Page 3 of Dare to Dance
“Tell me more, brother,” I said.
He laughed. “Another time. We got company.”
Two high-school-age guys swaggered out of the gym as we approached. One was stocky, and the other was tall and lean.
“Hey, you’re here to see Liam,” the stocky dude said a little excitedly. “You’re Kross Maxwell.”
Kody and I exchanged a surprised look. We expected girls to get all giddy, but not the guys.
The tall and lean dude extended his hand. “I’m Miles. I’ve seen most of your bouts. I hear you’re trying to sign with Gail Freeman. Man, hottest promoter in the country.” He waggled his eyebrows.
I smirked as I shook his hand. Not only was Gail the best boxing promoter around, she was definitely a sexy lady. Her physique aside, she was picky in her selection of boxers to sign. Their records had to be almost perfect. She rarely gave a second look to boxers with several losses.
“You’re a legend, Bro,” Kody said.
Maybe I was a legend at Greenridge, but I had work to do if I wanted to sign with Gail. Out of nine bouts in three years, I’d lost once, and that loss had come last week. My head was up my ass, which was one reason I’d gotten knocked out. However, the main reason was because my footwork had been sloppy. I was still irritated with myself. “Liam inside?”
“He’s in the ring,” Miles said.
“Come on,” Stocky Dude said. “We’re going to be late.”
They walked off as two girls glided toward them.
I pulled opened the side door, which led into a hall. The warm air breezed over me.
“I’ll meet you later.” Kody slapped me on the back. “Wish me luck.”
“Don’t get us thrown out.” Back in our day, the principal had threatened to suspend us and would have done it if it weren’t for my father smoothing things over.
Kody shuffled backward, his blue eyes alight with pleasure or mischief or both. “I’ll be sweet.”
Normally, I wouldn’t be worried. Kody wasn’t Kelton, who would have had the teacher splayed out naked on top of her desk. But after our conversation a minute ago, I was learning a new side of my brother. At twenty years old, Kody was slowly opening up to dating. He sure had his pick of the litter when he sang his brooding songs. Or maybe he had been dating for years. I had never seen Kody with a girl, though. It didn’t matter. We were adults. So what if he got caught with his pants down.
I ducked into the gym, and memory lane came screaming back—in particular, Ruby and I making out behind the bleachers. Actually, this was the place where we had both lost our virginity.
A familiar voice cut through my brain. “Come on, Liam.”
Blinking away the image of Ruby and me naked on a mat, I padded across the hardwood floor. My boots thudded, sounding hollow above the grunts and groans coming from the boxing ring center court.
I sidled up to Coach Scott, who stood a head shorter than me. “Which one is Liam?”
Both boys were the same height and same build. It was hard to decipher the differences since they were wearing helmets. But one did have blood around his bottom lip.
“You’re late,” Coach said without breaking his attention away from the ring. He still had gray hair, although it appeared he’d lost some on top. “The one with the busted lip.”
Coach hated when people were late for anything. He reminded me of my father, who despised the same thing. The pet peeve was a product of both of them being ex-military. Regardless, I would be wasting my breath if I gave him the excuse that traffic out of Boston was brutal. His response would be, “not my problem.”
The two boys in the ring jabbed and punched, dancing around each other, bobbing every now and then.
“Liam reminds me a lot of you. Look how quick he is on his feet.” The gruffness in Coach Scott’s voice changed to a more pleasing tone.
I agreed with him. Liam’s footwork was smooth, which would please Jay all the more. “His partner doesn’t look too bad.” The boy knew how to keep up with Liam, throwing some direct jabs to Liam’s face.
“So, what happened at your last fight? You rarely get knocked out.” Coach Scott crossed his arms over his chest. “Liam,” he shouted. “Don’t let Chip ruin that pretty face of yours.”
Liam was tiring, which wasn’t surprising for his boxing style. He was what the industry called an out-fighter. Out-fighters, like the famous Muhammad Ali, were regarded as the best boxing strategists since they knew how to control the fight. Liam was still learning, and therefore, tired easily from all the footwork, much like I had when I first started.
“Bad night,” I replied. I hadn’t been sleeping well. It had all started several months ago when Kelton had gotten the scare of his life. He’d thought he was the father of Chloe’s baby, an ex-girlfriend of his. It was then that my sophomore year reared its ugly head, hence the reason Ruby was in my thoughts nonstop. Kody wanted to make amends with a teacher. I had the urge to do the same with Ruby, and maybe more.
