Page 13 of Fighter

“Carl! Carl! Carl!” The crowd chants. I don’t know who Carl is, but I know it isn’t Maximus.

“This way, ladies,” the man tells us as he leads us up a short flight of metal stairs to the bleachers. He motions to a couple, who slides down and makes room for us. “I’ll sit with you. Nobody will fuck with you.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, turning my attention to the fight.

And there he is.

My heart leaps out of my chest when I see him at the center of the ring, his back to me, fending off punch after punch, each one making me wince inside. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I don’t even know how he’s still standing.

The crowd’s cheering for the other man, who looks like he’s possessed. There’s blood on the floor of the ring and on the wrappings covering his hands. I cry out as the man lands a punch squarely on Maximus’ nose and sends him tumbling backwards.

“No!”

He hits hard, and for a second, I’m not even sure he’s going to get up. I don’t know anything about boxing, but I can tell when a man just took a hard hit.

“Real tough guy,” Tressa says, rolling her eyes.

“Get up, Maximus!” I shriek, trying to make myself heard over the hysteria. “Get up!”

Everything inside me is screaming at me to rush down there to his side and protect him. But what could I even do? Nothing.

“Get up!”

Maximus does. Bracing himself on the floor with a fist, he rises to his feet. Carl throws a punch that almost makes me cover my eyes, but somehow Maximus manages to get out of the way. He circles around to the other side of the ring and I see his face.

Blood streams from his nose and a couple of other cuts on his face. His cheek is swollen and he’s drenched in sweat. But it’s not the physical wounds that have my heart hurting for him; it’s the look in his eyes.

Last night he was a monster – a man who could take any other man apart with the flick of his wrist. But that Maximus is not there tonight. Tonight he has the look of a man who has accepted his defeat and is just going through the motions.

I rise to my feet, cup my hands over my mouth, and shout so loud it feels like sandpaper tearing at my throat. “Maximus! Maximus!”

The crowd is howling, but I just keep screaming. Seeing him like this solidifies it for me: this is my man. The spark inside me is a burning golden globe that has me filled with an excitement and desire I never thought possible. And when he looks up, and our eyes meet, I almost explode with happiness.

He sees me. His eyes flash and tonight’s Maximus is swept away, replaced by the warrior I met last night. His whole body seems to swell as he straightens up. His chest expands as he fills his lungs with air and a cocky smirk twists in the corner of his lips. I raise my hand to him as tears well up in my eyes.

Spurned on by the crowd, Carl moves in for the kill.

He throws a jab that Maximus parries, but connects with the next one. Then, he twists at the hips and swings out with a huge sweeping strike with his left hand. Everything seems to slow down. Again, I know nothing about boxing, but I know enough to know that if that hits him, it’s going to be over.

“Oh, shit!” Tressa hisses beside me.

In a flash, countless thoughts race through my mind – thoughts of last night, of what my life would have been like if I hadn’t let Tressa take me to the club, if I hadn’t let Maximus buy my evening, if I hadn’t gone down into the basement, if I hadn’t let him kiss me, or if I hadn’t come here tonight.

My heart feels like it stops in my chest as I watch Carl’s fist bear down on Maximus.

And I scream.

10

Maximus

My head is killing me. I don’t even wince as the cold water pours across my neck while I hang my head between my knees. I glance down at my hands, unwrapped now, my knuckles scraped and red.

“I should have fought better…” I whisper.

“No. Don’t say that. You did well.”

I smile and look up. I know what she’s saying isn’t true, but just hearing her say it is enough.

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