need to try to get inside my head. He was already there. He always had been.
That was the biggest problem with fighting a sibling. They knew how to hurt you unlike anyone else ever could, because they’d grown up doing so.
Surly straightened and scowled, dropping out of his fighting stance. “Tell me if this is a waste of time, Mal. I’ve got shit to do.”
I growled, angry at myself. “It’s a waste of time.” I turned and slammed the padded metal of the cage with a gloved fist. Lee didn’t have the cage erected inside his gym every day - it took up a lot of real estate on the floor - and it was never wise to piss off Lee. I needed to take this more seriously. I needed to purge my mind of thoughts of her, and thoughts of my brother, and just fight.
“You wanna forfeit?”
“No.”
“Then let’s go. Quit dancing around and batting at me like a cat and get a fucking hold on me, or I swear to God, Mallet, it’s gonna be lights out.”
I slammed my fist once more before turning back to Surly. We were evenly matched and I knew he could easily knock me out if I let him get the upper hand for an instant. It was not fun, to put it mildly.
His threat actually worked. I operated on instinct as he came at me, winging a left hook and charging like a bull. I brought my knee up into his chest. He grunted as the wind left him and tried to grab my legs and take me down to the mat. I was able to angle myself so he didn’t land on top of me - but getting on top of him was difficult to impossible.
But luck and timing were on my side - he’d barely gotten an arm around me when I managed to snag his ankle. I turned and immobilized his other leg with my legs and free arm, then twisted his foot around.
I heard him cursing as he tapped me, signaling the end of the round.
“A motherfucking toehold?” he asked once I released him. I stood first and grinned over him. He sounded downright offended.
There were easier moves I could have made for sure - but once I knew I had the upper hand, I liked to get a little fancy. And I couldn’t let Surly’s earlier taunts go unanswered.
I grabbed his wrists and helped him stand. “You could have broken my damn foot,” he grunted.
“What’s a broken foot between friends?” I felt better already. At least I hadn’t lost my touch completely.
He shook his head, then dropped into a fighting stance once more. “Again.”
○●○●○●○●○
The long practice wasn’t solely for my benefit in my upcoming fight against my brother. Surly himself had a match coming up that had the potential to garner a lot of attention. Rumors of scouting were thick in the air around the gym. Everyone was itching for a good match, and everyone was practicing constantly.
Normally that much testosterone and male company in one place set my teeth on edge. Too much tension in the air all the time, like ugly brawls were just waiting to break out over something stupid. Heaven forbid you move someone’s deodorant from a sink to a shelf or send someone’s tape rolling down the locker room’s uneven floor. It was enough to reduce any sane man into a bad-tempered Neanderthal.
I welcomed it, though. After stupidly letting Riley claw her way inside, I was swearing off women for a while. Obviously I was too dumb to handle even a casual non-relationship; I’d gone too soft to just fuck a girl and forget her like I typically liked to do.
All Riley’s fault.
I’d lost my edge. I needed to focus on our fights.
So that night I sent Lockett to take my place playing bodyguard for Riley’s gig. She was a member of Mistresses of Mayhem, a punk cover band that consisted of her and two other girls - one of them being Surly’s sister - and they’d hired me to lurk around the bottom of the stage at their shows. Our third roommate was looking to make a little extra cash, though, so I sent him along with a “good
That was the biggest problem with fighting a sibling. They knew how to hurt you unlike anyone else ever could, because they’d grown up doing so.
Surly straightened and scowled, dropping out of his fighting stance. “Tell me if this is a waste of time, Mal. I’ve got shit to do.”
I growled, angry at myself. “It’s a waste of time.” I turned and slammed the padded metal of the cage with a gloved fist. Lee didn’t have the cage erected inside his gym every day - it took up a lot of real estate on the floor - and it was never wise to piss off Lee. I needed to take this more seriously. I needed to purge my mind of thoughts of her, and thoughts of my brother, and just fight.
“You wanna forfeit?”
“No.”
“Then let’s go. Quit dancing around and batting at me like a cat and get a fucking hold on me, or I swear to God, Mallet, it’s gonna be lights out.”
I slammed my fist once more before turning back to Surly. We were evenly matched and I knew he could easily knock me out if I let him get the upper hand for an instant. It was not fun, to put it mildly.
His threat actually worked. I operated on instinct as he came at me, winging a left hook and charging like a bull. I brought my knee up into his chest. He grunted as the wind left him and tried to grab my legs and take me down to the mat. I was able to angle myself so he didn’t land on top of me - but getting on top of him was difficult to impossible.
But luck and timing were on my side - he’d barely gotten an arm around me when I managed to snag his ankle. I turned and immobilized his other leg with my legs and free arm, then twisted his foot around.
I heard him cursing as he tapped me, signaling the end of the round.
“A motherfucking toehold?” he asked once I released him. I stood first and grinned over him. He sounded downright offended.
There were easier moves I could have made for sure - but once I knew I had the upper hand, I liked to get a little fancy. And I couldn’t let Surly’s earlier taunts go unanswered.
I grabbed his wrists and helped him stand. “You could have broken my damn foot,” he grunted.
“What’s a broken foot between friends?” I felt better already. At least I hadn’t lost my touch completely.
He shook his head, then dropped into a fighting stance once more. “Again.”
○●○●○●○●○
The long practice wasn’t solely for my benefit in my upcoming fight against my brother. Surly himself had a match coming up that had the potential to garner a lot of attention. Rumors of scouting were thick in the air around the gym. Everyone was itching for a good match, and everyone was practicing constantly.
Normally that much testosterone and male company in one place set my teeth on edge. Too much tension in the air all the time, like ugly brawls were just waiting to break out over something stupid. Heaven forbid you move someone’s deodorant from a sink to a shelf or send someone’s tape rolling down the locker room’s uneven floor. It was enough to reduce any sane man into a bad-tempered Neanderthal.
I welcomed it, though. After stupidly letting Riley claw her way inside, I was swearing off women for a while. Obviously I was too dumb to handle even a casual non-relationship; I’d gone too soft to just fuck a girl and forget her like I typically liked to do.
All Riley’s fault.
I’d lost my edge. I needed to focus on our fights.
So that night I sent Lockett to take my place playing bodyguard for Riley’s gig. She was a member of Mistresses of Mayhem, a punk cover band that consisted of her and two other girls - one of them being Surly’s sister - and they’d hired me to lurk around the bottom of the stage at their shows. Our third roommate was looking to make a little extra cash, though, so I sent him along with a “good
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