Learning to Live

Chapter 22

"What are you doing, Hunter? Move forward!"

I glanced up from my phone. Steve was shouting at Hunter, who was in the ring with one of the older boxers. Today was a Saturday, and a few of the pro boxers who used to train in this gym visited as they did once in a while.

Hunter was on his third match this morning. A few boxers stood nearby, talking.

"He's got potential, yeah?"

"For sure, he does. I actually want to see him in the cage."

"Does he train in MMA?"

"Don't know. But imagine if he did."

Hunter was holding his own quite well against the experienced boxer. I locked my phone and focused on the match. Hunter's IG page for his photography had hit one thousand followers yesterday. I'd been more excited than he was.

Right now, Hunter's eyes held that sharp spark they gained when he was fighting. Uh-oh. His opponent was dead meat.

The guy, who was at least a decade older than Hunter but just as tall and wide, sent a fast right hook. Hunter dodged down and hit him with a counter punch. Everyone around the ring winced. The older guy took it like a champ.

I bit my lip as the match grew more heated. I loved watching Hunter box, because he loved doing it. That didn't mean I enjoyed watching him get punched. When the gong finally rang, I was ready to climb into that ring and drag him out of there. Steve jumped in and spoke to the two fighters.

"You look like you're about to pass a kidney stone."

I glared at Brandon. He grinned, stopping next to me. He looked at Hunter. "He's getting better pretty quickly."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"Are you going to turn into Emma?" He asked me. When I frowned, he explained. "Will you break up with him because you're too worried about him boxing?"

"Oh. No," I said. "He loves it. Just because I worry doesn't mean he shouldn't do it."

He nodded, his eyes flickering to where Emma sat at her desk.

"You know," I said. "I think Emma just needs a little nudge."

"A little nudge?"

"Okay, maybe a big nudge." I grinned. "She still likes you. A lot."

Brandon looked at me, his eyes unblinking. "Are you shitting me?"

"Nope," I said. "Look. She was in a bad place when you guys broke up then, with her brother and her mother gone. I mean, she couldn't even come to the gym because she hated anything to do with boxing. But she's here now. She's in a better place. She's... healing."

Emma's mother had died of cancer, and her brother, who was a boxer, had died of an injury he sustained in a fight. The deaths had been too close, and it affected Emma.

Brandon's blue eyes held doubt. "She won't even talk to me like she used to."

"When was the last time you asked her out?" I asked. The people around us moved to the other ring, where another match was about to start. Brandon and I stayed put.

He shook his head. "I don't even remember. I thought she was no longer interested when she kept shutting me out. It's been a while."

I patted his arm. "If you think she's worth the effort, give it a go again."

He sighed. "What do I do?"

I shrugged. "Just go for it. Be persistent and wear her down. She's stubborn, you know."