Dante Harris was running. Running from an abusive past. Running from a messy break up. Running from the life he left in the small city of Round Rock Texas.
Somehow this small town boy has found himself in the busy streets of New York City, and in t...
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It was hard for me to tone down the ginormous smile I had, spreading across my lips. Today was hands down the best training day we had since I had started working with the novices.
Being able to spar defensively and offensively with the fighters, brought the combos we had been working on- to life. It felt like Kyle and I were finally completely in tune with what we had practiced, and honestly? I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to put those gloves on again.
The evening had officially presented itself, which meant training was over, and we'd see everyone again in the morning. I thought Grayson was going to hang back with Sammy, like he usually did, but Grayson let us know he had some things to take care of.
"Don't sweat it." Sammy told him seriously. "I'll work on some stuff here and we'll see you tomorrow morning, yeah?"
"Absolutely. You two have a great night, and Dante- you killed it today." Grayson gave me a large smile accompanied with a fist bump.
Now I was absolutely sure I was grinning like a mad man.
Sammy locked up after Grayson, but when he returned to the mats, he surprised me with what he asked next.
"Did you- um... did you maybe want to spar together for a bit?"
I hadn't noticed how intently I was staring at the beads of sweat he used his shirt to wipe away, but those words made my eyes find his.
"S-Sure." I nodded, following as he made his way onto the mat. In all honesty, I hadn't expected for him to ask me. There was a part of myself (a very large part) that was nervous. I wasn't nervous about sparring, I was more nervous about the complete distraction Sammy was whenever I caught even the smallest glimpse of him.
Watching Sammy fight from afar was glorious because I could study and drool at the same time.
This wasn't exactly the case anymore.
"Thank you. The hand is doing better, but Grayson's still been working on more efficient combos until I'm back at one hundred."
I could already feel the guilt starting to creep through, but I did my best to push it down. Sammy didn't blame me for what had happened. That's what mattered... Regardless of how much I blamed myself.
"I think it's fine. Grayson is just being overprotective." Sammy joked as we both took positions. That made me smile. Grayson really did look out for Sammy. I'm sure, to Sammy, that felt like he was being smothered alive.
I found out pretty quickly that Sammy liked his space.
It was really evident with the novice fighters, especially when they had a series of questions for him, or tried inviting him out to events. Sammy had this cool exterior that gave "get to it or fuck off" vibes.
