Page 46 of The Twins

He gave a thumbs up sign and sucked on his mouth guard.

We went again. Everything else left my mind. This was all about the fight, the training. Pre-empting my opponent’s next move and then adjusting my own.

He got me down. I grunted as his weight flattened on my chest. But then I twisted my hips one way and my torso another and shook him enough to roll on top of him and lock his arms. He struggled and fought, got one free. Soon we were up again, jabbing, sending round kicks into the air, sparring.

“Time!” Phil yelled.

We knuckle fisted, no hard feeling, and then walked to our respective brothers.

“Are you hurt?” Rebecca looked up from outside the cage. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks a little paler than before.

I spit my mouth guard into my hand. “Sure, we’re just training, nothing to worry about.”

“But it’s so…violent.”

“It’s MMA, doll, that’s all.”

“I just never…I never knew what it was really and…”

I squatted down so I was face level with her and smiled. “It’s what we do, what we’ve always done, and these guys are good which means we get a decent training session. Go sit in the office if it’s freaking you out.”

“No, no, I’ll be okay.”

“Finn, you’re on,” Phil shouted.

“Always.” Finn shoved his mouth guard in and jogged around the cage.

Leo Roberts joined him, and the five-minute timer started.

My focus was on the moves, nothing else; we’d dissect later, work out what we could do better, what we should have seen coming.

Leo attempted a leg takedown when Finn went for a thigh kick. Finn hopped on the spot three times, before shaking him off and instantly going for a looping overhand punch. He got lucky, unbalanced Leo, and they both rolled to the floor.

Arms and legs seemed to wrestle independently of each other, Finn dropping into a defensive sprawl several times. Eventually, he performed a guard pass and took a dominant position, pinning Leo to the base. He was breathing hard, his muscles were tense, and a sheen of sweat sat on his body. The hair at the nape of his neck was damp and slick.

Probably not what Rebecca had imagined when she’d said she’d come to the gym.

Leo did a cute move and knocked Finn off. The crowd were shouting and jeering, all expert, it seemed, in what the fighters should do next.

Before any more points were scored, the five minutes were up. Sometimes it was the longest five minutes in the history of time, sometimes barely a blink. All depended on who we were facing down.

Finn stomped up to me, spit out his guard, and took the water I offered. He poured it into his mouth, swallowed, and winked down at Rebecca.

In a matter of seconds I was up again, a fast-paced round that gave me the chance to practice rear choke defense and a sequence of trips.

Finn did his second and third round, and then all four fighters stepped into the center of the cage, minus gloves, and shook hands.

“Good session, guys,” I said. “Thanks for making the trip.”

Both brothers were sweating and breathing fast.

“Any time, you guys make us up our game.”

“You gonna come watch next weekend?” Finn asked.

“If we’re invited.”

“Of course.” Finn slapped Aran on the back. “I’ll leave tickets on the door for you, bring dates if you want.”