A Helping Hand

Layla’s got a DUI and zero choices. Nina, her old coach, gives her a gig running drills at the same dingy gym. It feels like exile for a pro like Layla. Paula Ford can’t stop smiling at the legend joining the roster. Sophie Smith wants tips on how to hurt people cleaner. Everyone else just groans because Layla makes them double the floor laps. Trish Kelly walks it off for an hour, but her thighs start screaming. She finds Summer in the locker room, dragging off her tape. Their eyes lock, something switches. Trish tells Summer she needs help, fast. Summer slides her hands up those legs, digs fingers into tight muscle, breathes against Trish’s inner thigh. Trish grips the bench, Summer leans closer, thumbs working higher. Outside they flip each other in the ring. In here, under the buzzing light, they grind skin against skin like the fight never mattered. Summer’s tongue traces sweat off Trish’s quads, licks closer to where the ache is worst. Trish grabs a fistful of hair, pulls her in. The bench creaks. Their breath stutters louder than words. Out in the hallway footsteps echo, nobody knocks. They keep pushing until both women are shaking and wet and the pain’s turned to something filthy they both needed worse than sleep.