Hailey
“I didn’t peg you for a chocolate girl,” Tyler said as we sat down in the ice cream parlor. He took a bite of his sundae.
“Rocky road is the best ice cream there is,” I explained. “It’s the marshmallows more than anything.”
“So that’s where all your sweetness comes from,” he said.
As we ate, we chatted more about the lessons he’d given me. He encouraged me to continue practicing, and I said I’d let him teach me how to throw a good kick next.
“How did you get into MMA anyways?” I asked. “Derek said that you both did it when you were younger, but you stuck with it.”
His shoulders sank a little bit, and I worried I’d asked a bad question. Then, he took another bite of his ice cream and continued.
“It was our mom,” he said softly. His face didn’t look sad,
