TKO: Total Knock Out (TKO 1)

Whitney beats me to her, and leads her into the office where Howard is. When Whitney walks out of the office I motion her over and begin interrogating her.

“Is she lost?”

“No, she wants to join so I showed her to Howard. Maybe she’ll take my place.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “Yeah, okay, because you’ve met her before, haven’t you? Oh wait, no, you’re just doing some wishful thinking.”

She glares at me. “Pregnant or not, I’ll knock you on your ass, Garrett, don’t get sarcastic on me.” She jabs her finger in my face. Before I can snap at her, we watch the office door shut. I stare at it, gaping.

The door never shuts and it’s kinda got us all wondering what the hell is going on and who the hell this girl is. I turn to Lance who doesn’t look half bad for having drank as much as he did last night.

“How you feeling today?”

“I’m good. Dad’s out job hunting today. I have enough saved I can take care of things a while longer until he finds something. Thanks for last night, I needed that.”

I clap my hand on his back, pulling him in for a quick hug. “Anytime, you’ve helped me before. Anything you need, I’m there for you.”

“It’s just getting so damn hard. She’s refusing to go to the doctor anymore. Says they don’t know what they’re doing. We can’t make her.”

“I’m sorry, Lance.” When we were kids, his mom was like another mother to me; always driving us around, bringing us snacks. His father is doing his best to take care of the family. I hate seeing them like this.

A few minutes later, the office door opens and we all stumble over each other trying to pretend we’ve been actually doing something productive. Everyone stops when Howard stands there with this girl right beside him. She looks a little nervous, her blue eyes filled with weariness and hesitation. As she scans over us, I notice she looks at me a little longer than everyone else. I flash her a grin and she quickly glances away. Damn, I wish I could have approached her before Whitney got to her.

“Listen up, ya’ll. This here is Raegan. She’s joining us as of today so let’s all welcome her.” Howard’s voice booms throughout the gym. The guys immediately hug her and Whitney is more than thrilled to have another woman around.

Raegan. My guess is that it’s short for Raegan. She is beautiful, like an angel, and I wonder if being with her is like being in Heaven. I almost get hard just thinking of it. The fact she’s in here is screwing with my head. I’m worried she’s going to distract me and throw me off my game.

I step closer to her once I adjust myself and decide to give her a proper greeting; she rolls her eyes as I take that step. She has no idea how much that just turned me on. Being the ass I am, I speak without thinking.

I know what I said is fucked up and I figured she’d run out crying, but instead she punches me.

Shit.

I can’t be angry; I’m the jackass who made a shitty comment. This girl is a firecracker and she’s already blowing up my world. She doesn’t even know it. When she pins me to the ground, I’m so aroused it isn’t funny and I pray she can’t tell. Her blonde ponytail is on the side of her shoulder hanging where the breeze from the air vent can catch it sending a whiff of her shampoo my way. Damn.

Once she makes it very clear to me she isn’t a dyke, she lets me up. Then Howard calls her name. Once he announces she is part of our group now, I make a mental note to start trying to show her I’m not a complete asshole.

Whitney shoots me a look from hell as I threw my hands up admit

ting defeat. Yes, I know I was way out of line, but this girl definitely showed she can take care of herself. She has the potential to be as great as Whitney if not even better.

Whitney leads Raegan over to the punching bags and begins showing her the proper technique so she doesn’t hurt her hand. Raegan is a natural. She doesn’t miss a beat and she seems so focused, almost like she was imagining punching someone’s face in. I’m almost positive that face is mine.

Whitney throws a few punches as well, and I stop sparring with Lance to walk over there. She doesn’t need to be messing with any of this in her condition, and if Howard saw, he’d be pissed.

As soon as Raegan sees me coming, I smirk. She rolls her pretty little eyes again. “Whitney, I can help her. You don’t need to be doing any of this.”

Whitney tries to protest, but I put my hand up to her and she backs down. Mumbling, she walks off. No doubt she’s pissed at me and by the scowl on Raegan’s face, she is too.

“I can do this by myself. I don’t need your help. Not unless you want to be my practice dummy.” She gets in three or four good jabs and the sound of her voice absolutely mesmerizes me.

I hold the bag for her as she continues to wail on it, showing no mercy. “I’ll be your practice dummy anytime, babe.”

“I’m not your babe.”

“Whoa now, don’t kill me, I’m sorry. It was just a slip of the tongue.”

“Don’t call me that again, got it?” She sneers.