Fucking Box Lesson

I walked closer, watching as he grunted a few times as he smashed his fists against the bag.

One morning, I walked out of the studio and took the stairs down to the boxing ring.

"Morning, Gage," I greeted kindly with a slightly raised tone so he could hear me, coming closer to the ring as he stopped, straightening his posture so his muscular back stretched out a little, catching my eyes.

The boxing ring was vast with space, waiting to be filled with an audience and spectators. It was voluminous and in the middle, a square boxing ring was placed as the centre of attention.

He turned, facing me, his face sweaty and flustered. His large hand wiped it in one slid as he replied in surprise, "morning, Rose. Good sleep?"

It was just an average boxing ring but that morning, a different man was there, hitting the bag.

I watched as he used all of his strength to throw whatever anger he had built up in him onto the bag, his punches echoing through the entire room.

"Yeah," I responded honestly with a genuine smile. "How about yours?"

"Good, thanks," he answered, his eyes scanning my body quickly before meeting mine once more. "So what brings you down here?"

The connection between the boxing gloves and punching bag was powerful, every punch filled with force and mightiness.

"Well," I began, my arms resting on the ropes of the ring. "I'm bored and the guys are playing Fortnite again. I saw you down here and I was actually wondering. . ." I hesitated a little which intrigued him, his eyes twinkling. He raised his perfect eyebrow and gave me an encouraging smile.

"I was wondering if you could teach me how to box."

He looked at me, puzzled. "Sorry?"

I gave him a pleading look. "I was wondering if you would teach me how to box."

"Me," he repeated slowly, his eyes expanding a little as they stared at me. "Me teach you how to box?"

I nodded, giving him a hopeful smile. "Yeah."

"Nope."

I groaned, holding onto the ropes and leaning in a little as I gave him a wishful look. "Aw, please, Gage!" I begged, desperately wanting this. "I really need to exercise and I'm bored and it looks so fun!"

"Rose," he began, his tone already giving me bad news. "I can't."

"But why?" I beseeched, pleadingly looking at him. "Cause I'm a girl?"

"No! Definitely not!" Gage defended, his hands out in surrender. "It's not that. I'm a shitty teacher and I'm not really into that kind of learning stuff. Plus, you don't need to box. There are other ways to exercise, Rose. There's a gym through there," he explained in a weary tone as he pointed to the gym.

I groaned once more, shaking my head. "No, I really want to box, Gage!" I implored, my voice filled with desperation as I looked at him appealingly. He grumbled a little, giving me a discouraging look.

"Why don't you ask Cris?" He offered, his eyes lighting up a little at the idea. "He's a boxer and he's the perfect teacher for you!"

"Gage, can you just do it, please?" I asked again, giving him my best, persuasive look. "I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" He repeated, his eyes intently looking at me with a small grin. "Are you sure about that, Rose?"

"Yes," I carelessly confirmed, continuing to give him a pleading look. He hesitated before groaning and rolling his stormy eyes. "Okay, Okay! I'll do it."

I squealed, bringing him closer so I could hug him. His sweaty, well built body pressed against mine as we hugged and he chuckled, hugging me back.

"Okay, well, come over the ropes so we can start."

"Let's start with footwork," Gage started, taking off the gloves and tossing them to the side. He went over the ropes and took some spare ones, going under the ropes again to come to me.

"Stand on your toes and keep your feet shoulder width apart." I did as he said, smiling and beginning to get excited.

"Damn, there's a lot to boxing," Gage realised, thinking to himself for a small moment.

"It's okay," I replied, "just show me how to punch the bag correctly and we can built from there."

"Okay, so, let's just stretch to warm up."

I groaned, "Can we please start?"

Gage chuckled, "it's nice to see you all ecstatic but you've got to prevent hurting yourself. I don't want you to pull a muscle or something."

I sighed and looked at him.

We started by doing some arm stretches such as; shoulder stretches, seated trapezius stretches, triceps stretches and lower back stretches that helped relax my body. That was for ten to fifteen minutes and it was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Gage then gave me the boxing gloves and I slipped them on, letting him tighten them a little around my wrists.

"So, the punching bag," he began, looking over at it. "I want you to start striking slow, don't go straight into it. Just little punches."

"Make sure the knuckles of your index finger and middle fingers are hitting the bag first so you don't hurt yourself," Gage explained, his eyes filled with concern as he looked at me.

"Stop doing that," I gently said, gazing at him with a small smile. "What?" He innocently asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Looking at me as if I'm a China doll, about to break," I said, smiling. "I'm fine, Gage."

He softly chuckled, his eyes locking with mine and my breath hitched a little, notching how beautiful and mesmerising his grey eyes were. I found myself getting lost into them. I forced myself to look away, licking my lips as I faced the bag.

I gave the bag one punch, realising how strong and heavy it was. I bit my lip, giving it another gentle punch, beginning to get into it. "Focus on your balance; keep your posture straight and don't throw yourself at the bag," Gage said, watching me and walking around the punching bag and I, his eyes intent and serious.

"Try and keep both your feet planted on the floor, Rose." I tried but I noticed my feet lifting a little as I punched not too hard.

Unexpectedly, he placed his hands on my hips, causing me to tense up a little, my heart missing a beat. He held my lower body down a little so I couldn't move my feet, allowing me to punch at the bag correctly.

"That's it, Rose, keep your body aligned," he said, his large hands still holding onto my hips from behind.

I punched the bag, beginning to get a stronger rhythm.

"Keep your elbows tight," Gage instructed, his hands then going to my arms, planting them by my sides. "And your wrists straight." I did as he said, determination written all over my face as I punched the bag, his hand going back to my hips.

Beginning to get breathless, I noticed my wrists beginning to hurt. "Damn, my wrists," I breathlessly told him, my eyes flickering over to his. He smiled at me, "yeah, that's normal. Your tendons just need to get used to it."

"Careful," Gage gently told me as I hit the bag. "Don't use full strength. You're just starting."

"Okay, Rose." Gage said after a few minutes of hitting. "Try and get quicker punches. Hit it harder."

I did as he said, my fists colliding with the bag quicker, with more force. My heart was beginning to burn and I was starting to sweat, heat overwhelming me.

"Don't hesitate, come on, Rose," he encouraged me as I punched as hard as I could, small determinate grunts leaving me as I hit the bag roughly, taking out all my anger on it.

"Focus on your breathing. Don't let yourself get too heated up."

I tried my hardest but it was a lot of things to remember at once. His hands held my hips down, helping me as I tried to maintain a balanced breathing pattern to help me.

"Come on, Rose! Punch it! Hit it!"

"Take out your anger on it!"

"Punch!"

"You can do it, Rose!"

"Rose, keep going!"

"Come on!"

"Oh, my gosh!" I breathed out as I took off my gloves, leaning against the ropes as I wiped my face with my hand, exhaling loudly. Gage chuckled, watching me as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Good work out?" He questioned jokingly with a smile as he came closer. I nodded, smiling.

"Thanks for teaching me, Gage," I thanked genuinely, "I really enjoyed today."

He waved it off, smiling too. "No worries."

"Can we do this again?" I asked with a beaming smile. He playfully groaned as I chuckled, watching him. "Okay, yeah," he positively answered, his eyes twinkling as they gazed at me.

"What made you dye your hair red?" He curiously asked me, glancing at my hair tied into a high ponytail. I shrugged, licking my lips as I looked at him. He wasn't too far away.

"I wanted a change, plus, I wanted to show the world that I was confident and strong. Dyed it red," I told him, honestly. "Are your eyes naturally grey?"

Gage nodded, a cute smile on his face. "Yeah, my dad's eyes are grey."

"Ah," I acknowledged, smiling at him. "They're beautiful, Gage. Every time I see you, I can't stop looking at them."

Then I found myself getting lost into them once more. Gage's face was attractive and his eyes were striking to me. I couldn't stop gazing into his ice eyes. I licked my lips, barely noticing how much closer we were to each other.

My eyes slowly dropped to his lips and his hand gradually went to my cheek, caressing it softly. My head leaned into his warm hand a little as I gazed at him, hypnotised.

He leaned in and I closed my eyes, finally feeling his soft, natural lips. His rich lips were like a movie; so perfect and intoxicating me.

We pulled apart a few times, small little kisses on each other lips and his hand slid down to my waist, pulling me slightly closer as I placed my hand on his broad shoulder, kissing him back.

What am I doing?

Gage is my friend

Friend

I barely know him

But he's so sweet and handsome!

What about Cris?

Oh, Cris

I can't do this to Cris

What about Gage?

I'm not even in a relationship

Gage

Cris

Oh no

What have I done?

Our sweet kiss was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

Gage and I automatically moved away from each other. He cleared his throat, going to the the other side of the ring and taking his water bottle, drinking if. His muscular back was facing me.

I turned away, my hands on the ropes as a million thoughts ran through my mind.

Gage or Cris?

Cris or Gage?

Why am I even thinking of this?

Oh no

Rose

What have you done?

"Match tonight."

Cris - it's Cris

My eyes went up, following him as he came down, only wearing some shorts and a vest so his bulging muscles were on show.

His eyes met mine and I gave him a smile. "I'll come and watch," I told him, my heart racing and aching as a bad feeling came into my chest.

Cristiano looked at me curiously. "Did you box, Rose?"

I nodded, "yeah. It's really energising."

"I'm glad you like it," Cristiano smiled, going under the ropes and onto the ring as Gage packed up some stuff. My heart was beating so fast, I could feel it vibrating in me, every single beat.

I bit my bottom lip hard, my eyes wandering to Gage who was avoiding looking at me.

"Gage, did the dick reply?" Cristiano asked. I didn't know what he was talking about but I stood there, my head aching with thoughts.

"No, the stupid ass didn't," he normally replied, his eyes meeting mine. My breath hitched and he looked away, putting the gloves in a bag. "How is he always on his phone but he can't reply one damn message?" Gage added, rolling his eyes.

"I know," Cris agreed, tightening the bag chains.

I licked my lips, feeling sick. "I'm gonna go up and shower. I'll see you guys later," I said quietly, going under the ropes and jumping down the high boxing ring.

"Thanks, Gage, for the lesson," I said, my heart hurting my chest as it pounded against it. He looked up at me and gave me a genuine smile. "It's fine."

I gave him a small smile, struggling to keep calm. "Cris, good luck," I told him, his hazel eyes flickering over to me. He smiled, "thanks, Rose."

I turned, beginning to walk up the stairs shakily.

"Rose?" I heard Cristiano call. I looked down, stopping, not so far away from the door.

"Yeah?"

"Nice ass."