by L. P. Dover
Blood dripped from their faces, coating the mat in tiny droplets of red and I prayed that it would be over soon. Five minutes of it was like an eternity. Mason was great at both strikes and kicks, but watching him on his ground game was absolutely fascinating. It was almost like he was a spider, able to wrap his arms and legs around his prey, trapping them. He took Matt down to the mat just like I’d seen him do with Tyler during practice. If he could just get his arm in the right position he would have Matt where he wanted him.
“Come on, Mason, you can do this!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. There was one minute left and he had to move fast. His eyes caught mine for one quick second before he struck.
Lying on his back, Mason grabbed Matt’s forearm and pulled him closer, trapping his arm between his legs. Once he had him in his hold, I could see the strain on Matt’s face as Mason held his elbow perfectly straight and started applying pressure to his wrist by pulling it up. The arm bar technique was one of Mason’s favorite moves, except if he put too much pressure on Matt’s arm it could cause some major damage. He didn’t want to do that because I could tell he was going slowly at it.
He had twenty more seconds to get Matt to tap out. More pressure was applied … nothing. Matt was being a stubborn bastard, definitely testing his limits, but he didn’t become a Heavyweight champion by giving in. With the veins bulging on his blood red face, Matt’s expression contorted into one of extreme pain.
Ten seconds left and Mason upped the game by applying even more pressure. When the clock hit three seconds, Matt growled in agony and did the one thing I wasn’t expecting to see … he tapped out with only one second left of the fight.
The bell rang … the crowd roared. Tyler and Stephen both were grinning from ear to ear when I ran up to them, screaming excitedly as Tyler scooped me up and swung me around. “Can you believe this shit?” he asked incredulously. “He was fucking amazing out there!”
Mason helped Matt up off the mat and what surprised me most was that even though they just got through beating the shit out of each other, they both had smiles on their faces and slapped each other on the back in one of those typical guy hugs. After waving to everyone, he jumped out of the cage and lifted me in his arms. His skin was hot and sweaty with blood dripping down his face, but I didn’t care. He was mine.
“I did it!” he shouted.
The sound of his laugh as he swung me around brought tears to my eyes. I had never heard him sound like that, nor had I ever seen the light in his eyes like I did in that moment. Once he set me down, I gently kissed his lips and gazed into his sparkling green eyes. “Yes, you did and you were amazing. I had faith that you could do it,” I murmured, a tear escaping the corner of my eye.
Glowing, Mason clutched my face and leaned down so he could whisper across my lips, “And that faith and determination of yours is what helped me win, Claire. Without you I would be nothing.”
Smiling through my tears, I laid my head down on his chest and sighed. “I feel the exact same way about you, Mason.”
The fight was over and I won. I couldn’t fucking believe it. For a moment, I thought, Maybe I can do this … maybe I can pursue a dream I thought was lost so long ago. It was all in my grasp if I wanted to take it, but the question was, did I want to? Erick never approached me nor did I see him in the crowd during the fight. I had no idea if our deal was still open or if he decided I wasn’t good enough. In a way, I didn’t care because I knew I was good enough.
Jake had invited Matt and his people along with ours to a private room for drinks. With Claire by my side, I walked on air for the rest of the night. She watched on in amusement as Matt and I bantered back and forth, both claiming we kicked the other’s ass. He reminded me so much of Austin and how we would do the same thing.
Matt clapped me on the shoulder and extended his hand. “Well, Mason, I can’t exactly say it was fun getting my ass kicked in the fourth round, but it was definitely a fight I’ll never forget. Maybe next time we should settle on the draw,” he joked.
Guffawing, I shook his hand and responded, “I doubt there will be a next time. However, I am honored that you wanted to fight me.”
Matt scoffed, furrowing his brows. “What? Why wouldn’t there be a next time? After tonight people will be lining up at your doorstep to represent you. What’s holding you back?”
My eyes wandered over to Claire who was smiling and laughing at Tyler. Would she honestly like this life? Following me around from fight to fight just to watch me get beaten and bruised for a title. It wasn’t just my life I had to consider … it was hers. She was my life.
Chuckling, Matt glanced from Claire then back to me, a knowing smirk on his face. “Ah, I see. I think I get it now. If I had someone like that beauty of yours I’d probably want a different life too. Anyway, if you change your mind and you’re ever out in California give me a call.” He pulled out his wallet and handed me one of his cards.
When I glanced down at it, I couldn’t believe the coincidence staring at me in the face. “Actually, I’m moving out to California in a couple of weeks,” I told him. The card said he was in Santa Rosa which was only a short distance away from Claire’s home.
“Really? Where are you moving to?” he asked.
“Claire’s vineyards are out in Sonoma. I also have family out there as well. I guess being alone in North Carolina kind of lost its appeal.”
“Dude,” Matt scoffed, thumping the card in my hand, “then you have every reason to hit me up. I’m right down the road from you basically. If you don’t, I’m going to hunt you down and kick your ass.” He clapped me on the shoulder and looked down at the time on his watch. “Speaking of California, I leave tomorrow morning to go back. Take care of yourself, Mason, and stay out of trouble. Sometimes I hate coming out this way. It seems like there’s always trouble around every corner.”
“Yeah, I know,” I remarked in all seriousness. I was the one who always went after it.
Matt said his good-byes to everyone and even said something to Claire that made her smile and shake her head. Once he left, I joined her, Tyler, and Jake.
“What did Matt say to you?” I asked, sidling up to Claire.
She chuckled and wrapped her arm around my waist. “He told me to wear you down and get you to join the UFC again when you move out to California. He also asked if he could have permission to kick your ass if you don’t.”
“And what did you say?”
Poking me in the side, she smirked up at me and said, “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?”
Knowing her, she probably gave him the address and told him to come just to mess with me. With Claire, there was no telling what she would do. It was one of the things I loved about her. She was spontaneous, which was something I had never been. I needed spontaneity in my life.
“Mason, I want you to have this,” Jake insisted, holding out a thick, hefty envelope. Taking it from him, I lifted a brow and asked, “What is it?”
Smiling mischievously, he winked at Claire and pointed to the envelope. “Just open it and stop asking questions. I figured since Claire’s leaving tomorrow this might be the last night I see you. I’ll send the other half when I get everything sorted out.”
Other half of what? I wondered. Sliding my finger under the seal, I pulled it open and almost lost my shit when I saw what was inside. I didn’t even have to count it to know there was at least twenty grand in there.
“What’s all of this?” I asked incredulously.
“It’s your down payment for the night. I wanted it to be a surprise,” Jake beamed. “I’ll have to send you the other amount when I get all of the funds situated from the pay per view. It’ll be about a week from now.”
“I can’t accept all of this. It’s too much.” I tried to hand him back the envelope, but he wouldn’t take it.
Claire gently pushed it back toward me and said, “You deserve it for everything you went through tonight. You earned it, Mason. Just take it.”
/>
The glare she gave me was all it took. I would have another fight on my hands if I didn’t take it. I hadn’t held that much money in my hands in a long time, not since I fought before. Yeah, I was bad with money then, but over the years I became responsible enough with taking care of my mother to where I knew I couldn’t blow money on stupid shit anymore. In my hands, I held half a year’s salary for me.
Sighing, I nodded at Jake and said, “Thank you, Jake. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. Just make sure you two don’t stay strangers, okay? Maybe next time you come down to visit you could stay with me instead of at a hotel. I have a cook that can make food better than any of the five star restaurants around here.”
“We will definitely keep that in mind,” I replied.
Jake said his good-bye to Claire, hugging her tight, and I gave them their space so she could say her farewell to him. It was getting late and I knew she needed to get back to the hotel to pack for her flight tomorrow morning. Stephen came up behind me, patting me on the back with a firm hand. “I want to thank you for letting me coach you, son. You made me proud up there. One of these days I hope to see Tyler make it to the big time.”
“He will,” I insisted confidently. “Just have faith in him like you did with me. I also want to thank you for helping me. Your guidance helped me out a lot.”
Stephen nodded and walked away, leaving me with Tyler who put his arm around my shoulder. “You know you wouldn’t have won tonight without me, right? I was, indeed, the person you sparred with over the past week, not to mention who made you better, and probably suffered a concussion in the process.”
Coming into this mission and meeting Tyler that first night in the club, I never expected him to be as down to earth and genuine as he was. I thought he would be a complete douche bag just like all the other club bouncers I’d met in my time, but he took me by surprise.
“I’m sure you’ll live,” I teased, slapping him on the arm. “Anyway, good luck with the fighting. I wish you all the best.”
He winked slyly. “Thank you, I’m going to need the luck. Although, I do have a strange feeling I’ll be seeing you on TV soon. Maybe we’ll get to see another encore of you and Matt, only this time fighting for the championship.”
Yeah, in my dreams.
I couldn’t even think about that at the moment. The only thing going through my mind was trying to find another plan of action. What was I going to do about finding Erick and getting where I needed to be?
When we got back to the hotel, I took a shower, bandaged up my wounds, and took a bunch of Ibuprofen. The adrenaline coursing through my veins dulled the pain of my swollen cheek and the nasty gash above my left eye, but come morning it would throb like hell along with the rest of my body. Sitting on the bed, I watched Claire move back and forth from the wardrobe as she packed up her things. I didn’t want to see her go, and now that Erick never found me after the fight, I had a strange feeling I was going to be here a lot longer than I expected.
“What are you going to do when I leave?” Claire asked as she folded up her clothes.
The whole car ride back to the hotel she was bouncing on air, excited that I’d won, and wouldn’t stop talking about the fight. However, once we got in the room and I recommended she pack her things before morning, everything changed. I knew she didn’t want to leave, but I needed her to go.
Sighing, I scooted across the bed and put a hand over hers; stopping her from refolding the same shirt she’d been trying to fold for the past five minutes.
“Claire, stop,” I demanded gently.
She dropped the shirt and turned a tear-streaked face my way. Oh hell, why did she have to cry? She hardly ever cries. Taking her hand, I pulled her down beside me and held her in my arms, breathing in the raspberry scent of her skin. For so long I never thought I’d touch her silky, golden skin or make love to her again, and now I had to let it go when I’d just gotten it all back.
With her back to me, I couldn’t see her face, but I could hear the soft sound of her cries as she tried to hide it. “I know you want me to tell you to stay, but I can’t,” I murmured sadly. “I’m only looking out for you, baby.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I’m just worried about you. With me not being here with you I won’t know if you’re okay or not. The agony of not knowing what’s happening to you will be torture.”
Holding her tighter, I kissed the back of her neck to comfort her. “I’m going to be fine, Claire. You have to trust me.”
As soon as I said that, my phone on the desk buzzed with an incoming text. “Who do you think that is?” Claire asked suspiciously. “You never get texts this late.”
Sliding off the bed, I walked over to the desk and picked up my phone; the name on the screen read ‘unknown.’ Claire stared at me curiously as I read the text.
Unknown: Meet me in the lobby downstairs ~E
Knowing I couldn’t tell her who it was, I chuckled and pretended it was a wrong number. “I think they have the wrong number. This person asked if I wanted to order a pizza and chicken wings.”
Claire smiled and licked her lips. “Mmm … actually, that does sound pretty good about now. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a good pizza.”
Quickly, I texted the number back.
Me: I’ll be there in 5.
Deleting the messages, I ambled back over to Claire who started folding the same shirt again. “Do you want me to go get us one from downstairs?” I insisted, tilting up her chin with my finger so she’d look at me.
She shook her head and grinned. “No, it’s kind of late for all of that. However, you know what would be good? They used to be my favorite dessert when I was here before.”
If it required me to go downstairs then I’d get her anything she wanted. “What do you want, baby?” I asked.
“Do you remember walking by the café downstairs and seeing all of those pastries? Well, let me tell you, the chocolate ones are absolutely amazing. If I didn’t want to watch my weight I could’ve eaten about a dozen of them in a day.”
Why women cared so much about being super skinny was beyond me. I personally loved it when a girl had more than a handful to grab onto. I’d seen pictures of Claire when she was doing the whole ballet thing and I had to say she was much hotter now with the curves. If she wanted to eat pastries every day I would still love her no matter what.
Tilting my head, I kissed her on the lips and reached around her back to grab her ass, making her squeal. “You stay here and finish packing and I’ll go get some of those pastries. I might have to try one myself. Maybe I’ll get you a dozen of them so it’ll make your ass a little bit bigger,” I teased.
Playfully, she scoffed and hit me on the arm. “Hey, what is it with guys and big butts?”
Chuckling, I grabbed my wallet off the nightstand and headed for the door. Before turning the knob, I winked back at her and replied, “It’s nice having something to grab on to when you’re riding my cock, and not to mention, it makes walking behind you a lot more enjoyable.”
Exasperated, Claire rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Fine, get me two of them then. I’ll eat them both for you.”
With the biggest grin on my face, I nodded and opened the door. “You got it. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as the door shut, the grin vanished and I headed for the elevator. It was time to find out my next move.
As soon as I got off the elevator I saw him. Dressed in an expensive gray suit and a watch that had to cost more than my truck, he sat there in sheer confidence or most likely it was arrogance. Smug bastard.
When he spotted me walking toward him, he got to his feet and grinned. “Well, well, look at you. How does it feel to know you beat a Heavyweight champion?”
“It feels pretty damn good other than the pain I know I’m going to feel in the morning,” I replied. “Were you there? I didn’t see you.”
He motioned toward the seat opposite him. “Of course, I was there.
You left with the others before I had a chance to get to you. Please, have a seat,” he offered politely. “Does Claire know you’re down here?”
I sat down and said, “Yes, she knows I’m down here, but she doesn’t know I’m with you. Which means I don’t have too long before she starts getting curious.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?” he asked, gazing curiously at me.
Nonchalantly, I shrugged and lounged back in the chair, playing it coolly. “There are some things I want her knowing and some I don’t. I didn’t think this was one of those things I’d want her involved in.”
“Good call,” Erick agreed. “So I’m assuming you’re still interested in what I have to offer?”
“You’re damn right I am. Just tell me what to do.”
Erick leaned forward in his chair and lowered his voice. “I’m going to warn you this isn’t for the faint of heart. From what I’ve seen of your fights in the past and of your reputation I don’t think that’s the issue here.”
“What’s the issue then?” I remarked impatiently. I wish he would get to the fucking point already.
“My issue is this,” Erick began, “I need to know how far you would go to win. How far would you go to earn say … five million dollars?”
“Five million dollars?” I exclaimed, eyes going wide. Leaning forward in my chair, I glanced around the room quickly and lowered my voice. “You’re shitting me, right?”
That was a lot of money just for a fight.
“No, I’m not shitting you, Mason. So again, the question is … how far would you go to earn it? Would you steal for it?”
Now we were getting somewhere. “Yes,” I answered, settling back in the chair.
Erick moved closer. “Would you lie for it?”
“Yes.”
“Would you break your opponent’s arm for it?”
I smiled. “Gladly.”
“What if the price upped to ten million? What would you do then? If you knew you could get away with murder, would you kill for it? Let’s say, take for instance, Chase Benfield. After he basically attacked Claire and was about to do who knew what with her, would you have had the guts to follow through?”