Battered Not Broken Read Online Free PDF

good as Melissa’s, but she managed not to embarrass herself before the pressure of Moore’s gaze disappeared from between her shoulder blades.
    A moment later, the sound of heavy punches landing in a one-two, one-two rhythm joined the chorus of similar sounds that filled the building. Moore was working a bag – hard. One-two-three, one-two… Ally couldn’t help but note the cadence of his combinations. In her mind’s eye, she could see his shoulders flexing beneath ink-covered skin.
    “You okay?” Melissa did the one thing a good fighter never did during a match – she stopped moving.
    “I’m fine,” Ally said, a twinge of guilt assailing her. She must have worried Melissa, who probably thought she was still down in the dumps about her father. “Come on.”
    As Melissa launched back into motion, the weight of Moore’s gaze slid over Ally’s shoulders again and remained there for several moments. It was weird how acutely she felt its absence when it was gone.
    Ally worked with Melissa until she felt like she’d really managed to put her instructions into action. Her kicks were smoother now – quicker and more fluid. She couldn’t go back in time to Saturday night, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
     Losing sucked – especially when it involved a kick to the gut strong enough to knock her off her feet – and the more matches she won, the more money she could make fighting at Cameron’s Saturday night events. She didn’t harbor any thoughts of fighting strictly for the glory of victory – she needed the money.
    “Your kicks are looking good,” Melissa said. “Too bad we didn’t work on them before Saturday.”
    “Yeah,” Ally agreed as a shiver zipped down her spine, alerting her to the fact that she was once again the subject of Moore’s gaze. “Too bad.” The feeling was gone a moment later, leaving her feeling like he’d touched her briefly with his eyes, just like someone might take a moment to tuck a lock of hair behind a lover’s ear or stroke their cheek.
    The subconscious analogy threatened to make her shiver again. “Thanks for helping me out.” Her skin pebbled from head to toe. “I’ve got to get going. My mother will be getting home from work in about half an hour and I don’t want her to be alone.” Plus, she was getting way too imaginative for her own good.
    “Right.” Melissa nodded toward a bag that wasn’t being used. “I’m going to stay and work out on my own a little longer. Suzie’s gonna be here in an hour for my training session. Then I’ve got to leave for work. Give me a call if there’s anything I can do for you or your mom.”
    “Thanks.” Ally drifted to the ladies’ locker room and quickly stripped out of her workout gear, throwing on jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a jacket. She’d shower when she got home – if she took the time to do so at the gym, she might not arrive at the house before her mother. She’d worked a little longer with Melissa than she’d intended.
    When she exited the locker room and stepped back out into the gym’s sprawling main area – a jungle of hanging bags, mats and the fighting ring in the center of it all – she couldn’t help but be aware of the sound of Moore’s punches landing on a heavy bag. There were a couple other men working heavy bags and one using a speed bag, but somehow, the sound of their gloves hitting vinyl was just noise. Moore created a rhythm as he worked – one that got under Ally’s skin and made it pebble again.
    She had to pass the bag he was working to exit the gym. Large, cylindrical and heavier than she was, it hung from the ceiling by steel chains. They didn’t clank or rattle – the bag weighed them down too much to allow that much movement – but they swayed as the bag absorbed blows, a testament to the force it was being subjected to.
    Heavy bags were used for developing power – something Moore wasn’t exactly lacking in the first place. It was easy to