Chapter Two
Jet
When I woke up that morning, I thought I would find a beautiful redhead beside me, one who was shy about the night before, but happy about it, too. Instead, I found myself alone, trying to figure out how that little vixen snuck out on me once again. I was starting to think she was a ninja, as she was able to get out of the bed and get dressed, leaving me behind without me hearing a thing. I didn't know what I was going to do with her, but I was not happy at all that she had left. A note would have been nice, or even sending a text message that said, “You snore too loud.” Something, anything, to not make me think that I was totally and completely wasting my time hanging out with her. Because one thing was becoming shockingly clear to me, and that was that I had no idea what was going on in that redhead’s brain. Just when I thought that I was starting to figure her out, she left me alone in my own bed, feeling like I was the one-night stand that got ditched.
I checked my phone, realizing that I had slept later than I wanted to. I had to train that day with Coach and I was already feeling quite ill. I would have to grab a Gatorade out of the fridge and try to replenish what the alcohol had taken away from me that night. Pre-workout was something that I used occasionally. It wasn't part of my regular workout routine but I made note to make some for this workout because I would need all the energy I could get my hands on.
Rolling out of bed, I quickly dressed in training gear and went to find Kyle. He was up finishing off his breakfast when he saw me walking down the hall.
He smirked and shook his head, and I remembered how he had found Natalie and I the night before. I wasn't about to get in that conversation with him at that point.
“Is she in there?” Kyle motioned towards my bedroom.
“No, she left before I got up.”
Kyle chuckled. “Man, you are a glutton for punishment. That girl must have a golden pussy for you to chase her like you do.”
I bristled. “I don't chase anyone, Kyle.”
“Sure you don't. She would just rather do the walk of shame in the a.m. rather than hang out with you for the day.”
“Shut the fuck up, Kyle, you have no idea what you're talking about. I had to train today, I couldn't hang out.”
Kyle just nodded as he mopped up the rest of his egg yolk with his toast.
“I need you to give me a ride to Natalie's, though, so I can get my car.”
Kyle looked up and grinned. “Sure man, whatever you want.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Seriously, shut up, man.”
When I walked into the training center I was about 15 minutes early for my training session. Coach had messaged me and cancelled my regular training session, so I had call my brother down to kill an arm and shoulder day with me. I didn't see him there yet so I put my bag down and did some stretching before he arrived.
I did three minutes of shadow boxing in front of the mirror, working my techniques. I wanted to make sure of what I was throwing and how often my hands dropped, and it was rare.
“Hey, man, your technique looks good. Ready to smash some weights?”
“You got it.”
“No fights coming up anytime soon?”
“Don't joke around man, you know I have no conference fights, I'm on the bench.”
I laughed. “Yeah, yeah, won't be for long, I'm sure.”
We headed to the weight area and I planned for us to do bicep curls and tricep extensions. I could do 120 on each arm, and I loved seeing my veins pop. It was important to combine strength with MMA training so that your punches and kicks had power behind them.
We did three sets of each one, grunting through our progression. I did drop sets next for bicep curls. I started at 100, doing a set of 12, and I then went to 80, and finished with 12. I went from 60 to 40, and ended with 20, which at that point felt like it weighed 100 all over again.
“Those look sick, man. Set me up for those as well.” Craig said.
“Yeah, I got you. What's your max weight?”
“More than yours.”
I laughed, and set him up with 110. “Don't get too carried away.”
He jacked up his arms, and as he did his sets of 10, I lowered the weight for him. I kept pushing him to work harder when he was close to giving up. “Come on man, one more set, let’s go.” I set the last one to 20 and he killed it.
We continued on with biceps and triceps and then moved on to shoulders. We did shoulder presses, chin-ups, and push-ups. I was exhausted by the time we were done, and we went to the water cooler to grab some Gatorade. Craig and I sat on the bench, lost in our own thoughts as we chugged our drinks.
“So, Jet, why didn't you come to that dinner with Dad? I invited you and your little girlfriend and you didn't show up. We were expecting you.”
“She's not my girlfriend. And maybe all of you guys should just stop expecting me.”
“Oh believe me; no one's expecting anything, Jet.”
“Craig, just drop it, okay?”
“I have been inviting you to dinner for months now, Jet. When are you going to show up to one? Don't you think this is upsetting for everyone? What about Mom, don't you even care?”
“Oh come on, man. You know exactly why I don't come. If he wanted me there bad enough he would call me. Stop being his errand boy.”
“I'm not his errand boy, Jet. I just think you should be at dinner just like the rest of us.”
“It's not the rest of us. You don't get hounded the way I do.”
“He just wants the best for you, Jet. Taking over the company isn't such a terrible thing.”
“Then you do it.”
“Seriously, don't be an asshole.”
“I don't want that life. I am building the life I want, or don't you see that?”
“What are you going to do when you retire from MMA? Don't you want something to fall back on?”
“I don't need anything to fall back on. I'm making it to the big leagues, man. I am going all the way. I will have all the money I need.”
“I'm going to see Dad in a few days. Why don't you come along?”
I laughed. “You don't stop, do you?”
“No, and I'm not going to.”
I looked around the gym. In mid-afternoon the place was really busy, and I felt weird about having that conversation with Craig there.
“When are you going to forgive him?”
I groaned. “Craig, do we have to do this right now?”
“Yeah, man, I think we do, because you won't deal with it any other time.”
I sighed. “I don't want to forgive him.”
“I have.”
“Yeah, I'm aware of that.”
“Shit happens, man.”
“He cheated on our mother with his secretary. He wasn't even original about it. If that wasn't bad enough, he left that great woman we call Mom, and shacked up with that girl. He broke your mother’s heart, and you want to forgive? You want me to have dinner with him and his new girlfriend? You must be kidding me.”
“He's my father too, and I don't agree with what he did. But I love him, too, and what happened is between Mom and him. I don't like being angry all the time, and you shouldn't be either, Jet. At least talk to him about it.”
“I don't know.”
“Just come with me this time, please. Just come. Do it for me.”
“Okay, I promise I will go this time. Just get off my back.”
Craig laughed. “Thank God. I have to get out of here, but I will message you the details later. Don't blow me off.”
I waved him off and got the hell out of the gym.