“The instructors? Not you and Gary?” She shut her mouth quickly and immediately wished she’d filtered those questions before letting them out.
A sad look passed through his gaze and the corners of his mouth turned down for a split second, then it passed. “Working with kids is always a sensitive situation. We’re very careful not to make a move toward any child in any way that can be misconstrued. Gary and I generally have the instructors or the parents handle those things, just to be sure everyone is comfortable. On parents’ night, the parents will only be around for the first half hour as they drop off the kids. They have to be back by nine thirty to pick their kids back up for the night.”
A solid chunk of time when parents could go out and have a date night or quiet time. Meanwhile, the kids burned off energy in supervised play. Or chaos. Perspective could be everything.
“You’re both really good teachers.” She’d watched Greg work with the kids when she’d first arrived and Gary the next morning with the adult beginners’ class. “More patient than I could imagine. I’m not sure I could be the same.”
“You’ll do great. Boom told us all about your game nights. And we love what we do.” Greg perked up again. “Kids are starting to arrive, so why don’t you grab a seat on the long benches over there? We’ll introduce you in about twenty minutes or so.”
Elisa took a seat as instructed and settled in to people watch.
The parents of Revolution MMA didn’t even blink at a newcomer. They filed in with one or two or even three kids. The kids immediately ditched their shoes at the edges of the mats and ran out into the middle to start chatting. The adults weren’t all couples, though. There were a good number of women gathering to sit on the benches. From their chatter and outfits, they were planning a ladies’ night out.
Elisa wondered if Sophie and Lyn might be interested in one sometime soon. She hadn’t really gone into Philly yet and it was so close by.
“Alex Rojas is watching the kids tonight.” The feminine speaker was answered by a few gasps and a bunch of giggles.
Elisa kept her eyes on the kids but listened harder.
“He hasn’t been coming in to work out as much on the weekdays.” Another woman made the observation with a distinct sound of disappointment.
“His daughter has been out for the last week,” the initial speaker informed them. “Broke her arm. It’ll be weeks before she can come back to classes.”
A round of sympathetic sentiments.
“Is there anything sexier than a single father as attentive as he is?” That question got a round of sighs.
Elisa sighed, too.
“Is there any guy here sexier than Alex Rojas?” One woman let out a wicked laugh. There were a couple of names mentioned, but for the most part, it seemed Alex was very popular.
Elisa squirmed in her seat, but couldn’t tear herself away. She wanted to know what else they said.
Another woman sighed. “He has a knack for seeing everything going on in a room and yet not noticing any personal hints at all. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve tried to give him my phone number.”
“Maybe you should give him your underwear.” The suggestion was met by a gasp and several other laughs. “It worked for you at the club last month with the really hot bouncer.”
“Look, every once in a while, a woman has got to get rid of some tension.” Agreement there.
“I wonder how he is in bed.”
Another woman snickered. “Forget a bed; how about up against a wall? All those muscles rippling and those biceps holding you up? Oh my god.”
“In the shower…” More speculation.
“I bet his O-face is amazing.” Squeals of laughter came in response to that one.
“Forget his; how many Os do you think he could get out of me?”
Gasps. Elisa’s face started to heat up. They were going to notice her soon and wonder why she was eavesdropping. She should really get up and…
“Hey.” Alex walked out of the changing room and headed straight for her.
The women on the benches let out a chorus of sweet greetings. Totally innocent, every one of them.
He gave them each a nod, a slightly awkward smile, then his gaze fastened on her. “Ready to go spend the night with me?”
Elisa let her mouth drop open, caught without a comeback. At least half a dozen stares sliced into her side as every woman turned to get a good look at her.
Alex’s smile broadened into a wicked grin. “Parents’ Night is started. You ladies have fun. My partner and I will watch over the kids.”
*
Rojas stood with his arms crossed, struggling to maintain a properly mock-fierce visage as the kids battled.
Elisa had been “paralyzed” about a dozen times in Nerf scrimmage. She was currently lying slumped to her side on the mats feigning paralysis while two kids used her body as cover. One of those children was his daughter. Extremely practical child, his Boom.