I stretch my back and chug down the rest of my coffee before heading to the gym. Damion is already going to be pissed off at me for ditching my training lesson to go talk to Vivian yesterday, so he doesn’t need to see me drinking coffee. He has forbidden it –along with a number of other dietary restrictions I ignore. I’m actually in a pretty good mood this morning. I had woken up in Vivian’s bed, and I had headed into the kitchen to find her making breakfast. She has literally never made me breakfast… like ever. The woman always refuses to lift a finger and make me cater to her. I guess she had just been in an exceptionally good mood after learning she could potentially become a Victoria Secret Angel.

It had been at that moment that I decided to give her the news and dump her. Much to my surprise, she had taken it almost frightfully well for a woman who likes to tiptoe on the crazy-sane line. She had even told me congratulations once the conversation had opened up as to why I was breaking things off all of a sudden.

I smile slightly as I enter the gym, thinking of Brandi. I think I’m going to go ring shopping today while she is out of town visiting her mom. Geez, how am I going to ask her? I never really envisioned myself doing anything like this before.

Damion gives it to me hard today to make up for my missed time. I supposed I deserved it after ditching training to go fuck a woman I was supposed to be breaking up with. Oh well, it’s done now. I get what’s coming to me between Damion and Gabe; Gabe’s not at all thrilled to find out I stayed at Vivian’s last night, but he is glad to hear that I ended things finally.

I brush it all off and focus on training, pushing Brandi to the back of my mind temporarily so that I can actually make some progress today. After my close call with Stockney, I’m sure my manager is going to want to set up some big name fight to ensure the fan’s that I’ve still got it. A small part of me gets a thrill out of the waiting game –wondering who I’m going to try to stack up against next. Undefeated, and I plan on staying that way. I’ve been at this for a long time, but no one has been able to get the better of me.

By the time the evening arrives, I’m drenched in a layer of sweat, and I can feel Damion’s revenge weighing down on my shoulders after one of the roughest training sessions I have worked through in a while. I go shower off, and a few of the guys are blabbering on about how Damion was having me whip my own ass today in the locker room. I can hear them over by the lockers talking smack, and I shake my head before wrapping a towel around my waist and leaving the shower.

“Hey, I know you fools aren’t talking shit behind my back!” I say, half-jokingly as I approach my locker.

Marty is here again today, and he laughs at me as he throws on his t-shirt and jeans. “Just talking about how Damion likes to abuse you, Jonathan. We were all taking notes and had decided it is probably best not to piss the old geezer off.”

“Better watch what you say, Marty,” I tell him, “Damion has got some pretty sonic hearing. Don’t let him hear you call him old, or he’ll make you go a round with him in the ring.”

“He sure does punch hard for an old man,” Marty says.

“Yo!” I hear Tyler’s voice as he enters into the locker room. He always stops by for an evening workout. Tyler is still an amateur boxer, and he really sucks. He is getting better, but we all give him hell about not being a real boxer.

“Whoa, what the hell is Tyler doing here?” Marty jokes. “This is a boxer’s only gym.”

“Cute,” he says as he throws down his gym bag.

“You know, there’s a ladies gym down the street from here, Tyler, maybe you should go by there. I hear they’re hiring a kick-boxing instructor,” I say.

He spins around on his heel, and I can tell by the slight smirk on his face that he has a really good come back. He crosses his arms. “So… Jonathan when’s the last time you saw your car?”

That seems pretty random. “Why?” I ask.

He just grins. “Nothing… just saw it parked out back on my way in looks like Vivian paid you a visit while you were training.”

“What the fuck did she do?” I snarl.

Gabe laughs. “Oh, shit, sounds like she was not as laid back as you said, Jonathan.”

“Fuck!” I shout and throw on my clothes as quickly as possible before darting out of the gym and into the back parking lot. Marty, Jonathan, and Gabe all follow me while the rest of the boxing buffoons stay behind for their regularly scheduled locker talk.

My brand new Ferrari is parked out back, and I am regretting having chosen my favorite car to drive to the gym today. I had left the top down…

The car is full of bubbles, the beautiful red paint has her fucking name scratched all over it, the tires are slashed, and it looks like she went to town on it with a bat. Apparently, she had just needed time to decide just how mad she was going to get. “I’m going to run that bitch over!” I snap.

“With what?” Gabe jokes, and I punch him in the arm –knocking him back so suddenly that he almost trips.

I open the door, and a ridiculous amount of water comes pouring out all over the pavement. “Cool, it’s like a portable hot tub,” Tyler says, and I think about turning around just to punch him too.

“Mother fucking bitch! I just got this-this week… I haven’t insured it yet!” I practically scream.

“Awe… that sucks, man,” Marty says. “Why the hell would you buy a Ferrari and not immediately get it insured.”

“Because I’m a dumbass,” I say. This sucks. I mean, this sucks a lot. I had paid for it outright too. “I was going to go get Brandi a ring today,” I say.

“Hey, relax, my Uncle TJ still owns a body shop… I know you probably would rather have somewhere a little more upscale working on it, but he can get it moving and get Vivian’s name off the thing for you until you can get it insured,” Marty says. “I’ll give him a call and have him come tow it. Let Gabe drive you to go get your girl a ring, and Tyler and I will handle this for you.”

“Really?” I question as though this has to be some sort of joke.

“No, man, really,” Tyler says. “Don’t let that bitch Vivian ruin shit with Brandi. That’s a good woman right there. You dumped the slutty side chick and are getting your head on straight. The last thing you need is for Brandi to see some other woman’s name carved into your car. Go on and go get the ring, and Marty and I will make sure to get your car to the shop.”

Gabe nods in agreement, still rubbing his arm where I had nailed him. “Yeah, I can drive you. I am the best man, right? Makes sense that I get to go help you pick out the ring.”

I smile and thank them all. They’re really helping me out on this one. I didn’t realize I had such a cool group of friends. Gabe and I climb into his black pickup and head out. I feel like I’m sitting really high up whenever I am in Gabe’s red neck mobile. No one drives pickups out this way unless you work in construction, but Gabe was from down south a little ways and had always driven trucks. He didn’t have much of a southern twang; his mother was from here, San Diego, originally, so he had definitely picked up on her accent.

I give Gabe directions to this fancy ring shop I had been reading up on. Brandi deserves the best, so I’m going to give it to her. A part of me is nervous and anxious about shopping for a ring. I guess because once I buy it, it kind of becomes real. It’s not just an idea in my head anymore once the ring is in my pocket. It’s a plan set into motion.