This chapter is for @sarcolineskitty on Wattpad for redeeming the !write command while I was live on Twitch! If you love this story and want more of it make sure to join a live and decide what i write next. The redeem is completely free, just join the live, start watching, and win points by playing games! 

Also make sure to join the week live stream July 15-21! I have a few fun games planned as well as a special chapter of Loving the Fighter I plan on writing live on Twitch so if you want to get a sneak peak at that be sure to join! Username is: emmittroseherondale24 I hope to see you there!

Asher 

I watched as Zane flip and tumble with a wide smile on his face despite Cade giving him corrections with every small thing he did. 

Cade still looked rather pissed off from the conversation he had only seconds before we walked in. I didn’t catch all of the argument but the few distant yells that I did hear sounded pretty heated. 

I couldn’t stop myself from looking down at Cade’s ankle as he jumped in to stop Zane from landing on his head for a flip that he didn’t jump high enough for. Zane laughed as he wiggled out of Cade’s arms to try again and Cade sighed as he flexed the ankle wrapped tightly in a compression band. 

I had only met this man twice yet both times, the pain in his eyes never left. Whether it was a twist of pain in his face when he moved too fast or a quiet gasp when he put too much weight on his ankle. Even now he rolled his ankle and shoulders in between helping Zane with his passes.

It made me wonder how this could have happened. I know he tried to warn me about how dangerous the sport could be, which is something I never considered when Zane first came to me asking about it. I grew watching cousins playing football and lacrosse; sports that involved full contact and where injuries were not only unavoidable but expected.

Gymnastics was a solo sport from what I could tell. There was no one to run into or balls and sticks being swung around at random that you could possibly be hit with. It was just you and a mat and nothing else. I could see spraining ankles and wrists, maybe a few bruises here and there but that seemed to be the extent of injury I could think of. 

Yet that woman’s words kept circling back to me.

‘Not everyone is you,’ she had said and Cade had been pissed off from it.

She had said he had gotten hurt at 27 and with me being only a few years older than that now, I couldn’t imagine doing any sport at this point. I had played baseball during high school and despite the fact that I never got seriously hurt, there were still mornings I woke up feeling like I got hit by a truck.

Still, from the way she had made it sound, Cade had been doing gymnastics rather consistently up until he was hurt and then got hurt so bad he had to abruptly stop. It made me wonder how it happened even though I doubted I would ever get an answer to that.

Cade didn’t seem like the kind of man to talk to people about this sort of thing, even if he did know them rather well and I doubted we would ever be anything more than coach and parent and I supposed that was fine. I didn’t overly want to get to know him or even be friends with him for anything other than wanting to know how he was hurt.

I brushed the thought away as I focused on Zane again.

I don’t see how Zane kept the smile on his face as Cade continued to yell corrections at him with every pass. I waited for his smile to dim and I decided the second it did I wouldn’t hesitate to run down there and pull him from this class immediately.

This class was for Zane and Zane alone. If he wasn’t enjoying it or if Cade wasn’t a coach he got along with easily then it wasn’t worth our time. 

Still, despite the yelling and corrections with every small thing that was even remotely less than perfect, Zane never seemed to be anything less than overjoyed. 

He got that from his mother I suppose. She was always happy no matter what was going on around her. I always envied her for that. She used to always call me a pessimist but I preferred the term realist. There was no point in getting excited about something that may never happen or trying to be happy about the smallest, insignificant things. 

Now that she was gone, I was glad that he didn’t pick up my outlook on life. Finding joy in the small things was a blessing that I didn’t have and I was thankful that he could show me the things I couldn’t see as easily as he did. 

By the end of the class, Zane was sweating through his shirt and he was completely out of breath but he still seemed like he would happily go for another hour if Cade allowed it. As I walked down the stairs I looked at the trophies and medals that lined the wall. I tried to search for Cade’s name etched in the plaques. 

He said he used to compete yet out of all the trophies on the wall, none of them had his name labeled on them. 

“Did you have fun,” I asked as Zane came running up to me. 

“So much fun,” Zane said, a wide smile still in place as he tried to climb up my body. “Can I stay for another hour? Please? I promise I can do it!”

Before I even had the chance to answer, Cade was beside us, glaring softly down at my son. 

“I told you that you were done for the day,” he said I don’t miss the twinge in his voice as he rolled his shoulders. “You’re tired. I could tell by the way you stopped jumping as high on those last few passes. Go home and rest. I’ll see you again on Wednesday.” Zane whined and despite the fact that they’ve only had two classes together, Cade only had to send him a stern look and the protest died in his throat. 

“You mind teaching me that at some point,” I teased and Cade only lifted his stern eyes to me. 

I hadn’t noticed when I first walked in, my mind preoccupied with the conversation I had heard but Cade was wearing a blue tank top and his muscles popped out of them and the shorts around his waist did little to hide the thick calves and thighs. 

I didn’t know him but that look with those muscles were sinful. I forced myself to look backup at his eyes that were still glaring at me. 

“There’s nothing to teach,” Cade scoffed as he squeezed past me to head to his office. “Don’t cave on the rules that you set and don’t let the cute little puppy eyes get to you. They stop pretty quickly when they know you aren’t going to listen to whatever excuse they have. Don’t be a pushover and you’ll be fine.”

“I’m not a push over,” I scoffed as I turned to glare at him. I couldn’t see his face as he walked to the office but I had a feeling he was rolling his eyes at me. “I’m not,” I said but it came out more like a whine. He turned back to me, a bottle of pain reliever in his hand, as he raised a questioning eyebrow at me. 

“Sure,” he dismissed as he took the cap off the bottle and tapped 6 pills out. 

“Are you sure you should be taking that much,” I asked a little too late. By the time he could have registered my question, he had already taken the small handful into his mouth and swallowed it down. 

I frowned as he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. Cade was a good bit smaller than me, lacking a good 7 inches on my height, and even with the muscles bulging off his body he was still smaller than most men I had seen. I could only take about 4 pills safely and even that was only for horrible headaches I couldn’t seem to shake. 

“You a doctor,” he asked as he pushed past me again to head back onto the mat. 

“Well, no,” I started but Cade cut me off. 

“Then I don’t want to hear it. If I ever want your advice on my dosage of an over the counter medication then I’ll let you know but until that day comes, how about you mind your dosages and I’ll mind mine. Sound good?”

“Maybe you should take a break then,” I said as I put Zane and followed Cade. “You shouldn’t work if you’re in pain. Isn’t that what you told that girl before us?”

I was about to step onto the mat to follow him before Cade turned around. His glare was surprisingly not aimed at me as a whole; just the shoe that was about to step onto the mat. I sighed and placed it back on the hardwood floor. Cade nodded and turned back to the mat. 

“I’m fine,” he said as lifted a rather heavy looking mat onto his back and began dragging it across the gym floor. His arms didn’t protest at the weight but I picked up on the slight limp his right ankle was doing. 

“You don’t look it,” I couldn’t help but scoff. “Taking a break won’t kill you. Sit down for a minute.”

“I have another class in 15 minutes and there is too much I have to do to set up for it. I’ll take a break when she’s warming up.”

“Then at least let me help you,” I said, not waiting for his answer as I slipped my shoes off and joined him. “Go get your shoes on and get your bag ready,” I told Zane, who had been watching us go back and forth.

“I don’t need your help,” he spat but I didn’t give him the chance to stop me as I stood beside him and forced the mat in the direction he was going. 

I was right, it was in fact heavy and despite the help, both of us were panting when the mat was thrown in the corner. He didn’t say a word as he went to the next mat he wanted to move. 

Neither of us spoke as we worked but I consider him not kicking me out as a good sign that he wasn’t overly pissed at me. The work went quickly with both of us doing it and before long Cade looked around for anything else that needed to be done. He sighed when he deemed it good enough and sat down in one of the many chairs I had spotted around the room. 

I watched as he lifted his arms above his head and arched his back to stretch, groaning at the small pops of his spine. My eyes were glued to him, his arms, the arch of his back, the relieved look on his face, the way his eyes were closed tightly, the tensed muscle of his thighs. The second he looked back at me I forced myself to look away, trying to ignore the slight burning in my cheeks. 

Cade was a good-looking man, I would admit it to myself. 

“Did you need anything?”

“A thank you would be nice,” I scoffed and once again Cade only rolled his eyes. 

“Didn’t ask for help, did I?”

“No, but you needed it.”

“I do this every day without help. I’ll do it four more times today alone without your help. I’m fine and if there is nothing else you need, you are free to go. Don’t be late on Wednesday.”

I fought the urge to show him my middle finger as I turned back around to find Zane so we could go home. Cade was a very attractive man but that fucking attitude was hideous on him. I hadn’t so much as thought of anyone in that way since Kelly died. She was the love of my life and no one else seemed to compare to her. Cade had the looks though. If he wasn’t such an asshole I might have considered trying to get back out there but it was clear that he was in no way interested in dating if he didn’t already have a partner and I was not going to chase a day dream. Besides, it was foolish to think that anyone could live up to Kelly. I would be disappointed without anyone but her in the end so it was hardly worth trying anyway.