Page 78 of Nights at Seaside
“You know him?” Of course she knew him. Hunter looked like he’d been caught with his pants down, and Sky imagined that wasn’t far from the truth.
“Let’s just say we’ve met.” She smirked at Hunter.
“Should I worry?” Sky asked.
“Nah. Too much tequila a long time ago,” Jana said.
Hunter mouthed,Sorry, and Jana turned away.
Brock walked in front of the ring and held his hands up to get everyone’s attention. “Sawyer, Crane, you guys ready?”
Sawyer and his opponent, Crane, both nodded and went to opposite corners of the ring.
Sky’s heart was already going a mile a minute. She reached for Blue’s hand and squeezed it. Amy and the girls moved closer to her.
“You okay?” Amy whispered.
“For now,” Sky said. She pressed her hand to Amy’s belly. “Let me have some baby love. That’ll calm me down.”
“Baby surfer is sleeping today. Riding on my bladder.”
Brock climbed into the ring and went over the rules with Sawyer and Crane.
“He’s easily thirty pounds heavier than Sawyer,” Grayson said to Pete.
“Sawyer’s got this,” Jana said. “He’s smooth as butter. This guy’s big, but slow.” She lowered her voice. “He’s also a first-class jerk. A real nasty loser.”
The fight started, and Sky gripped Blue’s hand tighter, thankful when she felt Grayson’s hand land on her shoulder.
Crane moved in fast, throwing one unsuccessful punch after another. Sawyer deflected each one with fluid movements, barely breaking a sweat. Crane’s feet moved forward and back, his massive shoulders rounded forward. Each punch drew a sharp inhalation from the guys and caused Sky to close her eyes. She didn’t mean to, but how was she supposed to watch? What if his fist connected with Sawyer’s handsome face? She opened her eyes, needing to watch and make sure he was okay.
Sawyer moved fast as lightning, smooth as water, throwing multiple body punches, a right to the jaw, and another punch from beneath that put Crane on his back. All the guys cheered, but as Crane pushed up with his thunderous knees, he sneered at them through the ropes, silencing them all with an angry growl.
Sky held her breath as one round ended and the next began. Each round brought more tension, and by the fourth round she felt like her whole body was one big knot. Meanwhile, the guys were cheering, and Jana, Bella, Leanna, and Jenna were hollering, too. Amy clung to Sky’s hand, while Blue moved up closer to the ring with the other men.
Sweat dripped from the boxers. Crane was breathing hard, tiring. Every punch packed power and fatigue as his massive fists were intercepted time and time again by Sawyer. Crane’s face grew tighter, his eyes narrower with each block. If smoke could come from a person’s ears, it would be streaming from his. At the end of the round, Brock announced that the next was the final round, and Sky felt relief wash over her. During the next round, Brock stepped between Sawyer and Crane three times to say something to Crane that Sky couldn’t hear, but each time the sneer on Crane’s face made the hair on the back of Sky’s neck stand on end.
Sawyer moved in swiftly, landing one punch after another and clocking Crane from the underside of his chin. Sweat spewed out of the ring as Crane flew backward, his broad shoulders landing against the ropes. He sprang right back up, swinging and missing, time and time again, making tortured, violent sounds that made Sky’s blood curdle.
She closed her eyes and squeezed Amy’s hand.
“It’s almost over,” Amy assured her.
Sky couldn’t respond. She couldn’t move. She forced her eyes open, remembering her promise to herself to support Sawyer. Crane scared the heck out of her. She’d never seen someone so angry, and all that anger was bottled up inside the largest, most muscular man she’d ever seen. But it was the way he looked at Sawyer that frightened her most, like he wanted to kill him, not just win the fight. She wondered how anyone could watch this sport without having a heart attack. She felt like hers was going to explode. Her stomach was so tight she thought she might be sick, but she kept reminding herself that Sawyer was fighting for his father, and that was enough to keep her rooted in place, silently praying that the match would end without anyone getting hurt.
When Brock called the end of the final round and held up both fighters’ hands, Sky finally exhaled. Sawyer’s eyes found her, full of pride and full of love. He took a step toward her, and Amy placed a hand on Sky’s back, urging her toward the ring, just as Crane spun around and clocked Sawyer in the side of his skull.
“No!” Sky screamed as Sawyer’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell, lifeless, to the floor.
Chapter Twenty-Five
SKY HELD SAWYER’S hand, silently begging the powers that be to let him be okay. She couldn’t stop shaking, even though Sawyer had already come to, but according to the doctor, it had taken longer than he would have liked. It had also taken Sawyer several minutes to relay basic information such as what he’d had for breakfast and what he’d done the day before. Sky didn’t know much about being knocked out, but she knew from everything the doctor had said and the worried look in his eyes that this was not normal and far from a good sign. They were running all sorts of tests and waiting for results. Roach stood beside her with one hand on her shoulder, a steadying force in a sea of fear, handing her dry tissues every few minutes. The doctors wouldn’t let any of the others in the room, and she knew they were probably going crazy with worry, but there was no way she was going to leave Sawyer’s side.
The right side of Sawyer’s head was swollen and already bruising.
“Sky,” he rasped. “I’m okay. Don’t cry.”
“Don’t cry? You got knocked out, and the doctor was worried that you weren’t going to wake up.” She swiped at her eyes and leaned over him, kissing the side of his face that wasn’t stricken, his forehead, his mouth, everywhere she could. “You scared me so badly, Sawyer. I was wrong. I can’t watch you fight again. I can’t do it.”
