Page 1 of Ringer

Chapter One - Jack

The lights are low.

Christmas carolsring through the gym’s sound system.

Who the hell works out to Christmas carols?

Straining, I listen to hear beyond it. For the sounds, the vibrations, the smallest details that my opponent gives me.

In the battlefield, with the Marine Corps Special Operations unit I lead. In the ring, when I’m fighting MMA against a guy like Owen Doyle. In the bedroom.

That one’s been awhile though.

Duck, dodge, take a hit to the gut but roll with it to mitigate the impact.

It’s rarethatI get a chance to fight a guy my own size.

Owen’s always the best guy to train against.

Owen’s father, Murphy, and my dad did some jobs together back in the day, and we ended up buddies. Owen knew even then he wanted to be a fighter.

Me? I only saw one way out of the hell I grew up in: bootcamp.

One of the main reasons that I agreed to watch the gym so Owen and Molly can go spend a few days with family over the holidays is the chance to train with Owen.

Not that I have anything else going on over Christmas.

“Should be quiet,” Owen said. “Give you a chance to train.”

Chance to train. Chance to clear my head. Chance to not do something stupid I’ll regret.

We’re dancing on themat, and Owen’s not relenting.

He’s good. Great, in fact.

A man needs a challenge to be at his best.

I need to win this fight come New Year’s. It’s one of the biggest fights that I’ve been in. Owen introduced me to the local MMA circuit, and I’d been doing well enough to land on the card of a big New Year’s fight.

That fight: it means a lot of things.

Means a guy on the edge of forty, basically a dinosaur in the Special Forces world, isn’t washed up yet.

Means maybe I have something to look forward to when I finish up my final leg of military service in a year.

Means money I can use to fly out to see my kid, who my exobtained court permission to move 3000 miles acrossthecountry.

To live with the guy she left me for.

Punch.

Our marriage counselor.

Punch, punch, punch.

The one that knocked her up with twins three months before I returned from my last deployment.

Punch. Kick. Punch.

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