Aaron hit the heavy bag, circling it around and around between jabs and hard right hands. He threw in the occasional front kick and a spinning back kick, plowing through the bag and his imaginary opponent. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, his body covered with sweat, and his mind was focused solely on the task at hand. He had to destroy this opponent or it was going to destroy him.

With a spinning back fist he knocked the heavy bag so it recoiled high in the air and slammed down towards the ground on its chain, where it bobbed and weaved as the vibrations tapered out of it.

Aaron leaned against the bag and rested a few minutes. He felt like he was about to drop. He wasn’t sure how long he had been at it, but his workout had gone far beyond even his physical fitness level. Even though he didn’t get to hop in the ring anymore and fight he still demanded himself to be in top physical condition. He was still a fighter. He was just retired.

That was how he liked to think of it. He loved coaching and being a trainer. He loved running his own gym his way and teaching the techniques of the sport to the younger generation so he could help them avoid the pitfalls that he had fallen into a time or two on the way up as a young fighter.

He took off his gloves, grabbed his water jug, and emptied it into his mouth. The cold water was so refreshing after a hard workout. He had a problem of remembering to stay hydrated at times. He would have to make sure he drank a bunch of water and Gatorade that night to compensate for it.

In the shower, while surrendering himself to the soothing warmth of the water spraying over his body, he thought about why he had pushed himself so hard today. There was a definite limit to what he could do and what he wanted to do, and he had crossed it. He had trained as if he was fighting again and had a match coming up.

He found himself actually thinking about Shelby. She was amazing. Ever since he had told her about himself, his past, and his career he had been on this adrenaline high that was causing him to push himself harder than his capabilities might allow. Last night he had woken up with a vicious shoulder cramp and almost passed out because the electrolytes in his body had not been replaced. When this happened his injury acted up. And he had been going all out on the heavy bag, allowing the momentum from his punches to vibrate back into his arm and up into his shoulder. It was hurting so bad the past couple of mornings so he’d had to ice it all morning. But here he was at it again. Maybe he was crazy.

He suddenly felt a pair of hands around his waist. He jerked quickly almost knocking the person to the ground. Had they not belonged to another fighter they would have fallen quickly.

Chelsea Ford jumped back out of his way as he twirled towards her, almost colliding with her chest. He realized it was her instantly and reached out to grab her to make sure she didn’t fall, but his assistance was not needed. She was already steady and out of his reach, except for her large, firm breasts.

“Whoa, what’s got you so jumpy?” Chelsea said. Chelsea was one of the top female fighters in her circuit. She was sexy and dangerous in the ring. Aaron had fallen quickly for her, but when he found out she cheated on him with another fighter—one of his students, no less—he had dumped her hard and fast. That was one thing he never could abide; he could not stand cheaters in any way. He figured if the person cheated on you once then they would cheat on you again.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Aaron asked. He was angered to see her and he was angry that she had almost caused him to accidentally knock her on her ass.

“I came to see you, handsome.”

“You never give up do you? When are you going to get it through your thick skull that no means no? We are done. End of story.”

“Oh, it’s cute that you think that.”

“You are unbelievable,” Aaron said.

“I know. You’ve told me that after many wonderful nights in bed,” Chelsea said. She reached forward and began to stroke his penis.

He was momentarily distracted by his growing erection, but quickly came to his senses and slapped her hand away.

“Grow up!”

Aaron turned off the shower and stormed out towards the locker room.

“Come on, I barely touched you and it’s ready to go. You can’t tell me that you don’t still want me.”

“We had something great. I loved you and you ripped my heart out. I will never forgive you for that. We will never be together again.”

“Oh, that’s such a shame. One little mistake—“

“One little mistake? When people are together that means they are together. It is a commitment to each other. That is something you obviously still don’t understand anything about.”

“You always were the little drama queen,” Chelsea said.

“Whatever. Why don’t you get lost?” Aaron finished putting on his clothes, grabbed his keys and started heading for the door.

Chelsea rushed ahead and jumped in front of him, blocking the door.

“Get out of my way.”

“Oh, you can’t leave now. I know you still want me. You don’t just throw me aside. I don’t know who the hell you think I am.”

“You cheated on me. This is all your fault. Besides, I’m with someone else now.”

A look of anger crossed Chelsea’s face and he smiled at the sight. It was about time this bitch showed her true colors.

“Oh, is that so?” Chelsea said.

“Yes, now move.” Aaron forged ahead and Chelsea stepped out of his way.

As he walked to his truck he didn’t want to look back, but he couldn’t resist.

He wished he hadn’t because he saw Chelsea standing there with the most evil expression on her face he’d ever seen on somebody. It sent chills down his spine.

That girl was crazier than he even realized.