Tate
“Take a knee,” Kellan called from the front of the class.
Dante and I were leaning against the back wall, waiting for Kellan to lose his shit.
It was Tuesday night, and the under belts were not listening and had been talking the whole class.
“Does anyone want to tell me why I stopped?” he asked while he paced the front line back and forth with his hands behind his back.
The kids quickly caught on that they were about to catch the bad side of Kellan.
“Can someone tell me one of the main rules of Powerhouse?”
Four kids raised their hands.
Kellan pointed at one of the students who didn’t have their hands raised. “Mel, you were talking a lot today. Why don’t you tell me one of the rules?”
She nervously played with the ends of her belt and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.
Kellan pointed to the oversized poster hanging above the mirrors. “Pick one that stands out to you.”
“Respect others.”
Dante elbowed me in the side. “I love when he does this.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “The fact you revel in the discipline of these kids scares me for your future children.”
“Can anyone tell me if you’re talking over someone so you can tell your friend about your latest Pokémon is respectful?” Kellan asked the class.
A chorus of ‘no sir’s’ echoed around the room. Kellan stopped in front of the class and raised his arms over his head. “Devin, tell me another rule.”
“Always be—” Devin started.
But Kellan only let him get two words in. “I watched a movie last night and had popcorn.”
Devin turned bright red, wondering what the hell was going on, and the rest of the class laughed. Kellan continued pacing. “Did I just show respect to Devin by talking over him?” The students shook their heads. “So me talking about what happened to me last night isn’t really important when we’re out on the mat, is it?”
“No, sir!” everyone yelled.
“Good, now that we have that understood, come to attention.”
Dante and I both stood up straight. Old habits die hard. Even though Kellan wasn’t talking to us, we still obeyed the command.
“This is the third time I have had to stop class because no one is listening. Would you like it if you were trying to tell me something, and all I did was talk about how nice it is outside and how pretty my girlfriend is?”
The moms in the class all ‘oh’d’ and ‘awww’d’ while the kids groaned.
“That was subtle,” I laughed. Kellan had been complaining to us this morning how three of the moms had started, not so subtly, hitting on him.
“Next time that happens, it’ll be fifty push-ups for the whole class. Understood?”
Everyone groaned, and yelled, “Yes, sir!”
Kellan bowed to the class and strode off the mat.
Dante whistled low and shook his head. “He is beyond pissed.”
Normally, Kellan gave high fives to all the kids and hung around to talk. He stormed into the office and slammed the door shut behind him.
The kids filed off the mat, bowing as they went. To say the mood in the studio was somber was an understatement.
“Is everything okay?” one of the student's moms asked. We both turned around and saw Malcolm's mom, Brittany, standing on the other side of the half wall, leaning against it with her boobs on full display.
“Just a bit of a rough day,” I mumbled.
“Is there anything I can do to make it better?” She batted her eyes at us and licked her lips.
Holy hell. This chick was shameless. “Um, I think we have it covered,” Dante replied.
I was surprised that he wasn’t eating this shit up. Normally, Roman and Dante at least played along for a bit before they shut it down.
“Mom, can we go?” Malcolm asked. He was standing at the other end of the half wall, his jacket on, ready to go.
Brittany rolled her eyes and bent over to grab her purse. Her shirt gaped open, exposing her bright pink bra. “Coming, hon,” she called. She leaned over the wall and lowered her voice. “You boys have my number. Call me if there is anything I can do to help work the tension out. Mick is out of town this week.” She gave a wink that, while I’m sure she was going for sexy, made her look like she was having a stroke. She sauntered out with Malcolm next to her, and the door closed behind them.
“She should really get that eye checked out,” Dante sputtered while he laughed.
I shook my head and laughed. “Did she really just invite us over with her kid standing ten feet away and her husband out of town?”
Dante nodded and bowed off the mat. “Sure fucking did. I’m not sure what the hell is up with these chicks. I thought we got plenty of ass out on the circuit. But now, I’m rethinking that, seeing all of these moms hitting on us all of the time.”
I grabbed Kellan’s phone he had left abandoned and bowed off of the mat. “Maybe you need to snag one of them up.”
Dante shook his head and pushed open the door to the office. “Fuck no. Not one of those chicks are single. That’s a fight I’m not willing to take.”
Kellan was sitting behind the desk, shuffling through papers. “Out.”
Dante chuckled and plopped down on the couch. “Fuck you.”
Kellan looked up, glaring at Dante. “I don’t know why the fuck you’re in here.”
“To find out who pissed in your Cheerios this morning.” Dante kicked his legs out, crossed them at his ankles, and crossed his arms over his head.
I leaned against the closed door and crossed my arms over my chest. “The kids weren’t listening today, but you kind of went off the deep end.”
Kellan pushed away from the desk and leaned back. “They weren’t listening.”
“Next time, try not to storm off the mat,” Dante chuckled.
Kellan sighed, frustrated. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that right before class started, I went and got the mail.”
Dante scoffed. “I know getting the mail really pisses me off too.”
Kellan shook his head and shifted through a stack of papers on the desk. “No, you asshole. It was a fucking advertisement I saw.” He opened up the small town newspaper and flipped to the last page. He laid it on the desk and pointed at an ad that took up half the page.
“No fucking way,” I muttered, moving to the side of the desk.
Dante shot up and looked down at the paper. “What the ever-loving-fuck is that?” Kellan leaned back in his chair, and Dante grabbed the paper and started reading out loud. “Want to train with the best in all of Wisconsin? Join Cornerstone Dojo and Gym today. Owned and operated by Jim Corners, instructed by Mylin San. Join the best today.” Dante crumbled up the paper and tossed it in the garbage. “That’s right where that motherfucker belongs.”
I braced my arms on the desk and hung my head. “All the fucking places and he had to pick Falls City,” I stated. “Jim has reached a whole new level of dickness.”
“Does it say where he is opening up?” Dante asked.
Kellan nodded, pushed off the floor with one foot, and slowly spun around. “Over in the new industrial park on the other side of town.” Kellan picked up his phone and glanced down at it. “Open the door, Molly is on the way over with lunch.”
Dante opened the door and smirked at Kellan. “Have a mentioned how much I love the fact you have a girlfriend who likes feeding us?”
I sat down on the couch. “And do you know how easily distracted you are by food?” I snickered.
“We can discuss Jim the dick while we eat, right?”
The bell over the door jingled and Molly wandered into the office. “Hey,” she mumbled as Dante took a large paper bag from her hands. “I guess Kellan told you I was coming,” she giggled.
“You think you can let my girl through the door, D? The food isn’t going anywhere.”
Kellan stood up, took the drink carrier from Molly, and nodded toward the desk. “Sit down, babe.”
Molly shook her head and hitched her thumb over her shoulder. “I wish I could, but I need to get back to the shop. A big ol’ van pulled up loaded with a bunch of senior citizens. Bess helped set up an outing for them to come to the coffee shop.”
“You mean the place Bess’ kids have been trying to stuff her?” I asked. Every time Bess came into class, she was talking about the latest way she had managed to foil their newest ploy to get her into the home.
“One in the same. She started volunteering there. It seems to have gotten them off of her back for the time being.” Molly leaned against Kellan and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Walk me back to the cafe?” she whispered.
“Yeah, Cookie.” He pressed a kiss to her lips and slid his feet into a pair of sandals he had under the desk. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Lock up when you’re done stuffing your faces,” he said, nodding at Dante.
Dante shoved a cookie in his mouth. “But what are we going to do about Jim?” he asked around a mouthful.
Kellan grabbed Molly’s hand. “There isn’t a whole lot we can do. We know we’re the best, and that will speak for itself.”
“Who is Jim?” Molly asked, looking up at Kellan.
“I’ll tell you later, Cookie. Just an asshole from the past who seems to be moving to Falls City.”
Molly wrinkled her nose. “Sounds like a story that needs a bottle of wine to go with it.”
I laughed and grabbed a sandwich out of the bag. “It’s always good to drink whenever you talk about Jim.”
Kellan shook his head and moved out the door with Molly tucked to his side. “Later,” he yelled.
Dante collapsed in the chair behind the desk and grabbed the bag of food. “You believe this bullshit?” he asked as he rummaged through the bag.
“Jim?” I asked.
Dante looked up from the bag and shook his head. “No, she only packed six cookies.”
I smirked and took a bite of my sandwich. I sat down on the couch and kicked my feet out. “When did a half dozen cookies for one man become not enough?”
He unwrapped his sandwich. “When they taste as good as Molly’s, there’s never enough.”
I sighed and finished my sandwich in four bites. “There another one in there, or are you keeping all of the food to yourself?” I was still hungry and felt like I could eat four more.
Dante tossed me another sandwich and dumped the empty bag in the garbage. “You got any plans tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
He looked at me and tilted his head. “What?”
“What, what?”
“What are your plans, asshole?”
I ripped off a bite and chewed thoughtfully. How was I going to tell Dante what I was doing in a way that he wouldn’t ask questions? I hadn’t seen Hadley since Sunday morning, and I sure as fuck didn’t want Dante tagging along tonight. She had messaged me after I had left Sunday to let me know she had off work the next two nights, and the next time she would see me would be Tuesday. I had just lived the longest two days of my life, and I was literally counting the hours until I got to touch her again. “Grocery shopping.”
Dante whistled low. “Living the crazy life, huh?”
“Shut up, dick. Like you have a better plan.”
Dante grabbed two waters out of the mini fridge and tossed me one. “I do, but you can’t come.”
I rolled my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. I was afraid he was somehow going to invite himself along, and then I was going to have to think of another excuse. “As much as I’d like to tag along to your circle jerk, I think I’ll stick with grocery shopping.”
Dante eyed me up and leaned back in the chair. “How come you’re not asking me what my plans are?”
I shrugged and shoved the last of my sandwich in my mouth. “Because you said I couldn’t come, so why should I care where you’re going?”
“Because if you told me you had plans and I couldn’t go, I would want to know what the heck you were up to.”
“That’s because you’re a nosy bastard.” I crumbled up the empty wrappers and tossed them into the garbage can. “You can’t stand not knowing what’s going on.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine, now I’m really not going to tell you.”
I tipped my water bottle to him. “Fine by me.”
“You’re such a dick.”
I did want to know what the hell Dante was up to, but I didn’t want to give him the pleasure of knowing I was curious. “Well, thank you. Now, I’m going to head home, figure out what I need from the store, and spend my night shopping.”
Dante groaned and spun around in the chair. “When did you become so lame?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m okay with being lame.” I stood up and stepped out the door to the front desk. “And how come I’m the only lame one?” I grabbed my duffel bag and tossed it over my shoulder.
“Because you’re the one with the big ol’ house who is going grocery shopping.”
“You do know those are pathetic reasons, right?”
“But they’re the damn truth!” he called back.
I reached into my bag, pulled out my keys, and shoved my bare feet into my sandals. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, dumbass. Try not to get into trouble tonight doing whatever the hell it that you have planned.”
“Ha! You do care about what I’m doing tonight!” he shouted.
I shook my head and strode out the door.
The only thing I cared about right now was seeing Hadley again.
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