Black Belt Knockout Read online

  “Now I have to ask you if you’re feeling okay.” Molly barely ever offered to watch Sam. Mostly because she was always working at the café.

  She waved her hand at me. “Oh please, it’s Sunday. I don’t need to go to the café because I got everything ready yesterday in preparation for the fact I was going to be nursing a hangover today, so I’m free. So is Kellan. He had training this morning, but he should be home by now. It’ll be fun for me, and you can just relax for the day.”

  I wearily looked down the hallway, listening to Sam yelling for SpongeBob to get off the boat. “You know what? I’m totally going to take you up on that even though I know you are going to regret it by the time you drop him off later.”

  She scoffed and shook her head. “You have no faith in me. I mean, how hard can it be to watch a four-year-old?” Her face fell. “He is potty trained, right?”

  “I’ll never tell. You’re going to have to figure out that one on your own.”

  Her jaw dropped, and I yelled for Sam.

  “Yes, Momma?” he hollered back.

  “Put on your pants and find your socks. You’re going to spend the day with Molly and Kellan.”

  “Yes!” he yelled. Sam loved Molly, and from the two times he had met Kellan, I knew he was eager to spend time with them. “I’m bringing my hula hoop, ‘k?”

  “Hula hoop?” Molly whispered. “You heard my story of trying to do karate, right? I can tell you right now, these hips are not made for hula hooping.”

  “No going back now, Molly. Sam is getting ready, and I have to admit, I am truly looking forward to a nap where I don’t have Sam’s foot in my ribs and his hand in my face.”

  She lifted her hand and foot. “I don’t even know how that would be possible. Does the kid sleep like a pretzel?”

  I grabbed my cup, stood up, and dumped the contents in the sink. I was never going to get used to drinking decaf. “Yup, that is totally what he does. Before you leave the hospital, they teach you how to fold them just right.”

  She lifted her middle finger. “You can sit and spin, you know, right?”

  “Such language,” I laughed. “I hope you don’t plan on talking like that in front of Sam.”

  “Nope. I know how to spell all of my cuss words. I’m good to go.”

  A crash sounded from the hallway, and I knew Sam was trying to hula hoop to the kitchen. “Well, it’s a good thing you brushed up on your spelling because after one day with Sam, you are going to need it.”

  “Momma, I’m stuck again.”

  “Stuck?” Molly hollered, jumping up. “Don’t worry, Sammy. Auntie Molly is coming for you.”

  Oh Jesus. This was going to be interesting.

  I gave her two hours before she would be calling me, wondering when she could drop him off.

  Amateur.

  *

  Chapter 3

  Roman

  “Holy shit.”

  I gave the punching bag a right hook. “What?”

  “Molly is headed here.”

  “Uh, is that a bad thing?” I asked. The chick was his girlfriend, so it didn’t seem too odd or warrant a holy shit to me.

  “Never. It’s just who’s with her is a shock.”

  I dropped my arms to my side and turned to look at him. “Spit it out, fucker.” I hoped he was going to say Sage, but I was also terrified he was going to say her name. I wasn’t ready to get my balls ripped off yet.

  After Kellan had left, I dragged my sorry self into the shower, got dressed, and headed to the studio. I was surprised Kellan’s car was parked out front. I had been hoping to get some mindless practice in and try not to think about Sage and the baby.

  Thankfully Kellan had taken pity on me and hadn’t brought it up either.

  “She’s got Sam with her.”

  “Sam?” Still had no clue what the hell he was talking about.

  A shit-eating grin spread across his lips. “You are so fucking clueless, man. Sam is Sage’s kid.”

  It felt like the floor dropped out from under my feet, and the blood rushed from my face. “Holy shit.”

  Kellan chuckled and tucked his phone into his pocket. “Told ya.”

  “Uh, well, you think her kid knows about me?” I quaked.

  Kellan collapsed into the mat. “Pretty sure he doesn’t. Hell, we just found out yesterday. I doubt she’s laid that on her kid yet.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right…” I trailed off. “So what do I say to him?” I was absolutely clueless when it came to kids. I taught classes at Powerhouse, but ninety percent of the time, I took my cues from either Tate or Kellan in class and didn’t have to try too hard.

  Sam was a whole different story. He wasn’t just some kid off the street looking to learn karate. He was Sage’s son.

  “Try starting out with hi,” Kellan chuckled. “He’s a kid, Roman. It’s not going to take much to impress him.”

  “But he’s Sage’s kid. What if he hates me like she does?” I didn’t stand a chance with Sage if Sam hated me. The hatred might run in the family. If that were true, my own kid might end up hating me.

  “Just don’t tell him you knocked his mom up, and you’ll be golden.”

  “Pretty sure those will be the last words that ever come out of my mouth. It hasn’t even sunk in for me yet I’m about to be a dad. I don’t think I want to discuss it with a four-year-old.”

  Kellan leaned back on his elbows. “Well, you got about five minutes until he gets here. Try not to act like a complete ass.”

  “Those are your wise words for me? Don’t you have something better to say? Maybe I’ll just go.” That would be the best. I wasn’t ready to do this. I didn’t think I would ever be able to do this.

  He shook his head. “You’re not bailing, fucker. It’s time to grow the fuck up. Step one is you meeting Sage’s son. The only way you can walk out that door right now is if you tell me you don’t want anything to do with Sage and the baby.”

  Leaving sounded great, but I couldn’t say I didn’t want Sage and the baby. I wasn’t used to it yet, but I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to throw away. “Fine, I’m not leaving, but do you think maybe you could help me out here?” I got his eagerness to bask in my fucked up situation. I would have done the same thing, but the guy needs to cut me some slack and maybe toss me a life vest before I drown.

  “Not much fun in that for me, is there? Oh, how the roles are reversed now, Roman. Before, it was you giving me shit about Molly, and now, you’re trying to figure out your own shit and I get to sit back and watch.” He slugged me on the shoulder. “I have to admit, this is pretty fun.”

  I sighed and hung my head. “Do we know why Molly has Sam? Is something wrong with Sage?”

  He shook his head. “No. Molly just said Sage needed a break for the day.”

  “Is that normal?” Wasn’t she used to doing the mom gig every day? Was something else going on?

  “Dude, I don’t know. I’m dating Molly, not Sage. I have no clue what her normal is except for yelling at Dante for eating all of the cookies.”

  That was the damn truth. Dante came in at least three times a week grumbling about Sage and her Nazi ways when it came to cookies. “So what are we going to do?”

  “I’m assuming we’re going to try and wear the guy out, then probably do lunch.”

  “Uh, lunch? You want me to come?”

  “Roman, are you really afraid of a kid?”

  He wasn’t just a kid. “I just want to make a good impression, asshole.”

  A knock sounded on the door, and we both whirled around to look out of it. “They’re here,” Kellan pointed out.

  “No shit.”

  “Crap,” he corrected me. “I can tell you right now, Sage doesn’t swear in front of the kid because he picks up anything you say. Trying spelling if you need to cuss.”

  “Spelling?” I mumbled. What in the hell good was that?

  Kellan bowed off the mat and jogged over to the front door. “I think you
can curb the swearing for a couple of hours, bro. Just think of it as practice for when your own little guy comes.”

  Yeah, not gonna think about that. I didn’t want to puke in front of the kid.

  “What happened to your key?” Kellan asked Molly as he opened the door.

  “Not a clue. I thought it was on my keychain, but it’s not there. I hardly use the thing, so who knows when I lost it.” Molly stepped through the door with a little boy clinging to her hand.

  “Hi, Mr. Kellan.” Damn, the kid had good manners. Half the kids who walked through the doors for lessons didn’t know to address their elders as Mr. or Miss.

  Kellen crouched down. “Hey, Sam. How are you doing, bud?”

  He let go of Molly’s hand and shrugged. “I guess okay. I got stuck in my hula hoop today. Molly saved me.”

  Kellan smothered a laugh and nodded. “I guess it was a good thing Molly was there then, huh?”

  “Yeah, although I know my momma would have helped me. I know she would have laughed. She tells me I’m goofy all of the time.”

  “Goofy can be a good thing, bud. Means you know how to have fun, right?”

  “Sam has the market on funny cornered,” Molly chimed in.

  “Can you teach me how to be a ninja?”

  Kellan smiled down at Sam. “I can teach you, but we’re gonna have to talk to your mom to get you in for classes. It takes more than an hour to become a ninja.”

  “Uncle Kellan has been a ninja for over twenty years,” Molly bragged.

  “Holy cow. You’re really old,” he gasped.

  Now it was my turn to smother a laugh. Glad I wasn’t the only one to give Kellan shit, but if the kid thought Kellan was old, he was going to think the Dante was ancient when he met him.

  Sam peeked around Kellan and waved at me.

  I gave a small wave back. “‘Sup, little dude.”

  Kellan moved over to Molly, and she patted him on the shoulder. “You’re not that old,” she comforted him.

  “I just got roasted by a four-year-old.”

  Molly shrugged. “You have to admit, saying you’ve been a ninja for twenty years is a long time, especially for a little kid.”

  “You’re really not helping,” he complained.

  “I’m Sam.”

  “And I am Roman.”

  He put his hands on his hips. “Are you a ninja too?”

  “Uh, I guess so. Although, I never really considered myself that until your mom and Molly started calling us that.”

  “Who is us?”

  I looked at Kellan, and he shrugged. This kid had some damn good questions. “Well, Kellan, Tate, Dante, and me.”

  “Are you all as old as Kellan?”

  I scoffed and shook my head. “Heck no.”

  “You’re only a year younger than I am,” Kellan grumbled.

  I put my hand up to my mouth and leaned down to Sam. “Don’t listen to him. He’s lying.”

  Kellan growled. “Did you two come here to make me feel old, or did you actually have a purpose?”

  “Well,” Molly drawled. “Sam and I were talking on the way over here, and I told him about the class I took.”

  “You mean the one where the mat kicked your as—” I looked down at Sam and cleared my throat. “Butt? Totally was going to say butt.”

  Kellan snickered and put his arm around Molly. “Sure you were.”

  “Anyway, Sam said he wanted to be a ninja too, so I thought it would be cool for him to come down here, and you guys could give him a glimpse into the life.”

  “Let’s kick some butt!” Sam called. He thrust his fist in the air and jumped up.

  “How about we start with the basics?” I asked.

  “Do we get to kick some butt after the basics?” he asked.

  “Um, maybe I’ll let you at one of the punching bags if you listen real good.”

  Sam looked at Molly. “Momma says I’m the best listener. Except when it’s bath time.”

  “Then you got this in the bag then, bud. I need to talk to Kellan in the office for a second. Are you okay with Roman showing you how to kick butt?”

  “Yup. All good.”

  Molly drug Kellan into the office and shut the door behind them.

  Kellan had said he would stick by me, but the word hadn’t spread to Molly I needed a co-pilot.

  Sam looked up at me expectantly. Shit. What the hell was I going to do?

  Kellan’s words came back to me. Just treat him like one of the kids in class.

  “So, let’s get out on the mat and see how well you listen. Kick off your shoes over by the coat hooks, and meet me on the edge of the mats.”

  Sam hurried over to kick off his shoes, and I walked to the edge of the mat. I heard his hurried footsteps behind me and grabbed his arm before he blew past me onto the mats. “Whoa there, little dude.”

  “I thought you said to meet on the mats?”

  I looked down at him and shook my head. “I said to meet me on the edge of the mat.”

  “Oh, shoot.”

  I crouched down in front of him and rested my arms on my knees. “Anytime you want to go on the mat, you need to bow and show respect.”

  “To who?”

  “The mats, and to everyone who has been on the mats before you.”

  He tilted his head to the side and squinted. “Huh?”

  This was always part of the spiel that confused the younger kids. “The first thing you need to learn about martial arts, is you need to respect everything. What you learn out on the mats isn’t about kicking butt or being a ninja, but it’s about respecting yourself and everything around you.”

  Sam nodded. “I think I can do that.”

  “All right. That was your first karate lesson.”

  “Now can we go on the mats?”

  I nodded my head. “We can. But first, we bow to show respect, okay?”

  “Like on stage?”

  “Exactly like that.” Sam was one smart kid. “So, just put your arms flat to your side, and bend at the waist.”

  “Like that?” he asked. He bent over and turned his head toward me.

  “Right on, little dude. Now, run out on the mat.”

  “It’s squishy,” he called as he ran around in circles.

  I bowed onto the mat and stood in the center while Sam did circles around me. “That’s so if you fall, it won’t hurt.”

  Sam skidded to a stop. “We’re going to fall?” he asked, scared.

  “Today, we’re not. But if you decide to keep learning karate, you will learn how to fall, so you don’t hurt yourself.”

  “I think I’ll just be so good I won’t ever fall.”

  Wasn’t that everyone's wish? “Well, I think that’s a good goal.”

  “Cool. I’ll be Sam, the ninja who never falls.” He pumped his fist in the air and continued running around.

  I gave him a couple more seconds to be silly, then called his name.

  “Yeah?” he replied.

  “Stand in front of the mirror, and let’s talk for a second.”

  He ran to the mirror and looked over his shoulder at me. “Is it gonna be a ninja talk?”

  I strode over to the mirror and stood in front of him. “It definitely is. First, I am Sir or Mr. Roman when we are out on these mats, okay? So when I called your name, you should have said ‘yes, Sir.’ Does that make sense?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Yes, Sir,” I corrected him.

  “You don’t need to call me sir.” He beamed a wonky smile up at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “No, I mean you should have replied ‘yes, Sir’ when I asked if you understood.”

  “Oh. Gotcha. Can we try that again?”

  “Do you understand?” I repeated.

  “Yes, Sir!”

  “Perfect, and I love the enthusiasm. Are you ready to start your ninja training, Sam?”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  The kid really picked things up fast. If he did decide to take up
karate, he was going to be one step ahead of the other kids just starting out. “Do you know how to do jumping jacks?”

  He nodded. “Perfect. Let me see you do ten jumping jacks. I’ll count out loud for you, okay?”

  He jumped up and down, clapping his hands over his head, and called out the numbers right along with me. “That was some good counting, Sam.”

  “Thanks. My Nana Mary goes over my numbers with me when I go over there. I can count all the way to twenty.”

  Now that was impressive. I wasn’t sure exactly where a four-year-old should be counting, but I figured twenty was damn good. “Now, sit on your butt.” He plopped down on the mat and looked up at me. “Now spread them apart and try to reach your toes.”

  Sam grunted as he touched his toes and smiled. “This ninja stuff is easy.”

  “You may just be a natural, little dude. Although, we’re about to get into the tough stuff.”

  Sam jumped up, and we played a game of Sensei Says. Basically, Simon Says, except you had to make sure I said “Sensei Says.” He made it five moves before he messed up. “Oh man.”

  “It’s okay, bud. Try again, and this time, make sure you only do what I say if I say ‘Sensei Says,’ okay?”

  He nodded. “Let’s do this!”

  This time, he made it all the way to the time where I start saying the directions real fast and touched his nose when I didn’t say “Sensei Says.”

  “Good job, bud! That was pretty good for only your second time!” I high-fived him, and he jumped up to slap his hand against mine.

  “Now can I kick something?”

  I laughed and pointed to the punching bag on the other side of the room. “I think maybe we can work on a little bit of a combo if you are up to it.”

  “Yes!”

  I maneuvered the punching bag to the middle of the room and told Sam to stand in front of it. “Now, this combo is called Yankee.”

  “Why is it called that?”

  This was the part with little kids that drove me crazy because they asked questions I didn’t know how to answer without giving a long, drawn out answer they weren’t going understand. “Because that is just the name that was given to this combo.” Thankfully, that answer pacified him enough, and he didn’t ask again. “Now, I want you to punch with this hand.” I pointed to the right hand.