I stood and stepped onto the blue foam mat. I didn’t take a stance. I just stood there, arms hanging loose, feeling the familiar icy calm wash through my nervous system.

Greg laughed, loud and incredulous. “What’s this? The paperwork department wants to file a grievance? Don’t tell me you’re gonna try to wrestle, Sarah.

You’ll break a nail.”

“You like to teach lessons about strength, Greg,” I said, my eyes locking onto his. I saw the slight hesitation in his pupils. Animals always know when they’ve stepped into the cage with a predator, even when their ego hasn’t caught up yet.

“Show me.”

His face flushed with sudden, dark rage. Being challenged by a woman — the family doormat — in front of his wife and in-laws was an insult his fragile masculinity couldn’t process.