Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
And just like that, our private moment was over.
Marco herded us into the gym, where a few male fighters and one female fighter were running the treadmills. There was a door in the corner leading to a sauna, and while we were watching, a sweaty fighter in a silver suit stumbled out. His trainer helped him over to one of the vacant treadmills. Unlike the casual feel of every gym I’d ever visited, the atmosphere in this room was one of foreboding. This was serious business, and no one was here to play. They were all racing the clock.
Marco reached into the duffel bag he’d been carrying all day and handed Kage a silver plastic suit like the one the other fighter was wearing. Kage went into the sauna and changed. When he stepped back out, Marco handed him a pair of sweats. He pulled them on over his sauna suit, then slid his feet back into his sneakers.
Marco went to put the duffel into a locker on the other side of the room, and I watched him go, wiping sweat from my brow. There must not have been any air conditioning on in the gym, because I was getting uncomfortably hot. I couldn’t imagine what Kage felt like all bundled up like that, wearing two outfits of clothing designed specifically to make him sweat.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“Oh, am I?” I chuckled, surprised to find that I had indeed been smiling. “I was just remembering the day of the photo shoot in your apartment, when I told you to get some damn clothes on. Remember? You asked if I wanted you to wear an Eskimo suit.”
“Mmmm… I’m thinking about what happened after that. That ought to really get my heart rate up.”
Marco came in on the tail end of the comment. “Nothing gets your heart rate up, Kage. That’s why you’ll be able to outlast this guy easily. His cardio is nowhere near the level of yours, my friend.”
“We’ll see.” Kage said. “I’m counting on the fight being over so fast that stamina doesn’t even enter into the equation.”
I leaned in to Marco and asked under my breath, “Have you got an extra silver suit for me?”
Marco looked at me like I’d just asked him for a beer at an AA meeting. “You really have no clue, do you? It’s not safe for you to do any of this, and especially not in a sauna suit. All I need is to get sued for killing a college intern.”
“It’s not safe? Kage is doing it. He shouldn’t have to go through it alone, Marco. I feel like I should be doing it with him.”
“How sweet,” Marco said, and it was not a compliment.
Kage shook his head. “No way. This is no walk in the park, Jamie. Marco’s right on this. It can be very dangerous.”
“That’s why I want to do it with you,” I insisted. “Why should you have to be the only one?” For some reason, I was absolutely dying to get into that sauna with him. Experiencing it with him and being there for him if anything went wrong was all I cared about.
“Jesus Christ.” Marco slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Kage, could you please get control of your little pet? We’ve got no time for this.”
I took a deep breath and looked Marco right in the eye. “You can call me names all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m here to support Kage and make his preparation for the fight as pleasant as possible. He wants me here, and that’s all there is to it. Why don’t you try to work with me rather than against me?”
“Because you have no business meddling in this part of his affairs. You are his publicist— temporarily— and I am his trainer. Stay out of my way and let me do my job.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I’m not stopping you. All I asked was for a plastic suit. How is that hindering you from doing your job?”
Marco stepped toward me, his nose coming within inches of mine. “You are a distraction.”
“That may very well be true,” I said, refusing to back down even though Marco could probably break me in half. “Kage is going to be sitting in a hot box for fifteen minutes. Maybe he needs a fucking distraction.”
Kage watched us from a safe distance, a vague half-smile on his face. He was clearly already feeling under the weather from not eating or drinking, because he hadn’t jumped to my rescue. I was glad for that. He needed to conserve his energy for the fight. My goal was to spare him any stress at all, but Marco was pushing me hard. He seemed to be more worried about getting rid of me than keeping Kage calm. It felt personal.