Dad? Did he just say dad?
I plaster a smile on my face and hold my hand out. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Call me Rich, everyone does.” He winks at me and I immediately see the family resemblance.
“Please, call me Jules. Everyone does, except your stubborn son.”
A look passes between Rich and Nate that I don’t understand, but Rich quickly recovers and grins at his son. “She’s got you pegged, son. What are you two going to do?”
“I’m going to kick his ass,” I reply before Nate can speak and both men look down at me, surprised, and then laugh again.
“I guess she’s going to kick my ass, dad.”
“Good luck with that.” Rich winks at me and then wanders back to the ring to yell out orders to the fighters.
“You could have warned me that I’d be meeting your father,” I murmur as Nate takes my bag and jacket and hangs them on a coat tree near the door along with his own.
“Yeah, but then you wouldn’t have come.” He turns to me, his hands on his hips, prepared for a fight. And I’m suddenly in the mood to give him one.
Maybe it’s all the testosterone I’m surrounded by.
“I don’t do well with half-truths, Nate.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I wanted to be here with you today. It’ll be fun. My dad owns the place, he was my trainer and my manager when I fought, so of course this is where I work out.” He shrugs and looks around the gym.
I eye him for a moment, enjoying the view. “Where do you want to start?” I ask.
“You still want to work out?”
“Yes, we’re here. Let’s go.”
“Okay, let’s warm up with the jump ropes and see what you can do.” He grins and leads me over to a matt, handing me a jump rope.
Should I mention to him that my brother Will used to make me train with him for football season?
No.
Nate sets his watch timer for two minutes and I jump easily, using the form my brother taught me. Nate watches me, also jumping with ease. I’m hardly panting when the two minutes are up, and inside I’m smug. I keep a bored, bland look on my face.
“Next?” I ask.
“You’ve done this before,” he murmurs.
I shrug and drop the rope on the mat. “What’s next, ace?”
“Can you do a pull-up?” he asks, his eyebrow raised.
“I can do one or two,” I respond and smile. I have to call Will later and thank him profusely for being such a hard ass on me. Thanks to him, exercise comes easily to me, and my body is in excellent shape. I love to sweat.
Nate guides me over to the metal bars.
“Do you need a boost?” he asks.
I look up at the bar. It’s probably about seven feet off the ground. “I think I got it,” I respond.
“Ladies first.” He motions for me to go first. I rub my hands down my pants, then hop up, gripping the bar. I find the space between my hands that I like and begin to pull myself up, using a style Will taught me that he uses in Crossfit. As I come down, I push in an arc away from the bar, then swing back up, pulling the bar under my chin.
God, this feels fantastic! I manage twenty pull-ups, then drop to the mat, shaking my arms and panting.
“Your turn,” I plant my hands on my hips and look up at Nate, who is gazing at me with a huge smile plastered on his handsome face.
“What?” I ask, but I know I just shocked the shit out of him. I glance around to find all the men in the gym are watching me, their mouths dropped.
“Who trained you?” he asks.
“My brother.” I shrug like it’s no big deal. “Your turn, ace.”
“Okay,” he’s still smiling as he leaps up and easily begins raising and lowering that sexy body up and down on the bar. His arms – holy Moses, those arms – flex and bunch with each repetition. I wish he’d take his shirt off so I can watch his chest. He effortlessly executes forty pull-ups and then drops to the matt.
“Not bad,” I smirk and jump back up, gripping the bar. I begin the push and pull again, loving the burn that’s moving through my arms, shoulders and back. After twenty I drop back down to the matt.
Without speaking, Nate hops up and completes forty pull-ups.
“Warmed up?” he asks, panting and sweating and I just want to lick him.
“Yes.”
“I want you in the ring.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “There’s quite an audience here right now, Nate.”
He laughs and grips my hand in his, pulling me toward the ring. “That too, but for now, I want to spar with you.”
Rich meets us at ringside and hands me headgear, helping me fasten it in place as Nate takes care of his own.
“You’ve got some upper body strength going on there, girl.” Rich grins down at me and I can see the unspoken questions running through his handsome head.
“My brother plays for the Seahawks. He used to make me train with him.” I smile at him as he wraps my hands in white tape.
“Wait,” Nate interrupts. “Your brother is Will Montgomery, the football player?”
“Yeah,” I grin, so unbelievably proud of my big brother. “He’s a good workout partner, but he’s brutal.”
“I didn’t know that.” Nate has stopped taping his hand and is gaping at me.
“You don’t know everything, ace. Are you going to stand there with your mouth hanging open all day, or are you gonna man-up and take an ass beating?”
The whole gym erupts in laughter, including Nate, and he grips my shoulders and pulls me in for a rough kiss, then pushes me away and finishes taping up.
“Good luck, son. Make me proud.” Rich laughs and steps over to the side of the ring, leaning on the platform, ready to watch the show.
Thank you, brothers of mine, for making me take martial arts and self-defense classes, and for kicking my ass every time mom wasn’t in the room. The training is about to pay off.
Nate and I circle each other, his eyes full of humor. He thinks he’ll take me down easy. Of course, he’s bigger, stronger, and well-trained, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I’ll get a few good shots in there before he takes me down.
I let him advance first, knowing he’s not really going to hit me. As he reaches for me, I grab his arm, pivot, and stomp on his foot, jab my elbow into his stomach and roll us both onto the ground, me landing on top, then quickly roll off of him and back onto my feet. The guys who have gathered around the ring cheer, and Nate rises gracefully off the ground, grinning.