Fight club

We fell into silence by the time we arrived at the school. Awkwardness descended upon the two of us. It had been only a few minutes but I had held his hand. A gesture I had never done with anyone else. Butterflies fluttered inside me yet still I tried to shoot them down. Telling myself these feelings did not exist between us. Though it was obvious he cared for me, he only meant thought of me as a sister. If I wanted to date, it would never be him. These feelings were awakening a desire in me. The reason my hear flutters for him is only because I want companionship for the first time in my life. I twitched In my seat suddenly I felt a bit embarrassed. My hand still felt the warmth of him and though I opposed it, my hand longed for his again. I kept my head down no longer able to look him in the eye.

"Oy...you okay," he snapped his fingers near my ear, "Let's go they're gonna be waiting. After this I want to take you to my favorite place around here." My head turned to meet his gaze. His eyes were gentle again. I nodded and got out of the car with him. We headed in. The building was a CrossFit gym. All kinds of workout equipment cluttered the first room, though I did not get a chance to look it over, I did notice there were a lot of weights and pull up bars. Across the room we entered a hallway where three doorways were. We passed the first two, where a few classes were being held, and reached the third. A group of kids sat in a circle on the mats, dressed in miss match workout attire. The first thing I became aware of was that all of the kids lit up when the saw Adonis. There were about fifteen kids and most of them were African American. Only three in the group were white. In the corner I noticed only a handful of mothers waited.

"Hey Doni, you brung your girlfriend along!" One of the boys shouted. He was a short young man with beautiful mocha colored skin. He had deep brown eye and a joyous smile spread across his kind hearted face.

"Mrs. Gray will you be our new Mommy?" Another child shouted. I chuckled a little, his face lit up at my laughter. His smile showed his braces, though his teeth were already quite straight. He also had both ears pierced with small silver hoops.

"I'm no one's girlfriend," I giggled quietly, "Adonis and I work together."

"Mrs. Gray, I'm rooting for you," another kid said putting up two thumbs up. He had his fingernails painted the color teal. He was one of the white kids in the group. He wore bright colored workout attire.

"We're rooting for you!" They shouted in unison. The class fell into laughter and uproar.

"Guys lets not get rowdy. This is Miss Jones. She works with me. I don't have a girlfriend right now." Adonis said holding his hands up to passing the masses. The preteens roared louder breaking off and descending upon Adonis with questions.

"Dad, don't say that about mom," the boy with earrings shouted.

"Mom, are you gonna divorce Dad!" The one with painted nails cried dramatically.

"Ugh, seriously guys. If you were my kids, I would never sleep. You troublemakers would keep me up with worry." Adonis sad gently yet firm. I could see that he adored these kids. His eyes sparkled around them.

"Excuse me," a mans voice came from the doorway behind me. I stepped aside for the owner of this rough voice to pass me. As he walked past I caught his scent. It was faint but he definitely had an expensive smelling cologne on. He wore a gray tee with a black flag and thin blue line running through it on its back. He was definitely police. His skin was caramel colored and when he spoke I caught just a hint of accent that sounded Hispanic. He had several tattoos on his arm that were mostly hidden under a white arm sleeve. One of the tattoos I could see was a gorgeous red poppy.

"Hey," the man commanded the rooms attention,

"Last one talking has to do a hundred pushups before practice." His rough voice instantly silenced the room. Adonis smiled, patting the man on the shoulder, the shook hands.

"Thought you had to work. How'd you end up here?" Adonis asked eyebrows raised.

"Well you know, the let me out early. I knew you couldn't get class going on your own. Looks like you got company." He waved me over though I wasn't too far from them.

"Hi," I said quietly. I felt a unsure of myself as I stood closer to him. His intoxicating smell penetrating my lungs. Now closer I could see his face clearly. He had a somewhat of a rounded nose. It looked as if it were broken slightly at one point. His face was extremely masculine and he wore a well groomed beard. I was intrigued by his gruff nature.

"My name is Jethro Moran," he said extending his hand to shake mine. I shook his hand firmly, "Please call me Jet." He smiled warmly flashing a nice smile behind his full lips. Adonis put his hand on top of ours after just a second of holding our hands together.

"That's enough pleasantries," his eyes had the tiniest glare of intensity, "Let's start class. This newbie here needs to learn to defend herself in a fight. She's the kind that freezes up when caught by surprise." He pointed at me. Jet rolled his eyes seeing through his antics. As the two stood next to each other I wondered if they were as evenly matched in MMA as they were in their looks. Adonis was more of the type that spent no time getting ready. He always woke up last minute at the station and threw on his clothes. Jet on the other hand took more care in his appearance. The two turned toward the kids in class who waited quietly.

"Right, now we are gonna learn the four main take downs," Adonis spoke loudly.

"Anyone know what they are?" Jet interjected. There was no answer from the group. Most of them shifted quietly in their seats.

"Okay, they are the single leg takedown, the double leg takedown, the body lock takedown and finally the outside sweep take down."

"Who wants to learn how to do these?" Jet asked raising his left hand. The kids responded by doing the same. I watched quietly as they began demonstrating the first technique. I was amazed by their tenderness towards these kids. It was clear that they cared deeply for them. It reminded me of the time I spend with my dad building tables four a robotics club he coached. He had joined the club in high school and really enjoyed it so when my middle school started a program in my sixth grade year he signed up for coaching. I stuck my nose up at it thinking I didn't want to be on a team with a bunch of boys. How I wished that I had done it. After he died, I regretted all the time I waisted.