I can feel the shift in the room as someone comes in, someone new and big, must be. In a second, my peripheral vision picks up men leaving off on the speed bags on either side of me. I can practically hear the squaring of shoulders, the tightening of jaws as they size up the newcomer. He's big, I'll give him that, and brawny. I assume it means he'll want nothing to do with me. Tiny, tattooed, female. People know me here but that doesn't mean they always value me.

The hush that goes over the gym as I'm approached and I spare the man a glance. Up close, I think he must have almost two feet on me, the top of my head somewhere around his sternum.

When I finally look up at him, it's slow and deliberate. If he's trying to intimidate me, I won't let him. "A moving target is only good if I can reach it," I say.