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    Trevor worked his mouthpiece off his teeth, and spat it on the mat. “Nice job,” he told the kid. “I really like that last hit.” The guy headed off into his corner, just as Trevor remembered he needed to tell him not to let up once he had his opponent on the ropes. Those were the times a fighter should switch to body shots and work the inside. He wanted to call out to the guy standing with his back to him, and he would have, if only he could’ve remembered his name.

Chapter Ten
    A week passed and his head hurt every damn day, but the pain didn’t stop him from sparring. Since he’d signed his name on the contract, he’d been more emphatic about being at the gym before the doors opened and staying late every night. He’d missed a lot of gym time, too much to count, and he knew he’d have to train doubly hard if he had a shot of getting back to where he’d been before his hospital stay.
    Trevor dumped four pain reliever tablets into his hand. He threw the bottle back in his gym bag as he downed the pills with a splash of water, and strolled out of the locker room, where Domenic waited for him.
    â€œYou okay?” his sparring partner asked as he got within earshot.
    Trevor’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, why?”
    â€œYou didn’t look too steady on your feet coming out of the locker room.”
    Trevor lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Just tired, I guess.”
    â€œYeah, you were here late yesterday. Maybe you should cut it short today. We can go out and grab something to eat. Fuzzy’s Taco Stand just opened around the corner.”
    â€œSounds good, but some other time, okay? I have a fight to train for.”
    Domenic nodded. “I don’t want to see you overexert yourself. You know, too much too soon and all that.”
    Trevor placed a hand on Domenic’s shoulder. “I appreciate your concern. But, don’t worry, I got this.”
    Domenic smiled. He acted as if he really did care, and Trevor appreciated his concern. Truth was, it was nice to have someone who cared, but Trevor didn’t want Domenic to worry. The last thing he needed was Domenic to express his fears to Daniella. If his trainer got a whiff that he might not be 100 percent, she’d call that quirky doctor friend of hers.
    Oh Dr. Fox. What the woman had in looks she lacked in common sense. Him? Quit boxing? Never.
    Just as the chuckle at the idea left his chest, Domenic started talking. “I was watching old Olympic footage last night on YouTube. Nash likes to go in low on his opponents and work the body. His moves are very Tyson-esque.”
    â€œOh yeah?” Trevor kept the conversation going as they made their way to the ring.
    â€œYeah. He must’ve studied the old Mike Tyson fights in detail. While Nash is no heavyweight, he likes to get in close and brawl. He also leads with his head.”
    Domenic rattled off all the details Trevor already knew, but the good thing was that the kid was taking notice of the opponent, studying them like he should. Countless boxers never bothered to study their competition. They led with bravado, believing they could step inside the ring and knock someone out based on brute force alone. So. Not. True.
    â€œDude,” Domenic kept talking, “you should really watch Tyson/Danny Williams from 2004. That one’s a classic.”
    â€œI’ll keep that in mind.” Trevor found his gloves sitting in his corner of the ring. Shakes had left the ring prepared for them to start sparring as soon as they got ready.
    Trevor tugged on one glove as his partner kept on singing the praises of Mike Tyson. “There are other phenomenal boxers besides Tyson, you know. If you really want classic fights you should go old school, and start in the days of Sugar Ray Leonard, and Michael Spinks. Then, of course, you should really watch all the old tapes of The Greatest.”
    â€œWho’s that?”
    Trevor