Ryleigh
Ryleigh held one of her boxing gloves low enough for Tommy to kick the padding. In the background, she heard Keenan and Ronan end their sparring session in the other ring at Duncan’s Dojo.
“That’s right. Two more…” she said, focusing on Tommy again.
He nodded and blew his honey blonde hair from his face for the umpteenth time.
“And the last one… give it your all…”
His brows furrowed in concentration while his kick blasted against her glove.
“Yes! That’s it, Tommy. Well done.”
They tapped their gloves against each other, and her chest warmed when Tommy beamed at her. “Thank you, Ry.”
Somewhere during the day, he’d picked up on his dad shortening her name. He blinked a few times when a strand of hair pricked his eye again.
“Maybe next time you’d like a hair clip from me to pull your hair out of your face?”
His scrunched up nose at the mere suggestion made her laugh.
Behind the ropes of their boxing ring, Ronan laughed along with her. “I’ll give you a haircut, Tommy. Get you a fighter’s trim.”
Keenan uncrossed his arms over the rope and said while stepping into the ring, “All right, leave my boy alone. Or he’s going to practice on you what Ry taught him.” He ruffled Tommy’s bewildered hair and said with a loving smile, “I saw you got some moves, son.”
“Ryleigh showed me what to do when somebody comes at me.”
It pained her that the first thing he’d asked was if she could show him how to get out of a headlock while someone else is holding your legs down. A six-year-old shouldn’t have to even think about stuff like that. Unfortunately, she knew all too well about the harsh reality.
“I know I sound like a broken record here, but remember what we talked about, okay? You’ll only defend yourself with the moves Ry showed you, understood?” Keenan sternly said.
With a quick jerk of his head Tommy said, “Yes, Dad. When they try to get a rise out of me again, I’ll try to ignore them. And if that doesn’t help, I’ll go to my teacher.”
“Yes, and you can always talk to me.”
Ryleigh bumped into Keenan’s hip and said, “He has me in his corner too, Keen.”
He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Tommy used that moment to get away from his father’s lecture and hopped through the ropes right into his uncle Ronan’s arms.
Keenan whispered in her ear, “I know you’ve got his back. I can’t thank you enough for everything you do for us, Ry. I mean it. You’re the best thing that ever happened to him.” With a sweet kiss to her temple, he added, “And me.”
She swallowed a few times, trying to get rid of the thickness of her throat.
“I-I don’t know what to say, Keen. Half of the time I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”
He chuckled. “Welcome to parenthood, Ry.”
He could be so damn sweet. Not wiling to get ahead of herself, she let his comment about parenthood go. Time for some action. Nothing like a good sparring to get her head straight.
“Hey, Ryleigh, can we talk for a moment?”
She turned around to the ropes where Duncan stood. Of course she knew of Duncan Mills, the MMA fighter champion who’d stopped fighting after a shoulder injury.
“Thank you for having us here today.”
“No need to thank me, Ry. I love having my family and friends around. That includes you.”
Heat traveled over her cheeks when she nodded.