“Jab, cross, then kick.” Tyler barked from the side of the ring.

My mind was not on what was happening at the moment. “I know.” Then I proceeded to do a jab, cross, and inside kick on my training partner. My foot met the inside of her leg but a little too close to her groin area. Teryan dropped to the mat. “Oh fuck. Are you okay?” I squatted down beside her and placed my hand on her back.

“I’m fine.” She lifted her head. “If you’re not focused today, why are you here?”

“I—” Her words caught me off guard. “It was an accident.”

“Zoe, take this shit out on a heavy bag before you injure someone else.” Tyler helped Teryan to her feet. “That’s it for today.”

In a few months I had a rematch fight scheduled. The fight had been canceled already and I didn’t want to have that happen again. Which meant I didn’t have time to take breaks or only use a punching bag to keep on target. Tyler’s lack of compassion was starting to wear on me. Then add in the news I had just caught on the TV earlier, and well, I was the very definition of distracted.

“Hey,” Julian said and wrapped his arms around the heavy bag. “Need some help?”

I rolled my eyes and tried to bite my tongue. This was Julian, Tyler’s oldest brother. He was also my dear friend’s boyfriend. Lily and I were close, but I didn’t know what was okay to say and what wasn’t when it came to Tyler. I stepped back and threw a punch at the leather surface. “Thanks.” It was weird practicing with him. “Why are you over here?”

“Tyler can be difficult sometimes.” I stopped punching the bag and stepped back. “He means well, Zoe.”

I brushed a few strands of hair away from my face. “Does he? I haven’t noticed.” My words were sharp, so I knew I needed to back track. “I mean—”

“Your fight is in two months, right?”

“Yeah.” This day was shit. I started to remove my gloves. “And Vera is going to be relentless. She wants the belt back.”

Julian reached forward to help take my gloves off. “Lily mentioned you may need a change.”

“What are you offering?”

“I help you for the next two months.”

“Why?”

“I can see Tyler is distracted.”

There was a bench a few feet away. I dropped down to the wood surface and rested my arms on my thighs. “He’s distracted? Yet, he is worried about my off day.”

“Want to talk about it?” Julian sounded so professional as he sat down beside me. “Sometimes talking to an outsider helps.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Just caught a story on the news that took my mind in a different direction.” I glanced up at him. “I was focused on the practice.”

“I know. I was watching.”

“I hope Teryan’s okay. It was an accident when my kick landed too high.”

“I know, Zoe.” He patted my leg. “When does practice start tomorrow?”

“Um, eight a.m. sharp.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.” He stood and walked away. “See you bright and early.”

I watched as he opened his office door and stepped inside. What just happened? Julian offered to help me train for one of the toughest fights I would experience in my career. When I was put on the fight card with Vera Kornikova six months ago, a small part of me doubted the possibility of taking control of the strawweight title. Then I won.

“Someone missed you,” Charlie said, out of breath as she ran up to me. “Are you done already?”

I wrapped Lucky up in my arms, needing the warmth. “For now. Tomorrow is a new day, right?”

“You okay?” Charlie grabbed my arm.

“Yeah, I think I need to go home and be with the fur babies awhile.” I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for watching her.” I scratched Lucky’s head. “I think she should be okay to stay home tomorrow. I bought tons of puppy pads.”

“Well, if you need a puppy sitter, you know where to find me.” She winked and turned to head over to the front counter.

I carried Lucky with me back into the locker room to grab my gym bag. Since my locker was not far from the front entrance, it took me about one minute to get what I needed and head back out. The moment I stepped out, Tyler stepped out of the men’s locker room. I wanted to say something. Tell him sorry, but what was I sorry about? Or maybe just lay into him for how shitty he was to me. Somehow all the thoughts didn’t matter. If he cared, he would not be such an asshole. Instead of saying a word, I just left. It felt good being the bigger person.

I didn’t have time for bullshit in my life.

My place was about two miles from the gym. The moment I walked in the door, my phone started to buzz. I let Lucky down out of my arms and reached into my back pocket for my phone. On the screen was Tyler’s name. Well, my day was getting better and better.

Tyler: So you’re working with Julian now?

Me: He offered.

Tyler: Why didn’t you start working out with him several months ago?

Me: If that’s what you wanted, you should’ve spoke up. I didn’t realize I was that awful to work with?

Tyler: There you go whining again.

Me: Excuse me?

Tyler: Never mind. Good luck with Julian.

Me: Yeah…

I let my body fall onto the couch and rested my head back. Tyler was angry. What I couldn’t understand was why and what I did. Over the last several weeks, he seemed distant and frustrated. A part of me knew it wasn’t anything I had done. Hell, I didn’t even know the man. He was so closed off from everyone, even his two brothers.

Lucky hopped up into my arms and started to lick my face. “You need to be walked I bet.” I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “How do you feel about a leash, Ms. Independent?”

I wrapped my arms around my sweet puppy and stood up. Right as I was about to clasp the leash onto Lucky’s collar, my phone buzzed again. I looked down and noticed another message from Tyler. Rolling my eyes, I hit delete and headed outside. I needed some fresh air.