Chapter 27

Gigi had excelled at making Rory forget about Summer—both the previous night and that morning. There was just something about older women. Crystal and Tyler shook their heads as he walked Gigi through the house to say goodbye.

During the flight to Reno, his excitement built. Rory had never gone to summer camp like many kids did. Sure, he could have gone to his church camp, but the past few years had been about his mom. For him, this felt like he was going to fight camp, and Rory couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do. Two weeks to hone his skills, get instruction from a trainer who worked with professional MMA fighters, and have the chance to spar. It was a wet dream.

After landing, Rory made his way to baggage claim, where he found Chris waiting for him.

“Grab your stuff. I rented a car; we’ll go to the hotel and check in.”

They were booked at one of the casino hotels, which Rory was happy about because he was in a suite. Chris was staying for a couple of days until he felt confident in the training Rory would be a part of. Then he would go back to Chicago.

“Unpack, take a shower, and put on something decent. We’re meeting everybody for lunch, and then we’ll go to the gym for a light workout,” Chris said.

Rory wasn’t sure why he needed to shower, but he figured that Chris thought all teenage boys needed one before being seen in public. He did as he was told.

The casino’s main restaurant had a Sunday brunch buffet that featured Alaskan king crab legs and prime rib. Rory was torn between going to the buffet and filling a couple of plates or meeting his trainer. Marcus spotted them, which solved Rory’s dilemma, and he came to meet them before they got to the table.

“Play it cool when you meet Coach Simonian’s family,” Marcus whispered in Rory’s ear as he hugged him.

When they parted, Rory mentally communicated, ‘Why wouldn’t I be cool?’ Marcus had a smirk on his face with his eyebrows raised. Rory would just have to see.

When they got close to the table, Rory almost tripped over his own feet. Chris had told him that Coach Simonian was from Armenia, but he hadn’t told him how truly gorgeous Armenian women could be. What he discerned was the perfect combination of Asian and Caucasian features. The mother and two daughters had long, straight, raven-black hair, dark-brown eyes, and long black eyelashes.

Rory thought that Crystal might be the best-looking mom he’d ever met, but his new coach’s wife was on a par, though in a different way. Crystal was curvy and exuded sexiness. This woman was tall and slim like a runway model, as were her two daughters, who looked to be about his age.

If Marcus hadn’t given him a heads-up, he might have just stopped and stared. Marcus’s warning told Rory that his coach felt the girls were off-limits, and Rory didn’t want to piss his new coach off before they even started.

Introductions were made. Coach Simonian’s first name was Garo, but he wanted everyone to call him Gary. His wife was Nain, and his two daughters were Talar and Lori.

Rory also got to meet Marcus’s other sparring partner, Micah Stone, a light heavyweight who had a five-and-two professional record. Micah had to outweigh Rory by forty pounds. If Marcus could handle this guy’s size and strength, he would be fine fighting men in the welterweight class.

Gary was wise to have both Rory and Micah spar with Marcus. Between the two of them, Marcus would face both speed and agility as well as brawn and strength. Rory hoped he would get some time to spar with Micah.

The lunch conversation centered on what Gary planned for the upcoming week. Chris asked a couple of pointed questions, which Gary answered in a way that satisfied Rory’s coach and mentor.

By the time they’d eaten, Rory had almost forgotten the girls—until they stood up. They were tall and willowy, like their mother.

“Are you twins?” Rory blurted out.

Gary gave him a stern look, but Nain put a hand on her husband’s arm to calm him down.

“No. They were born eight months and twenty-three days apart, so people sometimes get confused. Their brother is two years older,” Nain shared.

“Where I’m from, they would be called Irish twins,” Rory said.

“Yes. We were a bit surprised when I got pregnant so soon, and then our younger one was born prematurely.

“As you can see, they have grown to be two beautiful girls. I am sure they will make their Armenian husbands very happy when that day comes.”

“What my wife is politely saying is they are not meant for American boys,” Gary said.

“I was just curious. I completely understand,” Rory said to de-escalate the conversation.

“See that you do,” Gary said as he led his family out of the restaurant.

Rory was caught off guard when both Talar and Lori gave him knowing smiles as they left. Chris grabbed his arm and leaned in so only Rory could hear.

“Focus on why you’re here. Save thoughts of girls for when you go home.”

Gary had them working out in an old gym just a couple of miles from the hotel. As they drove there, Rory noted that Reno’s strip wasn’t nearly as busy with foot traffic as Las Vegas’, and there also didn’t appear to be people on the street handing out flyers. He wondered how he was supposed to know where to find a hooker or strip club. Maybe Reno was more family-oriented.

About halfway into Gary’s ‘light’ workout, Rory felt he might die. They hadn’t put on any gear but had instead worked on cardio and flexibility.

“Winning is hard,” Gary said. “In the late rounds, you have to dig deep, want it more, and be better conditioned than your opponent, or you’ll lose. There are a lot of MMA fighters who are as good as you or better, so I make my practices harder than anything you’ll experience in the cage. It’ll give you the edge you need to win.”

Later, Gary had them put on their gloves and pound the heavy bag until they thought their arms would fall off.

Finally, the practice stopped.

“Micah has never been knocked down in any of his fights. Who thinks they can do it?” Gary asked.

Being male, both Marcus and Rory thought they could.

“Do I get to hit back?” Micah asked.

“That sounds fair. Let’s move this to the cage,” Gary said.

Marcus got to go first. When they began to spar, he rushed Micah and started to rain heavy blows on the larger man. Marcus finally got through a nice punch that would have rocked Rory, and Micah just grinned and fought back. He quickly had Marcus dancing back because he couldn’t handle the bigger man’s power.

“Break!” Gary called out to stop them. “Nice try. Let’s give Rory a shot.”

When Rory took his place, Micah taunted him.

“I’ll go gentle on you, little boy.”

“Pleeease,” Rory fired back as he rolled his eyes with all the teenage angst he could muster. “They call me ‘One Punch’ for a reason. I hate to say it, but that’s all it’ll take, old man.”

“I think I might not be as gentle as I’d planned. Expect some pain,” Micah warned.

Chris gave Rory a look of disapproval, but Rory wasn’t worried.

“Fight!”

Micah didn’t hold back as he strode toward Rory. His first punch went through Rory’s defenses like they were paper. Rory had to admit that hurt. He was lucky Micah had hit him in the center of the chest, or he might have woken up sometime the next week.

In self-defense, Rory started using his legs to dance away and then kick Micah. It didn’t matter how big you were, getting kicked over and over again in the same spot hurt. Rory aimed his kicks to land just under Micah’s lead knee.

When Rory saw Micah finally wince, his next kick was fake. Rory raised his left leg, causing Micah to glance down to avoid another direct hit. That was when Rory threw his Superman punch. His left leg reversed course and shot straight back as he threw a left overhand punch that caught Micah square on the chin.

With the Superman punch, Rory used his whole body to make the impact more devastating. They called it that because his leg shot behind him as he leaned forward. It looked like Rory was flying.

Micah was out before he hit the mat.

“What the fuck just happened?!” Gary exclaimed as he rushed to Micah.

“The ‘little boy’ just knocked out your big man,” Marcus said gleefully. “That’s why I want him sparring with me. Rory has a lot more power than people expect.”

Micah began to come around. Chris pulled Rory out of the cage in case Micah took exception to someone so much smaller knocking him on his ass. On that note, Gary declared the practice session over.

Rory made the wise decision to ‘no way in hell’ use the gym’s shower unless he wore flip-flops. Instead, he waited to go back to the hotel. Rory had just gotten out of the shower when his cell rang. At first, he wasn’t sure what the noise was because he’d never heard that ringtone before. He finally answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hey. You alone?” Sophie asked.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“You missed all the fun. Summer dragged Chad out naked and locked herself in her cabin. He was so out of it that we had to put him in Gigi’s cabin to sleep it off.”

“Sucks getting caught,” Rory said.

“That’s what I thought at first. Come morning, I woke up to Chad pounding on Summer’s door to get his clothes back. She opened her window and tossed all his stuff into the lake, including his wallet, phone, and car keys. He had to go diving to retrieve all his stuff,” Sophie shared, sounding amused.

“That would suck, especially with him being hungover,” Rory said. “But he deserved it.”

“I’m not so sure. Did Gordon tell you they were getting busy?”

“Yes, he did,” Rory answered.

“While they were still on the boat, Chad was so drunk he all but fell out of a chair. The security guys were going to take him somewhere so he could lie down, but they told me Gordon said he’d make sure his friend was okay. You saw the result. When I told Chad what had happened, he got pissed and confronted Gordon, who thought it was hilarious.”

“Well, shit. Gigi guessed that was what happened,” Rory shared.

“What are you going to do about it?” Sophie asked.

“Besides kicking the shit out of Gordo, I have no idea,” Rory admitted.

“I’ve made my feelings about Summer clear from the start. I’ve been trying to get past that for your sake, but I think you should walk away, or more crazy stuff will happen. It shouldn’t be so hard to date someone,” Sophie said as if reading his mind.

“Like you and Elon?” Rory asked.

“That was a fluke. Elon’s in college and isn’t looking to start anything with me. I ended up with Nick last night, and I think he might be trainable,” Sophie said.

Rory burst out laughing.

“Aren’t you the one who told me I shouldn’t let girls boss me around?”

“That was for you. I think I can mold Nick into the perfect boyfriend. I just need to keep him away from Sean and his comic books and video games.”

“Graphic novels.”

“What?”

He felt the same, but Sean would point out the difference if you gave him the chance. One man’s ‘comic book’ was another’s ‘graphic novel.’ Sort of like the old tomayto/tomahto controversy over how to pronounce tomato.

“Never mind, I get it. Nick seems like a nice guy. Maybe dump your friends and focus solely on your new relationship,” Rory said hopefully ... he meant helpfully.

Rory was shocked that his stepsister knew that kind of language.

“Hey, I had to try. I hate to admit it, but Paige is starting to grow on me.”

“What about Bart?”

“Hell, no.”

Sophie brought the conversation back to Summer.

“What do you want me to do when she eventually comes to find you?”

“Whatever you want. I have her number, and if I get weak, I’ll call her. In the meantime, I’m going to focus on training. I’ll deal with Summer when I get back,” Rory decided.

The weekend had taken the bloom off the rose, so to speak, with regards to his feelings for her. He still really liked Summer, but he was no longer willing to put up with anything—as Sophie had suggested, he wasn’t going to be a doormat. It was almost like the universe was against them, and his mother’s death had taught Rory what was important in his life: his happiness and peace of mind.