Drawn to Fight: Zac & Evie

by Lilliana Anderson

“Or what?” the other said, reaching out to take a hold of me again. One benefit of being trained in Aikido since I was very young meant that my movement has become very instinctual and reactive. So the moment that man grabbed for my arm, I rolled my arm away and stepped to the side, slamming my palm into his shoulder to keep him moving forward while I took a hold of his arm and twisted it behind his back, forcing him to tip forward. He stumbled, and I took the opportunity to sweep his feet from underneath him before landing my knee in his back, which is where I was when I heard Zac.

  “What the fuck?”

  Looking up, I realised that a crowd had gathered around me, and that Sisley and Lucas had dropped the other burly guy beside me. I met Zac’s eyes, not sure how he was going to react about me being here, let alone with me causing a scene.

  “They wouldn’t take no for an answer,” I said, which brings me right here where I’m still knelt on the thug’s back, surrounded by people I’ve never met before and Zac still looking at me in shock and possibly a bit of awe.

  “Sweetheart, that there was some serious fucking ninja shit,” the scrawny guy beside Zac says. He’s wearing a wife beater singlet and a pair of cargo shorts that hang off his hips.

  Sisley pipes up. “It was Aikido, you fucktard.”

  “Sisley!” Lucas hisses.

  “What? He should call it by the right name.” She pulls a little harder on the thug’s arm and he groans in pain.

  “Get off,” he forces out.

  “Are you going to get all grabby with my friend again?” she demands, and he shakes his head.

  “Our boss just wants to talk to her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Hammer was staring at her when he was fighting.”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Hammer is his fighter.”

  My eyes lock with Zac’s and I release the man I’m holding, nodding to Sisley and Lucas to do the same. “Alright, I’ll talk to him.”

  “Don’t Evie. You don’t have to.” Zac says as I stand and wait for the big guy I felled to stand up.

  “Yes, I do. You need me, Zac. And I need someone who’s going to tell me when and where to be. Excuse me,” I say, pushing past him as the crowd parts, and I follow the big guy, struggling to keep my cool but cracking a smile when I hear someone say, “You need to learn some of that shit, Hammer. You’d be fucking unbeatable if you did.”

  Seventeen

  Zac

  Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!

  I run my hands through my hair, over and over again, pushing it back from my face as I pace back and forth in the parking lot. I’m not allowed near Nelson while he’s talking to Evie. I can see them together over at his car, and I hate that I’m not there. Instead I’m here shaking my head and wondering what I’ve managed to get her caught up in. I should never have told her what having her watching me fight meant to me. I should have known that she was the kind of girl to have enough connections to find out the information on her own.

  “You sure she’s not crazy?” Jason says, sitting on the hood of a car as he lights up a cigarette and looks over to where Evie and Nelson are talking.

  “Shut your fucking mouth!” Evie’s friend, Sisley, barks. “You’re the crazy one. Who the hell smokes these days? You’ll fucking die.”

  “We’re all gonna die someday, sweetheart,” Jason retorts.

  “Some sooner than others,” she remarks, arms folded over her chest. “And for your information, she’s not crazy at all. She’s just one of the few people who give a fuck these days. Maybe you should talk to your boy here. He’s the one who went all ‘I need you watching me to fight well’ on her.”

  Jason turns to me, eyebrows raised, almost choking on his cigarette smoke. “Are you mental?”

  “Obviously,” I reply, leaning against the car beside him and accepting the icepack he hands over to press to my face.

  “You’re a dumb cunt sometimes, Zac,” he says, shaking his head at me.

  “I didn’t tell her where the fight was,” I mumble.

  “Then how the fuck did she get here?”

  Lucas steps forward. “The same way everyone else does. Ask around. We’ve spent our life at a fucking martial arts gym. You don’t think we can find out about something like this?”

  Jason shakes his head, blowing a stream of smoke out his nose as he looks over to where Evie is still meeting with Nelson. “This just isn’t the place for naïve kids.”

  “Fuck you, man,” Lucas responds. “You’re what? Two years older than us? And in case you’ve forgotten, we just proved we can take care of ourselves just fine.”

  Jason points over to Nelson. “And look where that got you.”

  “Their interest in her came from the way your boy reacted when he saw her.”

  “Shut up,” I yell, pushing off the car and throwing the ice pack on the ground. “Just shut the fuck up. Stop talking about me like I’m not here. And stop arguing over this. It’s my fault, alright? I’m the one who told her I wanted her here. Whatever happens. However deep this goes. It’s on me.” I’m literally shaking in my skin right now, angry and nervous and so totally out of control that I feel like I might explode. This isn’t what I wanted at all. I stayed away from her to keep her from this world and now she’s come charging in and gotten herself involved anyway. And all for the sake of me. I’m not worth her safety and it makes me feel sick to think of what’s going on over there.

  “Stop, they’re finished,” Sisley says, slapping Lucas on the arm and immediately, the two of them sprint towards Evie who tilts her head toward the car park to indicate she wants to go. Why isn’t she coming to talk to me?

  I move to follow, but once again, Jason claps his hand on my shoulder and nods toward Nelson and his goons who are walking toward us.

  “Nice girl,” Nelson says as he approaches.

  “Can you leave her out of all this? She doesn’t need this in her life,” I beg.

  “Girl can have whatever she wants, kid. She’s like the fucking Black Widow, sexy as hell and moves that are deadly as fuck. I’ve gotta tell you, when I saw the way you reacted to her being at the cage, I was planning to offer to pay her to stick around and fuck you ‘til the end of the circuit.”

  “You fucking what?” I blurt out, causing him to chuckle and slap my shoulder.

  “Relax kid, I had a conversation with her about the way she and her friends took down Hank and Davo, and instead, I got you a new trainer. He’s an only friend of mine who will take you to the next level – no offence, mate.” He directs the last part to Jason as he hands me a piece of folded notepaper.

  “Am I still cutman at least?” Jason asks.

  “Sure, mate. You know what you’re doing so we’ll keep that going.”

  Looking at the paper in my hands, I unfold it and see the address of Fighting Fit.

  “Are you serious?” I ask Nelson, holding the paper between two fingers so the address is displayed.

  “Yeah, kid. Fight her, fuck her, I don’t care. Just be there tomorrow at nine. And be ready to win next weekend. I’m out of pocket here, Zac and I don’t like investments that don’t give me a return. Don’t forget, I know what’s driving you to be here. So if you want to keep those kids out of the system, then I suggest you do whatever the fuck I tell you.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I glare at him and he grins, one of those awful arrogant grins that only scum can seem to produce and he pats his hand on my cheek. Tap tap tap. “There’s the fight,” he says before dropping his hand and stepping away with his goons. “I’ll let you get a ride with Jason this time. See you next week.”

  Eighteen

  Evie

  “So what did he say to you?” Sisley asks as we all walk back to Lucas’ car. There isn’t a hell of a lot of people left as they clear out pretty quickly after the fights, but there are enough to remember who we are and call us the ‘ninja squad’.

  As much as I know Sisley wants to correct them, I just shake my head at her and
she leaves it. I’m really not in the mood to tempt fate and fight again.

  “He wanted to know who I was to Zac and where I train.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said that I was no one to Zac. But he didn’t believe me.”

  “No one would believe that,” Lucas puts in.

  “He’s right. Everyone saw you because of the way he looked at you and then came to life. It was like something from a movie,” Sisley sighs.

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter what everyone thinks because Zac made it very clear that he doesn’t have time for any sort of relationship.”

  “Then why did you want to come?” asks Lucas. “To try and change his mind?”

  Closing my eyes, I swallow the ache that seems to live, centre mass, in my chest. It doesn’t budge. “I just want to be able to see him. I want to be there for when he does have time…I don’t know. I just feel better when he’s around and…” I look up and meet the sad expressions on the faces of my two best friends. They feel sorry for me. Great. I must seem like some love-sick girl who doesn’t know when she isn’t wanted. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Of course it matters,” Sisley says, placing her arm around me. “It’s the way you feel.”

  I shrug and shake my head a little. “Anyway, that guy, Harry Nelson, he’s like some sort of manager. He’s the one who got Zac on the Circuit and he wants me to get dad to train Zac.”

  “Does he know your dad?” Lucas asks.

  “He seems to know of him. The moment I mentioned Aikido, he asked if I knew Damien Rhodes. Then I said he was my dad and somehow I ended up agreeing to get him to train Zac.”

  “Without asking him first?” Lucas asks, his face falling, knowing that my dad won’t be happy about this.

  “I know, OK? I know.”

  “You’re going to have to tell him what’s going on,” Sisley adds. “Otherwise he won’t understand how important this is. I don’t think that manager guy is the kind of guy you cross.”

  “I know,” I repeat, chewing at my nail in nervousness as we reach Lucas’ car and I wait for him to unlock it.

  When he gets to the driver’s side, he looks off into the distance and squints. “Is that Mr Sparks?”

  “What?” I ask in a mumble as I turn to see where Lucas is looking. Under the portable lights, it’s hard to make him out. But it certainly does look a lot like him. He’s walking with another man who’s a little taller than him and they seem to be headed to a car, same as us.

  “Looks like you didn’t kill him after all,” Sisley muses. “He left school to join an illegal fight ring. Nothing suss there.”

  “That is weird,” I say, although I don’t get much more of a chance to ponder his presence because I hear my name being called back in the direction we came from.

  “Yvonne. Evie. Wait up,” Zac calls, jogging over to me, looking every bit the star athlete in his quick dry shorts and fitted t-shirt. As he gets closer, I can see the swelling on his face where he took a few hits and by the time he stops in front of me, I can smell the fight on him as well. Normally, I hate the way guys smell after a fight, but with Zac, well, it just smells like him. My head spins.

  Immediately, his arms wrap around me, holding me tight against his chest like I’m something precious he thought he’d lost. I melt into his chest, breathing him in, my hands sliding up his back and gripping at his shirt, revelling in the feel of him against me. “Why did you come to a place like this, Evie? This is exactly what I’ve been trying to keep you away from.” He pulls back and holds me in front of him, searching my face and checking me over to make sure I’m OK.

  “I’m fine, Zac. I can take care of myself. Besides, I had Sisley and Lucas with me to help out.”

  “Well, what is this?” he asks, holding up the bit of paper I gave Harry Nelson with the address of the gym on it. “You gave him the address of your family’s business? Do you not understand who this guy is?”

  “I didn’t make him any guarantees if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “No. I’m worried about you. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you and it’s my fault.”

  “My life. My choices,” I argue.

  “No. Not when your choices affect others. What about your family, Evie? What about me? I don’t want you hurt. Don’t you understand that?” He grips his head as if a pain has hit him behind the eyes. “Why would you want this? What were you thinking?”

  He looks into my eyes, a demand in his as if I’ve disobeyed some sort of direct order. It causes me to react defensively.

  “I came here because the most confusing guy in the world told me he wanted me here. I came because I knew he needed me. Call me crazy. Call me whatever you want but you can’t deny what happens when we’re around each other.” I pause, watching his features as his eyes shine and his jaw clenches as if he’s fighting with himself on the inside. “And I went with those thugs because I want to help you. It might be stupid at this point, but I care about you, Zac. Whether you want me to or not, I care. And you obviously care about me or you wouldn’t have…” I stop talking, tired of trying to justify what is beginning to seem crazy even to me. “You know what? I don’t know what it is about you, Zac Rivers, but I just feel as though I need to be near you, and I know without a doubt that you feel the same way. I get that something is going on in your life and all we have is a moment here and a moment there. But I don’t care. If that’s all I can have, then I’ll take it, OK?”

  “I’m not worth it, Evie,” he whispers, his face contorted with pain as he looks at me beseechingly.

  “Yes. You are,” I return, my eyes locked with his, never wavering, showing him how serious I am.

  “Oh fuck,” he groans, grabbing a hold of my face and pulling me to him, his mouth hitting mine with a demand that speaks to me of his need, which I answer with my own. Our souls pour into that kiss, accepting each other as we are and vowing to do whatever it takes to make this work. “Why is this happening now? Why couldn’t this have happened years ago when things weren’t so bloody complicated?” he murmurs as he moves away from me, both of us shaking with the intensity of what just passed between us.

  I wrap my hands around his wrists and look up into his eyes. “Because you didn’t need me then.”

  He kisses me once more, a lingering press of the lips that speaks of desire and longing. “I have to go,” he says. “I’ll see you at the gym in the morning?”

  Looking around, I see that Sisley and Lucas have gotten into the car to give Zac and me some privacy to talk whilst Jason is pretending not to watch us.

  “I’ll be there,” I promise, taking one last kiss before I let go of him and slide into the back seat of Lucas’ car.

  Immediately, Lucas starts it and drives off, leaving Zac behind with his stepbrother, Jason.

  “Well, that all escalated quickly,” Sisley says when we hit the highway. We’d been driving in silence for a while. I think we all needed a bit of time to digest the night’s events before we could talk about them.

  “It’s actually pretty fucked up, Evie. I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I thought this was alright,” Lucas says, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he keeps his eyes on the road.

  “I know it’s not alright, Lucas. But what else am I supposed to do? How else am I supposed to be with him?”

  “Why do you have to be with him at all? I mean, just at the gym, I can give you the names of ten guys who are into you. You don’t need to settle for this.”

  “She can’t help how she feels, Lucas,” Sisley says from beside him, glancing back at me and giving me a wry smile.

  Pressing my lips together to return the gesture, I glance out the window and watch the lights of the cars driving in the opposite direction, wiping at my face when a single tear slides down my cheek, hating that I feel like this over a boy I’ve only kissed a few times but feeling powerless to stop it. Lucas is right. What I’m getting involved in is not OK. But I need to b
e near Zac, and as far as I can tell, this is the only way.

  Nineteen

  Evie

  “Yvonne?” Dad asks as I walk through the front hallway at a little past 3am. He’s obviously been asleep because his hair is standing up, and he’s only wearing a pair of black boxers, which he never walks around the house in. “Has something happened? I thought you were staying at Sisley’s.”

  “You might want to sit down, Dad. I think you’re going to be really pissed off with me.”

  “What’s going on?” my mum asks, peering over dad’s shoulder as she ties her silk robe about her waist.

  “Our daughter is about to piss us off,” Dad says, tilting his head towards the kitchen where we all go and, instead of sitting, we just stand around the island bench top.

  “Ok,” I say, taking a deep breath. “Before you get angry, please hear me out. You know how I’ve always been on your back about adding MMA to the gym? Well, I may have gotten myself in a position where I’ve kind of promised that you’ll be someone’s trainer,” I blurt out, biting my lip as I wait for some sort of reaction. I look at my father as he leans on the bench, his jaw ticking as he glares at me, waiting for a further explanation.

  “I…I went out to Londonderry to watch the fights, and that led to me finding out about the Rumble Circuit and, well, I went to watch someone I know who was fighting, and then I got in a bit of trouble and took out a security guard, which led to one of the managers questioning me about my training and pushing until I agreed to ask you to train his fighter. Who is my friend, by the way.”

  He continues looking at me. It’s that look he’s always given us when we’re in trouble, one that makes you feel like he knows every piece of information already so you may as well just admit what you did because he doesn’t abide by liars. So you blurt out every single detail like you’re at a church confessional and await your deliberation.

  I hold my breath. “Is that all?” he asks finally.

  “The first training session is tomorrow at 9am.”

  He closes his eyes, trying to be calm but I can see the muscles in his arms ticking as his body tenses up. He takes a breath. “Can you leave the room? I need to discuss this with your mother.”