Ellie rolled her eyes. “Okay, Mr. Condescending. I get it.”
“I’m not trying to be condescending. I’m just saying.”
She couldn’t believe it, but she actually considered his idea. She was on the verge of agreeing to voluntarily go to some weird, testosterone laden place called The Pit and learn to throw a punch. Her busy life never left time for exercise, even though she knew she would feel better if she took care of her body. Maybe fighting wasn’t the way she’d envisioned getting in shape, but she never turned down opportunity when it came knocking.
James turned the truck onto a familiar road and Ellie realized where they were going. “Why are you taking me to my apartment? I thought I wasn’t supposed to go to my apartment.” She hated the surge of fear eating away at the calmness spending the day with the Moores had brought.
“Just to get you some clothes to work out in.”
“But I haven’t even agreed to go yet.”
James smiled. “You didn’t have to. I knew you would.”
They weren’t in her apartment long, but being there gave Ellie the serious creeps. James kept a flashlight in his truck and walking around the darkened apartment with only a small beam of light to illuminate the corners made everything seem sinister and dangerous. She dug through her drawers as quickly as she could and found an old pair of sweats and a sports bra that might still fit. She grabbed a tank top that she used for sleeping and was a little shaky by the time they climbed back in the truck.
“You good?” James asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
She wasn’t, but she would be soon. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Okay.” He flipped on the turn signal and craned his head to check for oncoming traffic before he pulled onto the road. “Now, give me the real answer.”
“It was a little strange being there. In the dark. Like I was afraid some psycho might be there, too. Or had been there, too.” She held out her hand and showed him how it quivered. “I’m shaking.”
James threaded his fingers into hers. “You’re safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He flipped on the radio and flashed his favorite wicked smile. “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters. Be the hero, Ellie.”
“Wow,” she said. “That’s deep. I’m impressed.”
“I’d take credit if I could, but some other guy way more famous than me said it.”
She wasn’t sure how throwing a few punches at a bag hanging from the ceiling was going to make her a hero, but after the cold hand of fear crept up her spine and twisted its fingers around her heart in her apartment, she couldn’t think of a reason not to learn how to throw a decent punch.
Chapter Thirty
Ellie
Turned out that a semi-secret gym called The Pit with a focus on MMA training looked every bit as intimidating as Ellie imagined it would.
It smelled.
A lot.
It had bare concrete and harsh lighting and what looked like a boxing ring set up in the middle of the cavernous room.
“That’s where the magic happens,” James said as they passed.
“I’m not sure magical is the term I’d use to describe this place.”
But, by the end of the evening, Ellie was already talking about her plan for the next time she came. She was so excited, she could barely sit still on the ride back to James’ house.
“You were totally right,” she said, rubbing her hands and flexing them, fascinated by the way they ached as they moved. “I so needed that. I think I’ve needed that since the day my dad died. When can we go back?”
James laughed, a gentle, heart-warming sound. “Let’s wait and see how you feel in the morning, once the soreness has time to set in.”
“I don’t think a little pain is going to talk me out of wanting to do this again and again.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. What I meant was, let’s wait and see how sore you are, so we can decide when your body will be ready to get back to the gym.”
All her life, Ellie focused on being strong. On standing up for herself and getting things done no matter what circumstances collided with her. And she did a damn good job of it, if she did say so herself. But, she never, not once, actually believed that she was strong. She never faced her circumstances with a true confidence in her ability to overcome them. She just knew that if she put her head down and kept moving, she could outlast things.
That night, as she learned how to throw a punch, how to position her body to gather power behind her fist, and how to shape her hand so she was less likely to injure herself, she felt truly strong. In control. It was the first time in her life that she felt confidence wash over her. Combine that with sitting in the passenger seat of James Moore’s truck, heading back to his house after spending a day with his family as they helped her navigate through her latest batch of hard times…well…it was heady stuff.
James pulled into the driveway and Ellie hopped out of the truck before he had the keys out of the ignition. “First one to the bathroom gets dibs on the shower.” She raced up the steps to the porch.
“There’s a slight problem to your plan,” James said as he put a foot on the bottom stair and leaned on the railing. “The door’s locked.” He spun the keyring around on one finger.
“What’s it gonna take to get those keys from
