Page 43 of Fearless
I looked at her. “They can’t let him fight that drunk, can they? He can barely stand up!”
She shrugged and met my gaze with a sad shake of her head. “Nothing in the rules says you can’t fight when shitfaced.”
“He’s gonna bleed all over the street with one hit.”
“Then it’s a good thing you’re here.” She gave me a playful nudge with her foot. “You’re sweet on him too, aren’t you? Why do you look so mortified about tending to him?”
I didn’t want to get into the fact that he’d been ignoring me for days, nor did I want to admit how much his silent treatment hurt me. And why the hell did he get so drunk? His crystal blue eyes looked out over everyone, glazed and unfocused. They paused on me for several long seconds. Only a commotion from another part of the crowd pulled his attention away. Big G had emerged.
The size difference between them was staggering. Big G was, well,big. His cut and shirt came away to reveal a broad barrel chest and belly that started to hang over his pants. The guy clearly liked to eat and drink, but he was broad and looked strong. What made things worse for Gunner was that he also looked stone-cold sober.
Tall and lean, with long arms and slender muscles, Gunner would have owned this fight if he could keep control of his body. But he swayed unsteadily like a tree branch, while Big G was as solid as a rock. He would have to get lucky to land anything, while all his opponent had to do was flatten him.
“Jesus, Gunner. What are you doing?” I whispered.
“On what grounds do you challenge me, captain?” Big G asked with a casual cross of his tree trunk arms. He thought he had this in the bag. I prayed he stayed cocky like that and that it would cost him.
“On the grounds of you being a punk-ass bitch.” Laughter and applause rose up from the crowd, but Gunner’s face showed how seriously he took this. “You tried to pin me as a traitor to this club. But you can’t even stay loyal to your own fucking wife.”
A low murmur of, “Ohhhh” rose up from the crowd, making Gunner wheel around unsteadily to address them.
“Fuck all of you!” he yelled. “Most of you can’t stay loyal to your women either! You pass them around and it’s fucking shameful!”
Oh no…My heart dropped like a stone into my stomach. Jandro and Reaper exchanged wary glances but said nothing.Please stop this fight, I pleaded, but knew they wouldn’t.
A cold, wet nose nudging my hand brought my attention down. Hades whined and licked my palm, deciding I was the one who needed comfort now. Stroking his ears and head with a shaky smile, I looked back up at the fight circle.
Big G didn’t deny any of Gunner’s claims. His smug, arm-crossed posture remained the same as he watched the captain of the guard sway on his feet. Finally, he held his hands out, beckoning Gunner toward him.
“Let’s go then, captain.” He sounded like he was mocking Gunner and I hated him for it.
Gunner brought his fists up in a defensive position, widening his feet. Despite his drunken unsteadiness, he was still light and agile, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a boxer moving in toward his opponent. A part of me hoped he was just faking being drunk to bring Big G’s guard down, though that didn’t seem likely. He wouldn’t resort to being dirty and deceptive like that.
Big G held his fists up near his face, eyes locked on Gunner moving in. The crowd went completely silent, only the fighters’ breathing and Gunner’s shoes made any noise. They seemed to circle and watch each other for a full minute before the first strike landed.
Gunner aimed low, sinking a rapid pummeling of fists into Big G’s gut. But the big guy barely moved. Because Gunner was so tall, hitting that low put his face in dangerously close proximity to Big G’s fists, who took full advantage of his position.
I saw it in slow motion—large, hairy knuckles crashing against an angelic face. It only took one hit for Gunner’s head to snap to the side, his hair flying out from the momentum before the rest of his body spun to follow his head.
“Ohhhh!” the crowd shouted like a single organism when Gunner fell to the ground.
My eyes went to Jandro and Reaper again, pleading for them to stop this now, but they remained motionless. Neither of them cheered with the crowd. They just watched, tight-lipped.
Gunner climbed shakily to his feet. Blood coated one side of his face, dripping down his neck and torso in long, dark lines. His abs flexed with effort as he drew in ragged breaths. I couldn’t believe I found anything sexy about him bloodied, hurt, and intoxicated, but a small, primal part of me did.
Big G at least had the decency to wait until he stood up before coming at him again. He wasn’t fast, but unfortunately slow was still faster than Gunner. His meaty fist swung into Gunner’s gut so hard, it almost lifted him off his feet. I covered my mouth to hold back my scream as the beautiful, bloodied man doubled over with a breathless groan of pain, then received another blow to the face that sent a spray of blood through the air like a morbid fountain. He went down again, and this time I knew he wouldn’t stand up.
“Enough!”
At least twenty pairs of eyes were now on me. I didn’t realize I yelled or jumped to my feet, but instinct took over as I ran to the center of the circle. Big G stood over his crumpled form like he might kick him, so I made sure to cover his body with mine.
“Gunner? Gunner, can you hear me?”
“Mawwh…”
“Don’t talk, I’m just making sure you’re awake. I’m going to turn you over now. Can you hold your head up for me?”
“I dun…”
