“Cocksucker,” I said, hitting the target in his hand hard enough to cause Rob to stagger backward.

“Better,” he said, as he regained his stance. “Ten more minutes and then we’ll call it a day.”

My drive to be the champion was so strong that I could almost taste the next victory. I wanted to show my family that I had talent and the ability even though at times, at least in the beginning, their support had been questionable until recently.

I won my first two matches and with each victory their support grew and my pop finally started to believe. When my ma said he was bragging to his friends, I knew I had him.

I grew up watching the fights with my pop and his buddies. They yelled at the television and made side bets. He liked to call my fighting career a hobby, but I needed to show him that it was more than that. I was meant to be the champion.

Wanting the gym all to myself when I trained, I paid the owner to wait until six in the morning to open the doors. He liked the idea of the publicity my victory and career would bring to his small town gym in the middle bum fuck Florida and it didn’t hurt that he was Rob’s brother either.

“’Bodies” by Drowning Pool started and it gave me the last push of motivation I needed. Sweat dripped from my brows and stung my eyes. Doing a roundhouse kick, I almost missed the target, nearly hitting Rob in the head.

“Maniac. I’ll knock you on your ass if you do that again.”

“In your fucking dreams, buddy,” I laughed before landing a solid blow.

My forearms burned, my thighs trembled, but I wouldn’t quit.

I had this shit.

“Time,” Rob said, putting the targets down.

“I could go another hour,” I said.

I knew that shit was a lie

I ran for an hour before I walked in this morning, my legs were shaking to the point of weakness.

“Sure you could, tiger.” He laughed, holding his stomach. “Your muscles need to rest and recoup. We don’t want to overdo it with the match coming up.”

“Thank Christ,” I mumbled under my breath.

“What did you say?” He cocked his eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

“Nothing.”

“Why do you seem so fucking pissy today, Mike? Couldn’t get it up last night?”

“That would seem like a fuckin’ blessing right now.” I sat on the bench to give my legs a break as I pulled the tape off my hands. “Tammy. What a fucking pain in my ass.”

“I told you she’s a crazy bitch. Stop thinking with your dick so much and use what brain is left in that thick head of yours.”

I snorted. That had been the funniest damn thing to come out his mouth in a long time – he sure as fuck wasn’t Dr. Ruth. “When did you become a relationship expert? Your shit isn’t all together in the ladies department, Rob.”

“Maybe not, but I told you Tammy was a hot mess. She’s got the cling thing going on and is crazy to fuckin’ boot.”

“Crazy is an understatement, man.” I shook my head. I had a silent debate with myself on if I wanted to share the details of the entire fucked up situation. “I went to her place last night to get a piece of ass.”

“And?” He leaned against the wall and listened.

“And the crazy bitch had a scrapbook on her coffee table. Do you know what the cover was?”

He started to laugh as he pulled his lips in his mouth to stop from breaking out into hysterics.

“You do, don’t you?” I glared at him.

“I’ve heard stories about her, but I thought they had to be made up.”

“She had a picture of a bride and a groom. Somehow she put our faces on their bodies. I opened it when she went to her room and the book was filled with her version of our future. It was beyond fucked up. Gave me the fucking creeps.”

Page after page contained images of our children with names and photos. Little hearts in all colors surrounded the pictures. She had our life planned out and all I wanted was a little pussy.

She didn’t have the brains to hold my attention, let alone make me want to spend an eternity listening to her chatter on about the Kardashians. Tammy wanted status and money and they were two things I wasn’t willing to share with a woman like her.

Tammy knew her role in my life – she was my late night hookup. I never took her out, never lead her on, and never promised her happily ever after.

She always replied ‘You’ll change your mind’, but that never happened.

“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” Rob said, as he walked toward the door to unlock it.

“I ended that shit right there. She cried like we’d been dating for years. What a fucking mess. I don’t need the bullshit in my life, especially not now.”

“Keep your eye on the goal – fighting, not bitches and pussy.”

“Didn’t you learn not to use that term when talking about woman?” I laughed.

His cheeks turned pink as he looked away from me. “She’s your sister and I have nothing more to say about the experience.” He drew the last word out. I knew he had a million things he wanted to say about her, but he kept his lips shut because he knew he’d get a beating.

Rob was crass. He referred to woman as bitches once in front of Izzy and she caught him off guard and knocked him on his ass. It was a proud brother moment. She took down a man double her size and for one hell of a good cause. My baby sister has bigger balls than most men I knew. Growing up with four brothers made her rough around the edges and not willing to take shit from anyone.

“Good choice.” I finished drying the sweat from my body. Grabbing my phone, I threw my bag over my shoulder. “Tomorrow, same time?” I asked.

“You got it.” Rob reclined in the chair at the front desk, kicking his feet up and putting his arms behind his head. He looked like he was ready for a nap.

That shit wouldn’t fly at Inked.

The screen on my phone lit up.

Tammy – there were at least a dozen text messages from her since I walked in.

Tammy: We were meant to be together.

Tammy: You’ll come back to me.

Tammy: I miss you.

I told her last night we were through, even though we never really began.

I never asked her to be my girlfriend.

I didn’t read her text messages.

Fuck her and her insanity.

I turned the screen off as I reached for the door. The top of my head hit the door before my chest connected with the glass. I saw stars from the impact. I blinked a couple of times before I noticed a woman on the ground. She was picking up the contents of her purse that spilled.

“Fuck,” I muttered, as I opened the door to a very pissed off female. “I’m sorry, can I help you with that?” I asked, bending down in front of her.

“Why don’t you fucking watch where you’re walking?” she seethed, as she placed her wallet and another tiny items inside her black handbag.

“I didn’t see you.” I grabbed her lip-gloss that had rolled away and held it out to her.

She grabbed the tube from my hand and glared at me with the most mesmerizing hazel eyes. “Obviously.” She scanned the ground.

Instead of helping her, I stared at her like an idiot.

Her hair was an amazing shade of brown with glints of red that sparkled in the light. The straight, smooth locks hung just past her shoulders. She had a small nose, full red lips, high cheekbones, and large hazel eyes with flecks of gold.

“Hey, I said I’m sorry and I am.” Standing, I tried to be a gentleman and held my hand out to her.

Her eyes moved up my body, slowly at first, before she stopped on my face with scrunched eyebrows. Her skin felt like silk against my rough palm as she placed her hand in mine. In one quick motion I pulled her to her feet. Her crinkled forehead and hardened face disappeared and were replaced with softness. She pulled her hand away from mine with a weak smile and a reddened face.

“How can I make it up to you?” I asked, still staring. It wasn’t her beauty that had attention, but something about her eyes – a familiarity that I couldn’t place.