“Sarah’s not going to be pissed at me for keeping you so late?” Tyler asked as they changed.
Randy shook his head.
“She understands. Although next time she might want to spar with you. You can never get enough sparring practice.”
“True.”
The match had done Tyler good and reminded him every opponent had something different to teach him. He hadn’t sparred with Sarah in months and planned on rectifying that oversight. With her black belt test coming up in a matter of months, she would be eager for the practice. As much as he worried about his body betraying him if he sparred with Jaime, Tyler didn’t fear getting aroused while sparring with Sarah. Was it because she was his best friend’s wife or because he chose to see her as a karate student?
“Does it ever get weird for you with Sarah in class?”
“Weird, how?” Randy gave Tyler a thoughtful look.
“You know, when you’re sparring or working on locks?” Tyler struggled to find the right words to parallel what he was feeling without giving too much away. “Is it ever…distracting?”
Randy chuckled and pulled up his pants.
“Sometimes,” Randy admitted with a wide grin. “She’s pretty hot when she gets going. And sometimes I worry about hurting her. When we first started dating, it took some getting used to. But you know, she wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I treated her any differently than the other students. When we’re in class, we’re karate-ka first. When we’re at home, it’s another matter altogether. Besides, there’s nothing as sexy as a woman who can wrap you up like a pretzel. Plus, you’ve got a built-in partner to train with at home.”
Tyler forced visions of Randy and Sarah repeating some of the moves learned in class in their bedroom.
“Thanks for the mental image,” Tyler said. The images of Randy and Sarah were quickly replaced with ones of him and Jaime. Tyler shook his head to clear it. “How did you go back to being karate-ka after you got involved?”
Tyler couldn’t even look at Randy without fear of giving himself away. As long as he was careful, Randy would just assume he was interested in one of the women in class. There were a few who were single and around his age. The thought that Randy would match Tyler’s questions up with his interest in Jaime was too terrifying to consider.
“Sarah wouldn’t have it any other way,” Randy said. “The way she explained it to me, if I treated her any differently than the other students then I was doing her a disservice. I would never want to make her a weaker student. If anything, I’m a little harder on her. I know what she’s capable of, and I want her to succeed.”
“That makes sense.” Tyler’s thoughts were rapidly shifting from his worries and insecurities to how what he’d done might change Jaime’s training. “Thanks.”
“Just make sure you know what you are doing before you get involved with anyone in class,” Randy said. “Things worked out good for Sarah and me, but that’s because we both agreed we didn’t want anything interfering with our training. Not everyone can draw that line.”
Tyler nodded.
Randy had never talked about what it was like to train with Sarah, and Tyler had never asked. Even though they were best friends, it was weeks before Tyler caught on that Randy and Sarah had hooked up. Tyler always figured they didn’t want any hard feelings in the dojo if things didn’t work out between them. Sensei Melissa had known all along. She’d always smile when the two worked together. Tyler hadn’t noticed it at the time, but, looking back on it now, they always worked well together. No awkwardness or kid glove treatment, just two people sharing something they loved.
“Did you finally convince Jenny to try out the class?” Randy asked.
Hearing Jenny’s name caught Tyler off-guard. He really hadn’t thought about her much since she had ended their relationship.
“We broke up.” Tyler stuffed his gi into his bag. It was easier to concentrate on it while he thought of a good reason the breakup with Jenny wasn’t his biggest concern.
“I’m sorry, man. When did that happen?”
“Monday.”
When Tyler looked up, he saw Randy’s concerned stare.
“This Monday?”
“Yeah.” Tyler’s reply only deepened the frown on Randy’s face. “Things have been heading that way for weeks. She just made it official on Monday.”
“Damn, I thought there was something off with you,” Randy said. “Do you want to get a beer or something?”
Even though it had only been three days since Jenny had broken up with Tyler, it felt like months. There was no way he was going to go out drinking with Randy. They used to tell each other everything, especially when a few beers were involved. Tyler couldn’t lie sober and got talkative when alcohol was involved. There was no way he was going to risk letting it slip that Jaime had gone down on him or, worse, that he’d enjoyed it.
“No thanks.” Tyler grabbed his gear and headed out of the changing room. “I think I just need some time to myself.”
“I hear you,” Randy nodded in understanding. “Just give me a call if you want to go a couple of rounds on the PS4. I just got the latest Fallout game. Lots of blood and bullets.”
Tyler nodded. “I’ll let you know.”
Randy was a good friend. He’d seen Tyler through half a dozen breakups with bar nights and endless rounds of first-person shooters. Until he had met Sarah, Tyler had always joked Randy would spend
