Then comes the sweating portion of it. I can’t speak for Xander, but coming from my own experience, it’s hell on earth. You’re body aches. You feel defeated like you simply can’t go on and you wonder what’s the point, but you somehow get through it.
We showed up at the weigh-in yesterday and the second Xander stood on those scales, I nearly died. It was a close call but he did it just like I knew he would. We walked out of there feeling ready, but the hard part wasn’t over. Xander still had to focus on his diet to regain his energy from the massive weight cut.
“How are you feeling?” I ask him as we walk into the backstage area.
He nods his head and grunts as he dumps his bag down on a bench, Xander’s way of telling me he feels good.
“Ready?” I ask.
Again, he nods his head. “Fuck yeah,” he says, always pumping himself up.
“Alright,” I say as I grab the pads out of the bag and place them down on the bench. I indicate for him to sit and find the tape. I get started on prepping him for his warm up and soon enough, he’s pounding into the pads and getting the blood pumping.
The whole team is here, his manager, his physiotherapist, the photographer, and even the marketing team. Of course, Luke and Jace are here too, but they're giving him his space right now. They’ll be sitting out by the ring, in the front row, right where Xander should be able to hear whatever advice they want to yell during the match. Though these things get pretty damn loud, I doubt Xander will be able to hear them in the ring.
I’ve got Caden with me as he’ll be acting as Xander’s cornerman during the fight and taking care of his every need.
Xander has really hit the big time after his wins last year. He didn’t have a manager and I would book all his fights for him, but we both agreed it would be better if I could spend more time training him rather than stuck in my office on the phone.
As time begins to run out, the atmosphere in the room becomes filled with Xander’s nervous energy. “Knock it off,” I tell him as he paces the room. “You’ve got this.”
He looks up at me with a cringe. “I know, I just need to call Charli and then I’ll be fine,” he insists.
I roll my eyes. This kid is so engrossed in his little love bubble with his woman, it’s nauseating. “Get on with it then,” I say and I dig into my pocket and pull out his phone. I toss it across the room and he snatches it out of the air before jumping on the chance to make his call.
Ten minutes later, he’s good to go. We do another quick round on the pads and by the time we’re finished, he’s practically bouncing with excitement. “Come on,” he grunts impatiently as he shadow boxes. “I want to get out there.”
“I know, kid. They’ll be calling you any second.”
Almost like clockwork. The announcement is made followed by the deafening sound of the crowd cheering for him. He walks out of the room and down a hallway that leads to the main arena. The press is everywhere and were basically blinded by their flashing.
We come out into the main arena and I look around. I remember when this was me. It feels like yesterday. I’ll never forget the thrill of walking out into a full house with every last person screaming your name. It’s incredible.
Now it’s Xander’s turn and by the look on his face, he’s practically getting off on the attention. I grin as he walks towards the ring, putting on a show for all his adoring fans.
He’ll be doing five rounds of five-minute bouts as he defends his title. It will be exhausting and hard. Hell, he’ll probably even come out with a few injuries, but I know he’ll pull through. He always does.
He was involved in an illegal underground fighting ring a few years back and was fighting at least once a week. It wasn’t to this level, but that dedication proved to me that he could do anything he set his mind to.
After being checked by security, Xander enters the ring with the support of the crowd. He circles around while putting on a show for his fans. His eyes meet Charli’s and he gives her a grin that makes her underwear melt right off. He finishes his circle with his eyes coming back to mine.
I give him a nod with a million messages passing between us and he understands each and every one of them. It would be pointless now to remind him of the little things like footwork and technique as I’ve drilled it into him over the past few years. He knows what I expect out of him and I know he’ll deliver.
Xander’s opponent makes himself known, and a few short minutes later, the first round gets started.
Both fighters are equally matched and there’s no doubt this fight is going to be intense. With Caden by my side, I get as close as I can to the ring while I yell out every little bit of advice for Xander.
His opponent gets a good hit to the jaw that Xander follows up with a beautiful combination. Xander has the upper hand during this round, but shit like that can change in the blink of an eye.
The bell rings on the first round with Xander in the lead. The referee has to go in and physically pull them apart, but the second they're separated, they go their separate ways. That was the longest and yet the quickest five minutes of my life. One down, four to go.
Caden and I jump into action. We only have a minute to get this done, so Caden moves fast as he cleans the blood off his face and gets him some water.
I go through a list of things that I’ve picked up from the other fighter and before I know it, Xander’s back in the ring for round two. It’s another hard round which is won by Xander getting the guy into a submission choke hold just at the bell rings, saving him from tapping out or going unconscious.
“Fuck yeah,” I cheer as I rush into Xander’s side. “How are you feeling?” I ask as Caden thrusts a bottle of water in his face. He takes it greedily and squirts it into his mouth before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He doesn’t respond, just keeps his eyes trained on his opponent as he works on catching his breath. “You’re doing good, kid. He’s favoring his left side. You hurt him during that round. Use that to your advantage. His grappling isn’t as strong as yours.”
“Yep,” he nods as Caden takes the bottle back and wipes his face down with a towel before pressing gauze to a cut on his face. He takes slow deep breaths through his nose and out his mouth.
He’s in the zone.
His name is screamed from the side and we glance over to Charli who screams out that she loves him. It’s fucking comical how his energy returns when he hears her voice. It’s like leveling up in a fucking video game.
Xander’s back under control before his minute is up and he takes the spare time to focus in on Luke and Jace who throw their two cents his way, though they don’t say anything I haven’t already touched on.
Round three starts and his opponent is now angry. Tapping out is for pussies and I dare say he’s embarrassed that it nearly came down to that.
Round three and four pretty much go the same as round one. They make it to the end of the time, but Xander firmly remains in the lead. He’s got this shit in the bag.
Before the start of the final round, Xander’s looking exhausted and I know it’s going to take every last ounce of energy he possesses. His body looks beaten and bruised but the other guy is worse. So far there have been no major injuries which is always great, but this shit can turn nasty in the blink of an eye. I’ve had my fair share of broken bones over the years.
Xander’s going to have to take some time off to recover after this one. A fight like this takes a lot out of a man, but he’s doing an incredible job. Knowing Xander, he’ll be back training for the next fight in no time. If he had his way, he’d be doing at least ten fights a year, but there’s no way in hell I’d let him fight that often. I’ve had to negotiate five a year and even that’s a lot.
He steps back in the ring for his final round and as expected he gives it his absolute all.
His opponent comes at him with absolute desperation, wanting to at least win one of the rounds, but Xander is too strong. His desperation is what’s going to be da
ngerous, though. You never know how someone will fight when their emotions start getting the best of them.
Luckily for Xander, it means his moves are a little sloppy, but they pack a little more power. He kicks Xander in the thigh which sends him back a step. He recovers quickly and responds with a devastating kick of his own before crowding him and grappling.
His opponent rears back to deliver a punch, but his timing is awful and he leaves himself wide open. Xander takes his opportunity just as I know he would and launches forward with such force that even I’m impressed.
His fist nails the guy in the temple and its lights out.
“Fuck yeah,” I yell as the crowd goes absolutely nuts.
“He fucking did it,” Caden cheers from beside me as he jumps into the air and uses my shoulder to propel himself higher.
Caden and I run to the ring and watch as the referee comes into the center and raises Xander's hand, declaring him the winner.
The grin on his face is one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. I mean, the kid is ecstatic and so he should be.
What a great fucking night.
Xander is ushered out of the ring as the press are going crazy with their cameras. They scream questions at us to be heard over the crowd, but we fly past them, knowing there will be a massive press conference after and we can answer it all then.
We duck back into the hallway and then the dressing room where Xander’s legs instantly give out. He collapses onto the ground and rolls onto his back so he can look up at us. “Holy shit,” he grunts as he does his best to catch his breath. “That was fucking epic.”
Caden kneels down to him and passes him the bottle of water. “That fight is going to go down in history,” he tells him as he grabs the towel and hands it over.
We give him a few minutes to cool down. He stays on the ground but eventually is able to push himself up into a sitting position.
“Babe,” a high-pitched squeal is heard from the hallway moments before the door is flung open and Charli comes bursting through with tears of joy in her eyes. She spots him on the ground and instantly comes crashing into him. “You were amazing,” she tells him.
They fall back to the floor with their lips a tangled mess and I have to look away. The poor guy, he would be aching right about now, but there’s not a thing he wouldn’t do for Charli.
After a few minutes, Charli manages to get Xander off the ground and she drags him into the shower to clean up. He comes out a few minutes later, wrapped in a towel and finally allows a medic to check over his injuries and stitch up the cut to his forehead.
We hurry through the after-match bullshit like photo’s and interviews and meet up with the boys and Xander’s best friend outside. It’s really late, but there’s no way tonight is finishing without a party.
The boys are pumped and even though Xander is exhausted, I’m sure he can find it within himself to party for a few hours, after all, he’s the man of the hour.
“Where are we heading?” I ask Xander as we start heading towards our trucks.
Xander looks to Charli as her wish is his command. She shrugs her shoulders. “It’s up to you,” she tells him. “This is your night.”
“Babe,” he groans. “Just name somewhere.”
“Alright,” she says. “The Dark Room.”
Shit. Anywhere but there.
“You got it, babe,” Xander says.
I guess that settles it, but like Charli said; it’s Xander’s night. If that’s where he’s happy to go, then I’ll man up and go.
Chapter 10
Cole
We step into The Dark Room and I can’t help but look around for her. I have no doubt that she’s here and it’s killing me that I can’ point her out right now.
The boy’s laughter draws me back to the fact that I’m supposed to be here celebrating and I make myself a promise that I’ll ignore my traitorous thoughts tonight and focus on our win. Right now, Rylee with no last name does not exist.
We stop by the bar to order some drinks and we suddenly have Jace taking point for us all as the woman behind the bar is the one that keeps coming to his self-defense class. She lights up like the fourth of July and flushes as he places our order.
She expertly goes about the bar and has the order filled in no time. We pay and grab our drinks before looking around for a table. It’s pretty late and the club is packed so there are no seats inside.
Charli tells us that there’s some kind of rooftop terrace so we head up there and we’re not disappointed. This place is awesome. We collapse into this fancy ass outdoor setting that’s right under the heater and get our party started.
Drinks are drunk and the guys are having a great time. We’re all lost in ourselves when I finally see her. Rylee walks out the door and up to the bar in her usual skin-tight black jeans and a black tank that has the words ‘The Dark Room’ stretched across her tits.
She leans across the bar, sticking her perfect ass out in the process as she talks to the guy behind the bar. I want nothing more than to go and press myself up behind her and feel that ass grinding into me, but I resist.
As she talks to the guy, she pulls out a piece of paper and starts writing something down. She’s wrapping things up and a sense of relief comes over me. She’ll be gone in a minute and I can get back to pretending that not being with her isn’t driving me insane.
I find myself holding my breath and I realize I’m acting like a fucking teenage girl. Every damn time I see her I do the same shit. I tell myself over and over again that I’m not going to chase her, yet I end up chasing her anyway.
What’s my fucking problem? She’s just a girl. There are a million available ones around that are constantly throwing themselves at me. Why can’t I just pick one of those? Why do I have to be hell bent on waiting for one that has issues?
She backing up from the bar when a drunk voice yells out beside me. “Rylee,” Charli calls as she shoots to her feet and starts wobbling her way towards the bar. What? How the hell does Charli know Rylee and why am I only just finding out about this now?
Rylee turns and her eyes search out the voice. They land on Charli and her face instantly brightens, making me wish she would look at me like that. I mean, I get some pretty steamy looks from her, but they always come after the initial freak out of seeing me.
Charli makes it over to Rylee and they give each other a quick hug. They’re close enough that I can almost make out their conversation, but it’s a strain to hear. First up is the obvious how are you followed by the what are you doing here then Charli is asking how her night has been which leads into Rylee asking about the fight.
She indicates to our group and Rylee’s eyes follow the gesture. Her green eyes practically pop out of her head as she notices me sitting there watching her. Charli goes on to tell her more details of the fight, but she’s too tanked to realize that Rylee is practically frozen to the spot in shock.
It’s clear the last thing she expected was to see me here, especially after what happened at Micky’s Bar. Though, she surprised me when she showed up at Rebels wearing the hottest little outfit imaginable so I guess it’s only fair that I return the favor.
After that, Rylee wraps up the conversation pretty quickly and practically rushes back inside like her ass is on fire.
Charli orders another round while she’s up and returns a few moments later before flopping into the couch beside me. “How do you know Rylee?” I question as she starts handing out shots to everyone.
I decline the shot as I’m driving, but Luke has no issues taking it from my hand. He throws it back with a grin before slamming the empty glass down on the table. “Hit me again,” he says to Charli as she grins and happily hands another one over.
She giggles as the rest of us roll our eyes. “What were you saying?” she asks as she relaxes back into the couch.
“I was asking how you knew Rylee,” I remind her.
“Oh yeah,” she smiles with a drunken haze in her eyes. “Rylee is a
wesome, isn’t she?” she says, getting off track already.
“Um… yeah. How’d you meet her?”
“She’s one of my clients,” she explains. “She came into the salon a few weeks ago and we’ve been hanging out ever since.”
“Really?” I question.
“Uh huh,” she slurs. “She told me that you and her did the nasty in the supply closet… twice,” she laughs.
Perfect.
“Well… actually,” I say a little smugly, clearly very proud of my achievements. “It was once in the supply closet and once in my truck,” I clarify.
“In your truck?” she shrieks as the boys start laughing around us. “Geez, I knew Rylee was down for anything, but I thought you’d have a little more class.”
“Shut up,” I laugh.
“You know, for what it’s worth,” she slurs as she sips on her cocktail. “I think you should keep trying with her. I haven’t known her long, but she a great person, and she’d be lucky to have you.”
“Come on,” I joke. “Anyone would be lucky to have me.”
“True, but you’d be lucky to have her too,” she muses. “That one really has her head screwed on.”
Shit. Are we talking about the same chick here? Because the woman I was with certainly doesn’t have her head screwed on. She has issues that need to be sorted out and fast. “You’re kidding right?” I grunt.
“No,” she gasps, slightly offended. “Rylee has her shit together. She’s one of the coolest chicks like ever. You know this is hers, right?”
“Huh?”
“The club. It’s hers. She built it from scratch like you guys did with Rebels. Only she was like twenty-one at the time, did it all by herself rather than with three of her friends, and the place is like, a million times bigger than yours. She had to bust a lot of balls to make it happen.”
I gape at her like she’s just grown a second head. We seriously couldn’t be talking about the same chick. “Are you shitting me?” I question. “This is all hers? I thought she just worked here.”
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