“The only thing I really got out of her was she’s been training with featherweights and lightweights for years. She wanted to challenge herself.”
That was a huge fucking challenge though. Featherweights and lightweights weighed between one-forty-five and one-fifty-five. Light-heavyweights weighed in at two-oh-five and were much bulkier. Strange jump to make as a challenge.
He shook his head. Whatever. He was the last person to pass judgment on someone’s decision. God knows he’d made some bad ones over the years, which he was still paying for. The thing he needed to focus on was if she would even work with him.
While Billy and Mac chatted, Lance kept his gaze locked on Kelsey, waiting for her to notice him. Right now, she was busy walking around the ring, sipping from a water bottle. As she snapped the lid back on, her head slowly turned in their direction, scanning first Mac, then Billy, and finally landing on him. Those blue eyes immediately narrowed and her nose scrunched in a scowl.
Lance bit back a smile. The woman didn’t hide how she felt.
Knowing it would goad her, he fluttered his fingers in greeting. Her scowl deepened.
“I probably should get over to her,” Lance said to Mac. “Can’t keep a paying member waiting.”
As he approached her, she muttered something that sounded remarkably like, “Who in the hell did I piss off?” A chuckle tickled the back of his throat, but he beat it back. He wanted to rile her up, not flat-out piss her off.
He leaned against the bottom rope. “So, we meet again.”
She gave him an irritated look. “Unfortunately. Don’t worry though. I’ll mind my business. You do your thing. I’ll do mine.”
He definitely deserved that snide jab. He’d regretted his reaction to her help ever since the adrenaline had worn off. He wanted to apologize, but didn’t want to get into it here in the gym. “Guess you won’t be thrilled to hear I’m Lance, huh?”
A soft, derisive laugh shot out of her mouth as she hung her head and shook it. “And there’s my luck again, in all its glory.” She rubbed her forehead and let out a defeated sigh. “It is what it is. Mac said you’re a damn good trainer. I promised to give you a chance. Now prove it to me.”
Her challenge excited him even more. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks, then slipped under the bottom rope into the ring. “It’d be my pleasure.”
After pushing to his feet, Lance strode toward her, beckoning her forward with flicks of his fingers. “Come on, Wonder Woman. Show me what you got.”
He expected her to respond to his challenge by meeting him in the middle of the ring. Instead, as he came nearer, she shifted slightly backward—a clear signal to any fighter that their opponent was hesitant. When her throat worked on a swallow, he stopped his approach. She muttered something he couldn’t make out, then squared her shoulders and kicked her chin in the air a notch.
“Wonder Woman?” she said with a trace of anger in her voice. “So I save your sorry ass from three thugs, and as thanks you make a backhanded insult.”
“Whoa. Back down, tiger.” He glanced around to make sure no one was listening. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business. “I meant it as a compliment. You impressed me yesterday.”
Tension released its hold on her shoulders, and she grimaced. “Oh. Sorry. I’ve had a lot of condescending comments like that over the years, from guys much smaller than you. Instinctive reaction. My bad.”
“I can’t say that shocks me. Yesterday, though, you used a surprise attack. Let’s see what you got going toe-to-toe with someone.”
That chin went up again, and again he got the feeling he’d struck a nerve with her.
“Fair enough.”
After another momentary pause, she met him in the middle of the ring. Considering the way she was yesterday with the mob squad, and just now with Billy, her hesitation baffled him. Was she realizing how different going up against a light-heavyweight would be?
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Because you’re not as confident with me as you were with Billy.”
She blinked. “You can see that?”
A current of vulnerability running underneath her question confused him further. “I’m trained to see that.”
Silence followed his statement before a small smile came to her lips. “Mac was right. You are a great trainer. Now let’s do this.”
Pride expanded his chest. With twenty years in the industry under his belt, he knew he was a damn good trainer, but for some reason, having Kelsey say it seemed to mean a great deal more. “You got it.”