Unraveling (Second Chances) - By Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,31

if you’ve never even found yourself.”

~***~

As soon as class was over, I went home and changed into gym clothes, and drove straight to Fight For It.

Jared was sitting in the waiting area, flipping through a magazine. He wore loose shorts and a sleeveless shirt. He looked up when I opened the door and sent me a relieved smile.

“I really thought I was going to have to track you down,” he stood.

I laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t tell you what time I’d get here. I drove straight here after I changed.”

“Couldn’t wait to see me?” he chuckled.

“Something like that,” I blushed.

Jared laughed and waved to Patsy. Then he motioned for me to follow him into his workout room.

The space that Jared called his was huge, there was a boxing ring in the middle of the space and then around that area were different pieces of workout equipment. A treadmill, a bike, and something that I think was called a rower. There were mats covering every surface of the floor and most of the walls had mirrors on them. The entire far left corner was devoted to a bench and about fifty different types of weights.

Jared led me to the right where several punching bags hung from the ceiling.

“We’ll start here,” Jared said, lightly pushing one of the bags so that it swung back and forth. He turned around and grabbed some of that white stuff I always saw on his hands. “I’ll need to do this for you,” he nodded at my hands.

“Oh, okay,” I tentatively held out my hands for him. He lightly touched me, but it was enough to freak me out.

I closed my eyes and kept telling myself that this wasn’t Preston. This was Jared. Jared, who was nothing but kind to me, always looking out for me. Jared wouldn’t hurt me, not like Preston had.

“All done,” Jared whispered.

I opened my eyes and found him at my eye-level.

“Why don’t you like to be touched?” he whispered.

“In order for me to answer that question, I’d have to tell you my whole story, and I’m not ready for that. Not yet.”

“Katy, I just want you to know that, I would never touch you with any intention of hurting you… or taking your choices away from you,” his eyes bore into me.

“I know that, I do…” I looked at the floor and took a deep breath. “It’s just really hard to let go of the past.”

“Sometimes, you do though, have to let go, I mean. It’s the only way to heal yourself.”

“You’re very wise for a twenty-four year old,” I commented.

Jared snorted and began wrapping the white bandage around his own hands. “Most days, I feel like a middle aged man. My life has matured me beyond my years. But honestly, if someone told me they could redo my past, and give me a happy childhood, I’d say, no deal. Because, if I wished away the past, then I wouldn’t be standing here, with you. Everything in life, the good and the bad, happens for a reason. You shouldn’t question it, you should accept it, and take it as a life lesson, because maybe, just maybe, that bad experience is leading you down the road to the greatest adventure of your life.”

And then I went and said the most intelligent thing ever. “What’s this stuff for?” I pointed to the white bandage wrapped around both of my hands.

Jared laughed. “Oh, Katy,” he shook his head. “You are a Master subject changer.”

I blushed. “I really want to know.”

“They protect your hand and wrist when you’re punching. These,” he grabbed at one of the punching bags, “aren’t exactly soft. Basically, it keeps you from injuring yourself.”

“Oh,” I drew out the word.

“Now,” he said, “before I let you beat the crap out of my punching bag, I need to show you the proper way to hold your fist to throw a punch.”

“Okay,” I said, even though I already knew. Todd had taught us in the self-defense classes. I just kept my lips sealed, because it meant more time looking at Jared. After all, just because I had a no touching rule, it didn’t mean I had a no looking rule.

“You want to make sure your thumb is on the outside of your fist, not the inside. If you throw a punch with your thumb inside your first, it will break. You’re going to want to curl your thumb around the outside of your fingers like this,” he demonstrated. “Keep your fists tight, but not so