by Lily Zante
I believed I could do it.
And now Garrison's starting to see that maybe I can.
When the seventh round starts, I tear into him.
The unheard of is starting to become real.
The unthinkable is slowly taking form.
My punch sends Garrison staggering back against the ropes.
He eyes me warily, but he glances at his corner.
Indecision, that's what I sense.
I pounce towards him.
I see Swain.
I hook another uppercut on his jaw, his face reverberates.
He staggers some more.
I hear cheering.
I can sense the wind shift.
I dance around him, but I don't need to.
This guy isn’t going anywhere.
Garrison doesn’t look too good to me.
He glances at the ref who motions to continue.
I should end this.
I’m more than pumped.
Garrison comes at me again, but there is no aim, no mastery, no speed. I smell desperation, and easily counter the pathetic punch he throws.
He goes down again, and then scrambles to his feet once more. Psychologically, I’m at an advantage because I’m not the defending champion. I don’t have a title on the line.
He does.
He has it all to lose and believe me, he’s going to lose it.
We paw at one another, because it’s getting tiring. Garrison took me by surprise when he hit me hard in the first round. I wasn’t as fast-footed as I should have been, but it was mostly because I was overwhelmed from being here.
Still, I quickly got back into it. My survival tactics kicked in. I recovered.
Now I'm warming up.
I'm playing with him.
He's a fighter too. A survivor, as all fighters are.
But I want it more. I have more to prove, and nothing to lose. More to prove to myself, and to Nina.
My heart is full. Harper’s here, so is Nina. Grampton House flashes before me.
I see Dennis Swain.
The moment slows down.
Freeze-frames.
Garrison tries to hook me, but I block it.
I see flashes of Swain.
I see Nina taking my hand as we walk down the hallway.
I see Swain wink at me.
My blood boils.
I go into attack mode, battering Garrison with my combinations.
He's on the floor again.
The guy staggers around as if he's downed eight whiskies.
Somebody save this fucker.
Why is the ref allowing this to go on?
I can hear the crowd cheering.
The booing has stopped
I've earned their respect.
We’re into round nine. Three-quarters of the way through.
We've been pawing and punching for a while now. Too long.
I can make this end sooner.
I go from his body to his head, jab, jab, jab. I'm on the attack.
I can do this. I always knew I could.
Garrison winks at me.
Or is it Swain?
Adrenaline swells inside me.
I land a solid left, and Garrison is on the floor.
This time he stays there.
The ref counts.
I hold my breath. Try not to shake because blood races through my veins.
Garrison doesn’t get up.
The bell rings.
It's over.
I freeze.
This is happening.
This has happened.
I’ve done it.
In the background, I hear the loud cheer of the crowd.
They’re going nuts.
Garrison's on the floor with the doctor and his trainer standing over him.
In the next moment, he stands up, a little shakily, but he’s on his feet, which is a relief to me.
He nods, as if acknowledging his defeat. I look over to the audience and locate Harper and Nina. They’re both on their feet hugging each other and jumping for joy.
I demolished Garrison and gave the audience what they wanted; a worthy champion, not Garrison, but me.
The referee should have stopped the fight at the end of the sixth, but he didn't.
My gut tells me that everyone, the ref included, expected their golden boy to bounce back. They hoped that he would pull out his magic and deliver a blow that would finish me.
They kept hoping and hoping.
And I let them.
I let Garrison think he could do it.
I was biding my time.
Garrison started strong. I put it down to his experience, and having the crowd on his side, but I knew I could do it. Didn’t bother me one bit that no one but my team were on my side.
I’ve been there before. Abandoned. Unwanted. Unloved.
That the audience didn’t believe in me didn’t get in my way because I had this. When nobody believes in you, you have to summon that belief out of thin air, and you have to have faith in yourself.
Faith can move mountains.
But so can wrath.
Chapter Forty
HARPER
* * *
We scream and jump for joy.
That’s all I remember. Everything unfolds like a dream sequence. Nina is crying, and Eli doesn’t look surprised. He looks valiant. It’s the referees, and Garrison’s corner, and the MCs who look dazed.
I remember Gerry is here. Next to me.
“Told you,” I say to him, jubilant.
“What the hell happened?” Gerry’s face is a picture of puzzlement, like that of most of the crowd.
Eli holds the belt, his smile stretches from ear to ear.
The roar of the crowd is deafening. It’s the same roar, and the same crowd who did this for Garrison not so long ago.
The MC shoves the mic at Eli. He looks at us, at Nina and me, then says something about belief, and about being lucky to have such a great team behind him. He says that not many people believed in him but a few people did, and he names us, one by one; Nina, Lou, Santos, and Jake, then Ernesto and me. He names me. My heart is about to overflow with happiness.
Nina takes my hand, and I see the tears running down her face.
When I wipe my hand across my cheek, I see that I have tears, too.
* * *
ELI
* * *
When they hand me the belt, I freeze for one precious moment. And then I raise it above my head and walk around with it.
None of this seems real. Not the belt, or the crowd or the win. I know it is real because I’ve played this moment in my mind thousands of times before and it’s this moment now that has the sound, colors and emotions that are nothing like those that I imagined.
This is real and at the same time it’s surreal, and I go from one end of the ring to the other, as if in a trance.
I seek out Nina and Harper in the crowd, and that grounds me. That’s real. Jake and Santos are by my side, and Lou can’t stop from grinning at me.
The MC puts the mic to me, and I say something, I don’t even know if it makes sense, but it’s spoken from the heart. I want to thank the people who matter.
I name them, make sure I don’t forget anyone. It’s not as if the list of people I have to thank is big.
Chapter Forty-One
HARPER
* * *
Lou manages to get us into Eli’s changing room but there are so many people who are fighting to get their hands on Eli that it takes a while for him to get here where we are all waiting.
Cameras, and reporters are everywhere backstage. It seems that we left the huge roaring noise of the crowd in the arena, for a smaller version of it hovering outside the changing room.
It takes a while before we see Eli. “Best surprise ever!” he yells as Nina rushes to him and they hug.
“Harper forced me,” she tells him. He mouths a silent ‘Thank you’ at me over her head.
I let the
m have their time. She’s hugging him and congratulating him and all around us, Jake and Santos and Lou are trying to keep the reporters out. “Give him some privacy,” Jake yells at them.
There is noise and chatter and the air is filled with electricity. It’s 1:00 a.m., and he must be exhausted; it’s only pure adrenaline that’s keeping him going.
I keep my distance, respecting that this is an important moment for him to share with Nina. But he beckons me over when Nina leaves his side. Of course she suspects something, given the way Eli and I have been staring at each other.
He takes me in his arms and we hold one another. “Hey, champ,” I murmur into his ear and hold him tight. I have no fancy words. I’m just thankful that he didn’t get injured too badly, and that he’s okay. “I knew you would win. I just knew it!”
He holds me tighter and his lips graze my ear. “Seeing you and Nina in the crowd… that was awesome,” he croaks. He sounds tired and he looks beat.
We stare at each other and my gaze goes to the ugly red gash above his eye. I wince and raise my hand towards the wound but I don’t touch it. “Does it hurt much?”
“It looks worse than it is. The doc’s going to take a proper look at it.”
Good. That’s what he needs first and foremost, to be checked out by the doctor. “I look forward to our personal celebration,” I whisper, because now we can think about stuff like that.
“That’s what got me through the fight.”
This makes me smile. “When you get back, I’m all yours.”
He hugs me again, and he’s nuzzling my ear. “I can’t wait that long,” he says. I’m amazed that he has the energy to stand up, let alone think about sex. My fingers trace lightly across his bruised chest.
“Eli,” I murmur. A knot tightens in my throat at the beating he took, and what it took out of him. He won, and Garrison is in a worse shape, but seeing Eli’s bloody eye, and the state of him, I want to wrap him up in cotton balls and keep him close.
I trace a finger gently down his chest. “You’re in no position to exert yourself, not for a good week.”
He winces.
“What is it?” I say, worried as I try to spring away from him, but he won’t let me. His hand is firm against my back, and I couldn’t move away if I tried.
“The usual aches and pains. Nothing that will get in the way, so don’t worry. I can still perform.”
This brings a giggle to my lips. I want to kiss him so bad, but his face is covered in splotches of blood, and sweat. This man needs to rest, and I need to let him.
“Get some sleep,” I tell him.
“Come on, you lovebirds. It’s getting late. The champ needs to rest.” Lou claps his hands together from the other side of the room where he and the boys and Nina have gathered, and are giving us some alone time.
This isn’t as much of a secret as I thought.
Then I remember Gerry.
Oh, shit, Gerry.
Oh, well.
“Stay with me,” Eli says suddenly.
“I’m staying around the corner from you,” I tell him, “with Nina.”
He leans in and gives me a peck on the nose. “Thanks for convincing her to come.”
“I knew how much it would mean to you.”
“You have no idea what it was like to see you both in the crowd. But you lied to me about you.” We’re nuzzling noses now, and I forget about everyone.
“I wanted to surprise you,” I say, touching his cheek.
“I’ll thank you for that later. Stay with me,” he says suddenly. “Get Jake to give you my spare hotel keycard.”
“Tonight?” I’m dubious because I can see that Eli’s in no state to get up to anything tonight.
“You help me to sleep.”
In that case, how can I refuse? Of course I’ll stay with him. I would do anything for this man. I nod. “Okay.”
I’ll explain to Nina, not that I’ll need to explain anything judging by the way she’s grinning at me as we make our way out.
* * *
ELI
* * *
It becomes too much. The onslaught of people around me. They all want a piece of me.
Tommy Cairns is so hyper, I reckon he's taken something illegal and is still on a high.
“That's the biggest fucking upset in boxing history for three decades, Elias.” He says this every four sentences.
I count, because he's spouting a lot of shit right now, and Lou's trying to tell him that I need to get some sleep.
I've just gone nine rounds with The Tank, and I outplayed him.
The TV stations are going mental, Tommy announces, euphoria lighting his face.
“He needs to sleep, Tommy,” Lou tells him. My body is starting to feel heavy, but my eyes are wide open. It's not blood rushing through my veins, but adrenaline shot through with dynamite.
I could stay up all night, but Lou wants me to get some rest.
Finally, I get back to my room around 4:00 a.m. Harper's in my bed.
She is completely zonked out.
I manage to shower, then climb into bed.
“You're back,” she whispers, and snuggles her arms around me as if we do this every single night.
I hug her close and hold her.
A phone call the next morning wakes us both up. I reach for the phone on the bedside table, then drop the damn thing, then curse as I bend down from the bed to retrieve it.
It's Lou. He's asking me to come downstairs for a press interview.
Meanwhile, Harper is raining kisses down my back. The commotion must have woken her up.
“Now?”
“It's eleven o'clock,” he replies.
For fuck's sake. I was in the ring not so many hours ago. Why can't they understand and let me sleep in?
“Can we make it later?”
“There's a room full of reporters,” he tells me. “You can't keep them waiting. I'm sending security up to your door.”
“What?”
Harper hugs me from behind. She must have stripped off her PJ top because I can feel her naked breasts against my back.
And her hand on my cock.
Oh, sweet, sweet mercies.
It was easier to knock Garrison out than it is to stop her.
“I gotta shower and go,” I tell her.
She strokes me, and I turn bone hard. “Let me take care of this,” she says, sliding her hands inside my boxers.
Shit. Her fingers wrap around my cock and I hiss out a sharp breath. “Harper,” I groan, hating that I have to move her hand away. She's kissing my neck, and nibbling my ear. “Lou wants me downstairs. The press is waiting.”
“Oh. We could get this over with now,” she offers. “Quickly.”
It’s tempting. Extremely tempting, but I don't want to rush things. “It stinks. I’m sorry.” I get up, and walk away.
Only then, when there is distance between us, do I make myself turn and stare at her. She’s lying on the bed, completely naked. I bite my lip because this is hard to do—to look and not touch.
“Oh, boy,” I say, averting my eyes, and raking my hand through my hair. I hear my breath laboring and my mind ping-ponging as I decide what to do next. I tell myself that when I claim her, I want it to be for hours.
“Stay there,” I say. “I've got a press conference, and I'll be back.”
“I fly back tonight. I'm catching the four o'clock flight with your sister.”
“Don’t go. Please don’t go.”
She sits up, her breasts jiggling as she does. My mouth waters. I harden some more.
This is agony, standing here, staring at her.
“I can’t send Nina back alone, just her and Gerry.”
“Yes, you can.” I don’t trust that dude, but my sister can more than take care of herself.
My eyes take in Harper’s body slowly. Not being able to walk over and have my way with her is beginning to take its toll. “I need you,” I tell her.
“I'll see what I can d
o.” She covers herself with the satin sheet. “You should go shower, Eli. Don't keep the press waiting. This is your chance to shine.”
“I can think of something else I’d rather be doing.”
“Post-fight prize,” she reminds me, then lies back on the bed. She’s killing me. “Maybe when you come back, you can give me an interview,” she asks, “Just some thoughts about the fight, you know, an exclusive just for me, from the new heavyweight champion.”
“I'll give you more than that,” I promise, and she rewards me with the brightest smile.
A few hours later, because it wasn't just one press conference and I had interviews to do for several newspapers, I'm ready to leave the hotel conference room and have some alone time with Harper. But to my dismay, I find her and Nina waiting for me outside.
I frown at Harper and give her a what-the-heck-are-you-doing-here stare.
“Nina’s hungry,” she explains. “I'm staying another night, but it would be nice if we all had something to eat together.”
I try hard to ignore the pointed look Nina’s giving me because my sister can see right through me. She's like the all-seeing, all-knowing oracle and it’s freaky how much she can sense. Not the dark stuff, but other things.
“Let's go eat, then.”
The hotel has given us a small private room, and it's just us—my family, my team. Lou has been talking business, telling me about the rematch that Garrison is demanding.
“You made history, Eli. You’ve caused the biggest upset in boxing history. Nobody believed that this was even possible, and you made it happen.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Cairns,” I tell him. “Please don’t.”
“Okay, kid. Calm down. We’ll be home in a few days.”
I get it. I know, but I want some distance from everyone now. Everyone keeps telling me I’m amazing and what I did was unthinkable, and they don’t stop. I don’t want to hear it. I know what I had to do, and I did it. Now I want to take some time off. I’m tired. The fight for me didn’t just take up one night, it took months of rigorous training and dedication. I need to unwind now.