money for The Center of Peace.  I give as a silent donator to that charity house. They do a lot of good work for abuse victims. The work they do hits close to home and Luke knows that. Coming from a broken home, I watched my mother go from abusive man to abusive man over and over after my father left. As I became older, I tried to defend her and it only landed me in the hospital a couple of times. That is until Luke and I started boxing and fight training. Otherwise I would have never agreed to this. We pull up to the gym and Mikey is outside waiting on us. As we are walking in Mikey tells us the lady who runs this place is named Charli. He tells us about how she is the co-founder along with another woman named Mary for the Center of Peace. I am looking at my phone uninterested when I see a pair of little tanned feet with pink painted toenails come into my line of view. I look up to introduce myself and I am speechless. This woman who I have never seen before looks like an angel to me. I swear there seems to be a bright glow around this woman.  She has shoulder length bright blonde straight hair. Her eyes are a hazy gray but in a good way.  She is not to short maybe 5’7”. She has a small frame, which normally I like a girl with more meat on her bones. But something about this woman’s smile draws me in. Mikey introduces this angel as Mary, the co-founder of Center for Peace. Luke told me about her several times before today. Now I see why Luke says she is so good at her job. That smile she has could turn the darkest day bright again. My brain is telling me to say something, anything yet my mouth doesn’t move. Suddenly I guess Mary realized we were starring at each other and looked down. Damn she is beautiful when she blushes. I feel an elbow to my ribcage, and I look up to see Luke snickering at me. I finally find the words to introduce myself and Mary shows us where the changing room is. We walk in and I feel Luke tense up. I notice there are a bunch of other fighters here as well getting ready to walk out for the shoot. I could care less about them right now. I can’t get that girl Mary off my mind. What I wouldn’t give to touch her right now. To feel her skin against mine. To hear the moans, I pull from her as I place my lips to hers. And that smell, oh my God the smell of her perfume. I swear I can still smell it when we walk out the locker room.  I look around as we are walking into the gym when Luke suddenly stops. I look at him and he has this star struck look in his eyes. I follow his gaze and he is looking over towards Mary who looks to be talking with a female photographer. I tug on Luke and he begins walking again, still with that look in his eyes. We walk up and I smile at Mary, she blushes again of course. I love when she blushes. I wonder if that is what she looks like flushed after s*x? God, I have to get my hormones under control or I am going to be sporting a hardon in this calendar. Mary introduces us to Charli. She is the photographer for the shoot as well as the own of the gym we are in and the co-founder of center for peace. I was astounded. This woman didn’t look a day over 18, yet she owned her own gym, was a photographer and founded a charity organization. What was she a genius? I notice Luke still standing there not saying anything. Just when Mary was about to say something, Luke quietly speaks just two words “It’s you”.