‘Greer Mixed Martial Arts’ showed prominently in big red letters on the front of the building. In the parking lot there were a few cars scattered about. It looked like most of the people had gone home for the day. Luke’s Maserati was parked near the front doors.

I hopped out of my car feeling totally and completely out of place. Two big guys walked out together. One had a mohawk that was colored green. The other looked like one of the bad guys in a Sylvester Stallone movie. His nose had been broken a handful of times and there was excessive scar tissue above each of his eyes.

The one with the mohawk stared at me as they crossed the lot. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but when he nudged his buddy and made a motion like he was pushing something into his crotch, I was glad to be out of earshot.

The place was incredibly intimidating. There were a couple of young girls hanging around by the entrance. They were probably just waiting on their boyfriends… Or did girls fight too? I wasn’t even sure.

“Hey,” I asked the one who looked a little less like a cheap stripper, “do you know if Luke Greer is around? I’m hoping to see him…”

She looked at me as if I had two heads. “Luke? Are you joking? Are you, like, his sister or something?”

“No…,” I replied cautiously. “Why, is it weird that someone would ask for him or something?”

“It’s weird that someone like you would ask for him, honey,” she said, and they both laughed.

“Oh,” I said, defeated. “He just… helped me out with something and I wanted to thank him.” My confidence had totally faded.

“Yeah, you’re not the type that usually comes in,” she said. “You’re a little too… corporate.” They both cackled.

“We’ll be sure to tell him you dropped by,” said the other one. “Maybe Luke will call you when he needs someone to do his taxes.”

I could feel my whole face go beet red. They were right. What was I thinking, coming down here in a business suit and heels? I was so stu-

“Hey, Bria, is that you?” called a familiar voice from inside. I craned my neck to see around the two skanks blocking my path. “Come over here!”

The girls stood, mouths agape, as I shoved by them to go to Luke. I badly wanted to give them a ‘fuck you’ look but decided it was beneath me.

“Uh, hi,” I said, nervously. “So you do remember me?”

I forced a smile as he chuckled and shared a look with the stocky young guy standing next to him.

“You’re asking if I remember you? You’re asking if I remember the beautiful young house plant fanatic who I saved from certain death less than twenty-four hours ago? Yeah, you could say I remember. You’re the highlight of my whole week.”

“Oh, yeah of course, well…” I didn’t really know what to say and it felt more awkward than it should have been with the other guy standing there.

Luke shifted his position on the wall he was leaning against, and if sensing my discomfort, nodded for the other guy to leave.

The guy jumped to attention. He brushed by me as he passed. “Excuse me, ma’am, but my rude friend failed to introduce us.” He offered his hand. “I’m- “

“You’re leaving,” interrupted Luke. “Not this one, Nick,” he said. “Get lost.”

Nick gave me a defeated smile and headed toward the girls at the front door.

“So what’s up?” asked Luke.

“Oh, I wanted to come by and say thank you again for helping me out last night.”

“You mean for saving your life?” he asked.

His eyes were unrelenting and I think he enjoyed watching me squirm.

“Well, yeah, you know what I mean. I was thinking about it today and I really owe you one,” I said.

“You couldn’t afford me sweetheart,” he replied, smiling wickedly.

“Do you have to be so damn arrogant?” I asked, my cheeks flushing red.

“We both know you didn’t just come here to thank me. Why don’t we just cut to the chase? What do you want from me, beautiful?”

I knew exactly what I wanted, but I wasn’t about to tell him that…

“How about I buy us dinner?” I said, meekly. The words jumped out of my mouth before I had time to consider them.

“Really?” he said. “You’re going to take me out to dinner?” He seemed genuinely intrigued. “That’s a first.”

“I don’t know, I just thought I could make it up to you. Dinner seems fair to me,” I said.

“Deal!” he blurted it just loud enough that the girls at the front door turned and scowled. “You have a place in mind?” he asked.

I was so surprised that he agreed, the question caught me off guard. I still wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t making fun of me.

“You probably have some kind of strict diet,” I asked, tentatively. “Like you probably only eat whole foods or something right? I mean how else do you keep yourself in such good shape?”

I was starting to ramble and somehow I let my eyes wander down to his stomach. The memory of him pulling his shirt off when we first walked into the gym last night flashed through my head.

“You can’t build a body like this on salads. I’m good for a steak. Let’s go to that place that just opened down town.”

I had no idea where he was talking about so I just nodded in agreement.

“That’s a date,” he said. “But in the meantime, let me show you around my gym. You didn’t get the full tour last night.”

I shyly nodded. He winked and motioned for me to follow him.

“Over here are the weights. Most of the guys like to get a good lift in before they do anything else.”

I looked at the stacks of weights loaded onto long metal bars. It was more than I could ever imagine lifting myself.

“That side of the gym is for mat work and grappling,” he continued. “It’s where most of the fighters spend their time. It’s all about improving skill and learning new techniques.”

“And over there is the cage, but you saw that last night, didn’t you?”

I managed to squeak out a quick “yeah.” This place was so foreign to me. It was like another world. I had always been more of a book girl. The sports thing was all new to me so I felt a bit like a babe in the woods.

“That cage is… interesting,” I said. “Can you tell me about it?” I asked.

“Glad you want to know,” he said. “It’s where I make my money.”

“Does it lock?” I asked.

“C’mon, I’ll show you,” he said, taking my hand and leading me toward it.

“No, no, that’s okay,” I said, feeling suddenly afraid. “I get kind of claustrophobic. I don’t think I would like it in there too much.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said. “I want you to see what it’s like from the inside looking out. I’ll be with you.”

We walked up a short ramp and he threw the door open. It was chain-linked metal spray painted black. The walls stood at least eight feet high and the canvassed floor was covered in the varying graphics of the gym’s sponsors.

Luke closed the door behind us.

“It seems smaller once your inside,” I said.

“You’re right. There’s nowhere to run once you’re in here,” Luke said. He slyly raised an eyebrow. “You couldn’t get away from me if you tried.”

“Good thing there’s other people here,” I said, playing along with his game. “You can’t take advantage of me until they’re gone.”

Luke stopped and smirked at me as if to say ‘oh yeah?’

He turned and hoisted himself up to the top of the cage, effortlessly swinging his legs over the side. I couldn’t help but notice his flexed ab muscles when his shirt pulled up.

“Listen up!” Luke yelled, cupping both hands around his mouth. “The gym’s closed, everybody go on home for the night and get some rest.” His voice boomed through the cavernous building.

One by one the guys and girls started to collect their things and file out through the front doors. No one seemed to question him.

“Now what?” he asked. I’d never seen anyone so proud of themselves.

“I get it, you’re the man,” I said, trying to blow off just how impressed I really was. “You say ‘jump’ and everybody else yells ‘how high?’”

We stared each other down from opposite sides of the cage. He was right at home.

“The floor is kind of bouncy,” I said, trying to change the subject. “It feels like I’m walking on a hard trampoline.”

“You are, in a way,” he reluctantly let the conversation drift away from the flirtatious overtones. “It’s plywood with about an inch and a half of mat covering the top. Keeps the fighters safer when they grapple...”

“Oh… neat,” I said.

Did I really just say neat?

“Yeah, it’s really neat-o,” said Luke with a mocking grin. “Alright, that’s enough of this stuff, let’s go get that steak.”

“Oh. Tonight?” He had completely caught me off guard.

“Yes, tonight. Did you think I wanted to go next week? I’m a busy man, Bria.”

“I don’t know. I have to work tomorrow and it’s getting late.” I don’t why I was trying to sink this; it was like my brain was doing it automatically.

“Late?” he said, incredulously. “It’s hardly six-thirty. What, are you afraid you’re gonna miss Wheel of Fortune, grandma?”

“No! I’m just…”

“Afraid of what you might do?” he said, finishing my sentence.

“No, I’m not,” I protested.

“Good, then let’s go.”