Chapter 106

She wanted so bad to follow him. But she wanted to give him a minute he needed to be alone but he didn't need to be all alone. She sat down on his couch. Was she doing the right thing by sticking around, letting him cool off doing what he was good at? She closed her eyes as she gave him a few minutes to himself. She was going to leave him all alone, but she didn't know how long she would stay. Did it mean anything to him that she was still here, that just because things got sticky she didn't turn and run? Steam they needed to blow off steam. She fished her keys out of her pocket and walked outside. She looked at him, "come on Doug, get in the car there's someplace that you and I need to go." She said walking towards her SUV, "don't argue or fight me on this one either. I know what I'm doing." The club that team used to work out in would be empty now and she knew that they could blow off steam there for a little bit. She double checked her keys to make sure that she could get inside. He wanted to beat something up; this would be the place for it. She could let him kick the dummy to his heart's content. If he wasn't going to come with her that was fine too.

Doug exhaled deeply when he heard Anna talk to him. 'What is she doing?' he thought to himself. He thought for sure she'd be gone by now...it meant something that she stayed. "Alright" he said setting the ball down. He walked over and got into her car. He didn't know what was going on but he'd just have to trust her.

Anna started car, she didn't want to make conversation they weren't that far from where she needed to go anyway. It didn't take her long before she navigated her car into a parking slot right near the door. She turned off the car, "Come on." She said as she hopped out and went over and unlocked the door reaching inside to turn the lights on, "we need to work off some frustration. Ever been kickboxing?"

Doug got out of the car and gave her a look. 'Kickboxing?' he thought. He knew Anna knew how to do it, he had seen her fight, and really wasn't up on being shown up again tonight. "No i don't really know how." he said following her inside. The gym was nice, and big, almost like a pro place. After looking around he turned to look at her. "Are you trying to tell me you want to beat me up or something?" he said trying to joke.

"No I have no intentions of beating you up." She said smiling as she laughed, "I could have done that in your front yard if that's what I wanted to do. No come on you're upset and angry and we're going to get that out of you." She walked across the gym and pulled out a bag to kick. "Ready to learn something new there slim?"

Doug made a face. "Oh come on, that's embarrassing. You're going to teach me how to fight?" Doug let a grin slide onto his face. "Let's get some sparring gear or something. You can bring it on."

Anna laughed, "Okay big boy, but you have been warned." She crossed the room and pulled a bag out of the closet and started tossing stuff at him. "And don't ya dare treat me like you're fighting a girl."

Doug laughed as he put the gear on his hands and jumped into the ring. He was ready to forget about his problems for awhile, he hoped this would do it. After throwing off his shoes he took off his tee-shirt and undocked his undershirt from his jeans. Doug jumped around the ring playing as he waited for Anna to get ready. "Come on sweetheart. I'm feeling a KO right here." he said holding up his fist. "I won't treat ya like a girl." although he knew he wouldn't really hit her. He just wanted to show her up.

Anna laughed as she climbed up into the ring. "Okay there bouncy boy." She'd take it easy on him, after all she didn't want to beat ego anymore. She stood there, "show me what you got."

Doug rolled his eyes and brought his hands up to his face. He made a face at her before giving a half hearted attempt at a jab. He stopped a few inches from her face and smiled again, dropping his guard. "Oh come on...i can't hit you first if you're just standing there."

"Oh ya can't can you." She said smiling. "First things first you got to catch you opponent off guard like this." She smiled sweeping her leg under catching his ankles as she spun inches off the ground pulling his feet out from under him. She smiled down at him, "your turn." Good thing the mat was fairly soft or she might have felt bad.

"wha..." Doug landed with a thud smack on his back. the air left his body as he closed his eyes shut. he couldn't believe she had just done that. after a second he got to his knees and then to his feet. "ok" he said rolling his neck and regaining he balance. "no mercy now." Doug walked around her in a circle and gave out a small jab, just tapping her chin. he really didn't want her hit her too hard. he was afraid he might hurt her. he quickly brought his hands back up to cover his face. "come on now... no cheap shots" he said as he went for another jab.

She bounced a couple of times finding her footing, she hated being right handed; she needed to use her left so that she didn't clock him with her cast. She kept her eyes on him. "No cheap shots I promise." She said. Her eyes on her target now as she went with one hand towards his stomach hoping it would fake him out as she followed higher with her left hand. She didn't have the same control over her left as she did with her right.

Doug saw the set up as soon as he leaned forward but wasn't quick enough to get out of the way. Anna's fist connected with his jaw and he had to take a step back. he shook it off and came back again. he lifted his leg up quickly and gave her a small kick in the side. he got his balance back and got back on the defensive. all this moving around was harder than he thought. his back was starting to ache a little but he wasn't going to tell her. if she could fight with a cast on he could do it with a little pain. he tried to block out the idea he was fighting a girl as he went forward again for another kick.

Anna watched him, okay time to show off a little bit, she bounced off the mat flipping herself back away from him before changing directions and coming back at him as she jabbed forward to give him the feeling that she was going to hit him but instead brought her leg up for a spinning kick to connect.

Doug collapsed on the mat. 'so much for no low blows.' he pulled his knees to his chest as he held his breath. 'boy did that hurt' he pinched his eyes shut and tried to block out the pain and the tears that his nerves threw into his eyes. after a few seconds he had to breathe but all that came out was a bunch of coughing. he couldn't move she had actually kicked him hard and just in the one place that could really hurt a guy.

Oh no, she did not just connect there. The color drained from her face as she heard him start to cough. She threw off her gloves and was at his side in a heartbeat. "Oh god I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you there, oh man," She was about ready to cry from hurting him like that. She dropped to her knees next to him, "oh please tell me that you are okay."

Doug coughed a little more until some of the pain left his body. he rolled over onto his back and slowly opened his eyes. "that was kind of a low blow" he said almost in a whisper, the pain still in his voice. "Ohh" he grunted as he straightened out his legs. "no more kickboxing with you." he joked half serious. he tried his best to put a grin on his face. he knew she didn't mean to and probably felt pretty bad.

"I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry." She gasped. "I didn't mean to really that's not where I was aiming at." She sat on the mat next to him, "oh man." She couldn't think of anything to say other than she was sorry a half dozen times.

Doug lay on the mat for a few more seconds until he started to feel better. "ah" he said as he sat up and rubbed his face. "that wasn't very nice" even though it was an accident he wasn't going to let her get away with it for free. he sat on his knees and looked at her for a second. "you feel pretty bad about that huh?" he asked, his voice finally back to normal.

"Yeah I do." She said looking over at him, "really I didn't mean to. I wouldn't do that to you on purpose. Some other guy maybe but not you baby."

"well that's comforting" he joked with an evil smile on his face. in a second he had her around the waist and flipped her over, trying to muscle her into a pin. "I'll get you at wrestling though." he said with a laugh, fighting with her hands, trying to pin her shoulders to the ground.

She tried to get out from under him, but he was bigger and stronger than he was there was no way out of this. Years of being stuck at the bottom of a brother dog pile taught her that there was only one way out of this and that was to fight with tickles. As she wiggled one hand free she went straight for the most accessible spot right about his belt on his right side with her left hand she grabbed at him making contact with the flesh that was bare from his shirt being untucked and riding up from her struggling.

"Ah" Doug laughed, his arms collapsing, making him fall on Anna. he about died laughing. he couldn't even move he just curled up into a ball. one of his two spots and she found it. he was totally vulnerable now and she must have known it as he tried to roll away. "no...that's...not..." he couldn't help it, he just kept laughing.

She smiled a great big huge grin. "Ah ha." She said triumphantly. "I got you now." She said as she looked at this big ball of laughing Doug. She didn't tickle him anymore because he was still laughing so hard. But she did scoot over closer to him. Why couldn't they be like this more of the time? Happy, laughing, having a good time.

It took Doug a moment to catch his breath once she stopped tickling him. he rolled back over onto his back and flicked her arm. "boy you have a way of getting me." he said, his face still red from laughing. For the first time in awhile, when he looked at Anna he didn't see another problem he had to deal with or another upcoming heartache, he just saw someone he wanted. He grabbed her by her hips and slid her closer to him and he smiled as he reached up to touch her face.

She felt his hands on her sliding her closer and then his hand on her face. She could feel her heart beating just a little bit faster than it was a minute ago. She smiled as she looked at him leaning in closer to him. She loved the way that a simple touch from him made her feel. But she wasn't going to make that move and make the same mistake that she made when they were sitting on the car.

Doug could feel a little resistance and couldn't place why. there's no why her feelings changed that quick. he pulled on her neck gently as he gave her a half grin. "I'm not gunna bite you Anna."

"Promise," she said as she threw caution to the wind and leaned the rest of way so that she could bring her lips onto his.

Doug could feel his heart speed up as she kissed him. It had been awhile since he had last had that feeling of love. He put his hands on either side of her face as he kissed her back. He was glad she had brought him here. This was just what he needed to relax a little bit and give into her, that's where his true feelings were. They had plenty of time for more serious conversations later, right now he was just going to enjoy the moment of being there with someone who loved him.

She melted under his kiss, letting go of everything just feeling the love that was between them right now. She had missed this so badly. She let her hands roam for a minute; it was so easy to forget everything else, to be lost there with him. She pulled back for a minute looking into his eyes, "I love you." She said before assaulting him again with another kiss.

His heart almost exploded. He really felt it when she said that this time. "I love you too." he said after a second kiss. He looked up at her and gently pulled the hair out of her face. as he saw where this moment could go his mind shot out of control. he knew it wasn't the most romantic question but he had to ask it. he had learned from past regrets and future fears. "Anna...uhm I need to ask this because I didn't last time." he was almost nervous. 'grow up Doug, you're an adult' went through his head. "where do we uhm, stand on the contraceptive issue. I wasn't exactly...picturing this for tonight so..."

She smiled, "I'm on Depo." She didn't blame him for asking. She would have said something sooner but oh man this felt so right and so good. She managed to get the t-shirt up over his head while answering him. She wanted to feel his skin under her. She had never wanted anyone like she wanted him.

Doug grinned as she pulled his shirt off. boxing ring wasn't his idea of romantic exactly but what the hell. "you know I had to ask...but I'm not saying one day..." he said with a smile as he pulled her back down. "I've got to tell you... I've just recently been injured so don't...hold anything against me." he joked in between kisses

"I wouldn't ever." She said as she enjoyed the onslaught on melted into his arms