As I walked in, I instantly regretted telling Chris I was planning on coming back today. I was greeted by a banner that read, Welcome back, Pussy! I should have known. The dipshit had the banner made a while back, and he pulled it out anytime one of the guys came back from an injury or a long absence. I guess it was my turn to experience the humiliation.

MacKenzie was usually there first thing in the morning, so I was surprised to not see her when I arrived. I told myself it was a good thing she wasn’t there, because then I could focus on my training, but part of me couldn’t get past worrying about where she was.

The new guy, Jonah, was lifting when I got there. He saw me, put the weights down, and came over. “Hey, Ian.”

“Hey,” I said. We’d met briefly when I was in the gym a week ago to talk to Chris. A few pro fighters were douche-rods outside of the ring; thankfully, he was not one of those.

“A little bird told me you might be coming back to the gym this morning.” He smiled and looked up at the banner on the far end of the gym.

“Really.” I laughed.

“Anyway, the same little bird suggested you might be looking for some help with your submission and grappling technique. If you want to, we can work on that.”

That was actually a great idea. I needed to get back into strategies and fighting as soon as possible. I couldn’t start sparring yet, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t work on technique.

I gladly followed him over to a mat to work on submissions, which was my weakest skill, and something I had to work on even harder now that I was coming out of an injury. Everyone knew the best way to get a fighter to tap out if he’d been recently injured was to go after that injury. And that meant I had to be ready for my opponent to try to fuck with my shoulder. First order of business was definitely working on getting out of and staying out of submission holds.

We set up on a mat on the far side of the gym near the locker room.

“Okay,” Jonah began, “let’s start by showing you some holds I use and the best way to get out of them. Go ahead and lie down.”

I lay on the mat, and he knelt over me and went through the motions of pulling my arm into the first hold. I caught myself looking across the room at the empty treadmill and wondering where MacKenzie was. I hoped she was okay.

Damn. I needed to get my mind off her and focus on the fight.

Jonah moved quickly, slipping his legs around me and pulling my good arm in a direction it was not supposed to go. “Okay, how do you get out of this?” he asked.

I looked around for some part of him to punch, but he was behind me and all his good targets were protected. And I couldn’t twist out of his hold because of the angle at which he held my arm. Fuck, this was why I never let them get me on the ground in the first place. This was also why I needed to train with Jonah.

I pushed up with my legs and tried to roll on top of him, but he held me down so that I might as well be fighting a brick wall.

“Use your other arm,” he said. “I’ve got your arm in a vice, but if you distract me by pushing up, I won’t be able to control what your other arm does. Use that.”

I pushed up against him again and realized right away what he was getting at. In order to keep me down, he was pushing forward, which made his head very vulnerable. I reached up and hooked him into a chokehold, pulling him around in front of me.

He tapped out. “Good. Let’s try that again.”

When we moved back into position, I noticed Chris stepping out of his office, followed by MacKenzie. He said something and she laughed, but it seemed forced. She still looked tired, but maybe a little bit more relaxed than she was the day before.

As I lay there on the mat, I studied them as a couple. Something pricked at the back of my mind as I noted the distance between them, the way all their interactions seemed forced. She was never like that with me. You could light a city block with the electricity that buzzed between us.

But it didn’t matter. She’d chosen him.

Chris noticed me and waved me over.

“I guess we’ll have to finish working on this later,” I said to Jonah. “Thanks for the help. I’ll really need it if I’m going to win in Vegas.”

“Yeah. I don’t know if Chris told you, but I might be going with you. He wants me to be your cornerman.”

“That would be great. I could use an expert on submissions on my side.”

“That road goes both ways. I hear you’re a mean pounder, and I’d love to get some pointers on boxing.”

“Sure.” I headed off toward the office.

“Welcome back, pussy,” Chris said when I was within shouting distance. He looked up at the party banner hung up at the front of the gym and smiled. The little shit.

I laughed. “It’s good to be back.” We bumped fists and he led the way back into his office, taking a seat behind his desk.

Chris grinned at me. “I was going to get you a cake, but your ass is in training mode.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the tone of his voice or what, but at that moment I was reminded of the fact that I’d gotten his girlfriend off the other day. My mouth and fingers had been inside his girl, and we’d been moments away from having sex.

I was pretty sure MacKenzie hadn’t told him about that. But it suddenly occurred to me that I should know for sure before allowing myself to be alone with this guy. He might not fight pro anymore, but he was a weight class above me, and could probably whip my ass with my arm out of commission.