What the hell am I doing?

My legs chewed up the pavement on the way up heart-rate-hill. I always trained better when I was mad.

This is the reason they tell you not to get involved with anybody before a big fight.

After I left Bria’s office I went straight back to the gym. The guys started to bug me with questions.

Why you back so soon?

Thought you and your little hottie were getting lunch. What happened?

I made up some bullshit about her not being able to get out of work. I hated making excuses.

So I went for a run to clear my head.

Did she really tell me to never come back?

But why? That guy was a douchebag. It had to be her ex. Kevin was his name. The guy took a swing at her. What did she expect me to do, sit there and watch the show?

I didn’t give a fuck about him talking to me that way. I had no reason to. People try to get me to react all the time. I was used to it. Something about running your mouth to an MMA fighter made little pussies like him feel strong. I was above all that bullshit…

But there was no way I could let it slide when it came to my woman. Anybody who wanted to lay a finger on her could expect to lose a few teeth.

So why the hell did she freak out like that? I thought she was over that god damned job anyway.

I had crested the hill and started on the downside without even realizing it. It was my second run of the day and I seemed to be going at a faster pace. My opponent was gonna have to deal with the consequences of all this work. On fight night I’d be as lean as I’d ever been.

I sprinted through the business park, my anger fueling me just as much as my desire to win. When I made it back to the parking lot I felt like I had enough energy to do the whole thing again. I almost did, too, if not for my guy Nick waving me over. I coasted to a stop and leaned on his pickup to stretch my hamstrings.

“God damn, Luke. You’re gonna run some holes into those fuckin’ shoes.”

“What the hell are you eating?” I asked.

He was shoving some kind of chocolate mess into his mouth.

“Protein sandwich,” he said.

“A… what?”

“Protein sandwich.” There was a glob of goo on his chin that made him look like a two-year-old.

“I take two protein bars and use them as ‘bread’ for my peanut butter.”

“You’re fucking gross,” I said, shaking my head. Nick had a way about him that always worked to lighten my mood.

A long-legged brunette with bouncing tits ran up to his side. He ignored her.

“Naw,” he continued, “It’s the easiest way to hit my macros. I can’t get huge unless I’m stuffin’ the protein.”

“Why don’t you take me back to your place and stuff me?” squealed the brunette.

He shot me a look that I’d already seen too many times.

“Whaddaya say big man? I bet she has a friend.”

The girl puckered her lips and gave me a pouty stare. I’d seen that look too many times as well.

“I think you already know the answer. But hey, I can’t fault you for trying.”

“Aww,” whined the girl. “Why not? It’ll be a lot of fun.”

I nodded at Nick and turned to the gym. As I walked away I could hear her start to argue with him. It was something about him not remembering her name. If I heard right, he told her it didn’t matter. Apparently he was right because she still left with him.

I tossed my shirt in the hamper as the office door swung shut behind me. There was a stack of promotional posters on the desk that I was supposed to sign and return to the promoter. Until you sign two hundred and fifty posters, there’s no way you can understand just how bad it hurts your hand. If they were for kids or charity or something, I’d already have done it. But the promoter just gave them out to sponsors and his connected friends so I didn’t really care.

Running the hill gave me time to calm down a little. The aggression I was feeling earlier had faded to a dull roar in my chest.

When I checked my phone and saw there were no messages from Bria it hurt more than I would have expected.

She’s so much better than that place. Why did she get that upset? I get that she can’t be in the middle of stuff like that at her workplace. It doesn’t look good. But why couldn’t she just explain the situation? That guy was a fucking creep who needed to have his jaw broken. They can’t expect her to put up with his harassment.

Maybe we’re not as perfect of a match as I thought we were. It all sounded good in theory, but how the hell did she expect to maintain her current lifestyle when she’s with a guy like me?

Maybe she didn’t mean what she said. But that didn’t seem like her either. Did she just need some space?

I needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do.