I held out a hand and helped him up. “Damn, Justin. You got a helluva lot stronger,” Zach said.
“Thanks.” I took it as a compliment.
“Yay, Daddy! Does that mean you won?” Margie asked.
I turned to look at them. Anna had put down the mats, and now they were sitting in a couple of chairs, watching us.
“No, I’m not trying to win right now,” I said to her.
“Well, what are you doing then?” she asked.
“Zach and I are just sparring. It’s just part of training. It’s like practice,” I said.
Margie nodded her head like she understood, but I wondered if she actually did or not.
Anna smiled at me and then I watched Margie lean into Anna and whisper something. Anna smiled and seemed to be thinking. Then she responded and whatever she said warranted a big hug and a loud “OKAY!” from Margie.
The two of them together filled my heart with so much joy. It felt like a puzzle piece that had been missing was finally found.
I sparred with Zach a little while longer. I knocked him to the ground repeatedly. Finally, I think he had enough and called to be done for the day. Artie took him to the side, and I was sure he was giving him one of his famous lectures.
I got out of the ring and walked over to the girls.
“Hey, how are you girls doing?”
“We’re doing good, Daddy. You can go back to play fighting,” Margie said.
I laughed. I thought it was sweet that she wanted more time alone with Anna. “I think I’m done for the day. We’ve been here for a couple hours already.”
“Oh, well I am hungry,” Margie said.
“You wanna go get some lunch?” Anna asked me.
“I don’t have much money.” I hated having to admit that, but I didn’t want her thinking I could pay for it when I knew I couldn’t.
“It’s fine, Justin. It’s on me.”
“I don’t want you doing that.” It felt weird that she was offering to take us out to lunch. I felt bad because not only was I getting free massages from her now, but she was also going to feed my daughter and me.
“It’s seriously no issue. Think of it as a reward for kicking ass during training,” she said with a smile.
“Alright, fine. But let me go get changed first.”
“Okay.”
“Yay!” Margie yelled.
“You don’t mind watching Margie for a minute, do you?”
“Not at all. Go. Go get changed. We’re waiting on you, slowpoke,” she said with a laugh.
I wanted to kiss her, but I wasn’t sure how she would take it since we were in public. Instead, I just went off to the locker room area to change.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Anna
I watched Justin as he trained. He was sweaty and working so hard; I’d never seen him like that, and it only served to make my attraction even stronger. I was glad to see he had some protective gear on while sparring. I was nervous that he would get hurt, but I guess it wouldn’t have mattered since the other guy wasn’t able to get a single punch in. Justin beat him easily. He barely looked like he was trying.