Ryder Cane: This is me

Chapter 4

"Dodge, Kruger!" My dad yelled at his fighter, who was brave enough to spar with me inside of the ring. My dad believed that he was the new upcoming fighter, only if he is given a chance. All fighters when they start out, become arrogant, they forget who they are, and for some, that is the end of their career sooner than they've planned. Sometimes being arrogant is not always a bad thing, it hides your fear and challenges your opponent. "Hands up!" My dad yelled at him as I landed a solid punch to his face. This kid could take a punch, I had to give him that. "Move Kruger. Step away from the ropes." My dad was getting frustrated as I moved in on Kruger.

      I dodged a punch, caught his arm, and threw a cross-jab to his chin. The kid stumbled on his feet and before he could bring up his hands, my fist met his ribs, followed by an uppercut to his chin. He fell to the ground but got back to his feet. He made the mistake of turning his back on me. I wrapped my arms around his chest and hauled him up into the air before grounding him. The crowd around the ring grimaced when his back met the ground. He challenged me on the ground but it wasn't enough as I wrapped my arm around his neck, taking him into a chokehold.

Like any other fighter I've sparred with, they make the mistake of wanting to pull my arm away and don't realize they need to tap out as there is no way out. "Tap out, you son-of-a-bitch." My dad grumbled but Kruger didn't and went to sleep. I let go of him the moment I felt his body go limp. My dad climbed in through the ropes to check on Kruger. He crouched down and gave him a soft tap against the cheek which made him open his eyes. "What's my number one rule?" My dad asked him. "Don't die?" Kruger answered making my dad roll his eyes at him. "It's all the same with you, youngsters. Arrogant. How far do you think that will get you?" He asked, referring to everyone.

           "I just want to fight, coach," Kruger said, pushing himself up from the ground. "Ignorance will get you either hurt or killed, son. MMA is a sport that you don't play with or joke about. Many fighters were close to losing their lives. It's true what they say, it's an aggressive sport. You don't leave the cage without bleeding unless you are God." The fighters dropped their heads in shame.

"Now get back to practice! Spar time is over." My dad ordered them. "You've almost killed one of my fighters." My dad grumbled at me. But I wasn't listening as my eyes suddenly landed on the gym doors when a certain woman made her entrance. I watched her walk over to her locker, wearing shorts that hugged her curves and a cropped top that showed off her muscular abdominal and shoulders.

    She didn't pay attention to anyone around her, only a few men greeted her as she made her way across the gym. "That's Alex." My dad said from beside me as he noticed I was looking at her. "She can teach these boys a few things." My dad muttered making me look at him with a quirked eyebrow. "Why's that?" I asked. "When boys look at her, they look at her like she just a girl. But if you look closely, you will see the real her. Tough, strong, and one hell of a fighter." My dad walked away. He didn't really give me much about her.

So, three brothers huh? I guess she was lying not to make me feel like a fool for getting beat up by her.

Instead of standing around like a fool, staring at her, I decided to get in a quick burst workout. A few guys spotted me, some carried on with their workouts while the rest came over to greet me. I didn't have a problem meeting new fighters or be greeted by them. They are all human like me. And being be overwhelmed by them as fans or just future fighters was an honor and I wasn't going to ignore them just because I made a name for myself. I handed out a few signatures to those who asked for a signature. The others asked me about my fights and my past training.

    I looked up and my gaze connected with hers for a split of a second, just to catch that shocked expression in her eyes before she tumbled over a barbell. Out of response, I pushed the one guy out of the way to watch her fall down on her chest. I cringed from the impact and excused myself. I jogged over to her watching one of the trainers giving her a helping hand. "s**t, are you alright?" I asked when I reached them. The guy left her in mid-air out of surprise when his eyes landed on me. "Ryder Cane!" He exclaimed, making me chuckle at his response.

I then looked at Alex and how she just sat there with an annoyed expression. "Need a hand?" I asked holding my hand out to her. "Depends. Are you also going to drop me?" She asked even though she trusted me as she placed her hand in mine, letting me pull her up. "You okay?" I asked her once she was standing on her feet in front of me. "I have seen better days." She admitted. "That was quite a fall," I noted. "Yeah, just part of my usual routine of the day falling over objects and making a fool of myself. No biggie." I liked the fact that she wasn't intimidated by who I am and that she can joke around.

   "You sure you don't need to see a doctor?" I asked concerned as it was really a hard fall.

"No, I'm good. I was naturally born as a crazy person." She replied. "Let me at least just have a look at your arm it will make me feel better," I begged. She gave a sigh and held up her arm. I winced as I noticed she got a mat burn, those suckers can hurt. "I'm no doctor, but I believe I will survive." She murmured. "I can second that," I replied. She dropped her arm and then motioned to the crowd of people I left behind. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "I'm actually here to catch up on my workouts when I got spotted by fans," I told her. "That must probably suck big time." Not always. "Part of being who I am, I guess," I admitted gazing into her eyes noticing her discomfort.

        "I would love to chat and make your fans jealous of me but I need to go. Thanks for your help." She turned to walk away. "Be careful now," I said to her and I caught her smile before she walked away. I watched her pick up her water bottle before continuing to walk over to her locker. I looked to my side when I found a guy holding out a shirt to me. "Can you please sign this?" The guy asked. "I'm a huge fan of yours." He said and I nodded taking the pen from his outstretched hand.

I signed the guy's shirt and out of curiosity, I looked in the direction she walked off to, and to my surprise, I found her looking back at me as she stood at her locker. Our gazes connected for a brief of a moment before she looked away, almost pocking her eyes out with her locker door. I stifled a chuckle and decided to call it a day.

I walked over to my dad's office, I glanced at the gym doors watching her retreating form, smiling to myself before entering his office.