by L.J. Shen
And that's what I'm afraid of.
When the announcer introduces Ty and it's his turn to walk out of the tunnel, my heart thumps with anticipation. I have goose bumps all over my body as the crowd goes wild, chanting his name and throwing cups in the air. He walks out to his usual angry grunge tune and winks coolly to one of the video cameras following him, flashing his black mouth guard. When he gets to the edge of the ring, he lifts his arms sideways and allows one of the referees to pat him down all over.
"I never really got why they do that," I tell Cam.
But it's Chris who answers from my other side. "Being fondled by another man tends to put you in a bad mood and makes for a more exciting fight."
I turn my head, cocking it to the side and narrowing my eyes at him.
"I'm kidding,” Chris says. “It's to check the fighters haven’t greased themselves to death to avoid being grappled by their opponents."
The ref squeezes Ty's shoulder, as if to say you're good to go.
I think I'm going to be sick. The idea of Ty getting in there, of him getting hurt (and lets face it, there's a one hundred percent chance he'll get hurt) is driving me nuts.
Dawson arrives at Ty's side, along with two more of his trainers, and applies a layer of petroleum jelly to his face to prevent cuts. Dawson is constantly speaking, as Ty stares into the raised cage and nods, looking like his mind is far away from everything and everyone else here.
Then he climbs the steps, pauses at the gate to the cage and does this thing again, where he touches the tattoo with my name and looks up to the sky.
I love you too, baby, I want to scream.
The lock clicks, Ty and Vasquez bump fists with their gloved hands and the fight begins.
My heart is about to jump out of my chest even before they touch each other. In fact, they spend the first few seconds jumping around in circles. I decide to look away, not wanting to see how this one plays out. I still think the XWL is human cockfighting. I feel Cam fidgeting beside me and hear a loud Awwww from the crowd. It echoes in the arena and it makes me want to faint and wake up when it's all over.
"You want to see this," Cam tells me. "Open your eyes."
I slowly open my eyes and watch Ty sitting on top of Vasquez, pounding on him for what seems to be at least two minutes straight. There's blood everywhere. I'm fighting the scream that's stuck in my throat, because blood makes me want to vomit. I get dizzy before blood tests, so this is definitely not my scene. To top that off, in a matter of seconds, Vasquez manages to flip Ty over, and now he's on top of him.
Through the wire, Dawson yells up to Ty, "Lock your foot down! Push your hip! Ty! Ty! I'm talking to you!" He is frantic, screaming loud enough to be heard even with all the chaos and noise around us. That's when the first round is over and I take a deep breath.
Four more rounds to go.
I don't bother opening my eyes even once during the next twenty minutes of fighting. I don't respond to any of the ahhhs and the ohhhs. I don’t open my eyes during the rest periods between rounds. I wait patiently even when the place explodes with cheers and people scream their assess off at the end of the fifth round. That's when I hear the announcer officially crown Ty Wilder the XWL welterweight champion. He’s won by a decision.
I open my eyes and watch the president of the XWL walk straight into the cage and hand Ty his new belt. The belt he’s worked so hard for. The belt that broke us apart in a way.
"This is your cue to go try and ask him if he'll talk to us before they whisk him off for the official TV interviews."
At first, I can't seem to move, but when Cam literally shoves me out of my chair, I run toward the cage and hook my fingers into the net.
I wouldn't be able to get so close to the ring if it weren’t for my super-great seat, but since I have a journalist tag, I can get away with a lot of things.
Ty looks exhausted, sweaty as hell, and there are fresh bruises and blood on him. Also, he's panting like crazy, the adrenaline pumping. He notices me after a few seconds and turns around to face me.
Heart stops beating. Brain shuts down. Hormones are raging.
He is coming over. Squatting down, he doesn't smile, just kind of wrinkles his forehead as if he's trying to figure out whether he is imagining this or not. He makes me feel home again. I missed this. I missed him.
"You deserve this," I mouth, tilting my head in the direction of the gigantic gold and silver belt. "Champ."
He leans into the net, and I lose sight of everything around us, but I'm pretty sure people are wondering who the hell I am and why is he paying attention to me, instead of celebrating his victory.
"Yrrr wamaminvivoo?" he asks.
"What?"
He spits his mouthpiece into his hand, this time asking clearly. "You want an interview, huh?"
I shake my head. "I'd love one, but I want you more."
His eyes soften immediately.
"You can start by giving me your number. You haven't done that in...well, never." He is slurring his words slightly, but I'm sure he'll be okay. He turns his back to me and before I know it Jesse appears by my side with Ty's phone, handing it to me. He's opened a new contact. I enter the number with a grin.
Jesse bites his upper lip, obviously worried by Ty's behavior. "He grew his virginity back while you were gone, just so you know."
I can't help but grin even wider. My eyes cling to Ty as he talks to an attractive female TV reporter inside the cage. I don’t care about her. I'm just so freaking proud. At the end, he won. And he did it all by himself.
Ty twists his head and points at me with this crooked smirk of his. There's a shitload of noise in the arena, but I'm close enough to hear when he shouts, "When you get that interview, don't forget, I’ve got ammo on you."
"What ammo?" My brows shoot up in surprise.
"First date? Your cell phone playlist. Ring any bells?" He sticks his tongue out at me.
Damn! He said he was going to use Phil Collins against me when I become a journalist.
And I did, partly because of him.
Chapter Twenty Two
It's the middle of the night and I hear a knock on my hotel room’s door. I know who it is. I've been waiting for Ty, and I haven't slept a second. It took time for him to get here, since he was caught up with all those interviews, the last one with Cam for Diablo Hill magazine. Yes, he met Cam in the lobby at 2 a.m., and then he even skipped all the after-parties just so he could come back to me.
My own personal, very unusual Prince Charming.
I open the door and lean on the frame. He has a black eye, swollen lip and a deep cut above his left eyebrow, but he is beautiful, absolutely perfect.
"Tired?" I ask, smiling.
"As shit. Thanks for waiting."
He walks straight into my bedroom and lifts his hand, showing me something...a ticket? I pluck it from his hand.
“I planned all along to beg you to take me back," he says quietly. “This is proof that I was getting my ass on a plane to come home the minute I was done with the fight."
And sure enough, I'm holding a one-way ticket from Vegas to San Francisco, scheduled to leave here in the morning.
"And this is the second piece of proof." He takes off his shirt, staring down at his tattoo. "You don't ink a reminder of a person if you're not willing to fight really hard to keep them in your life."
"I know." I grin, looking away and giving him my left side, flashing my new tat. The letter T is inked behind my ear, curling into a shape of a heart.
"Holy shit." He laughs, but quickly stops because smiling is painful when you have a busted lip. "I love it." He runs his finger tenderly along my jaw.
"I love you," I answer without blinking.
"And I love you too. Actually, not to be competitive—hell, I am a competitive sonofabitch—but I fell in love with you a lot quicker than you did me. You pretty much ripped my heart from my chest when you came to see me in July."
I throw my arms around his neck, div
ing my face into his chest. I can feel him wincing from the pain from the fight, but he wraps his arms around me presses me into him like all he wants is for us to become one.
"I shouldn't have judged you,” I cry into his chest. “Not on what you’d done before we met. I know you never meant to hurt me."
"And I shouldn't have been so pissed at you for walking out on me." He strokes my head, whispering into my left ear, no doubt admiring the new tattoo. "I just got so attached so quickly it felt like a betrayal when you turned your back on me. I realized you needed the time, and I was more than prepared to give it to you. I always knew I'd come back. Always." He laughs. “This is the first time you're ahead of my game. I didn’t expect you to surprise me in Vegas again."
"It's about time." I pull away so I can look at his perfect face. The face I've missed so much. Heart is pounding to the rhythm of Ty's heartbeat, Brain is enjoying the adrenaline rush, and Hormones are ready to make use of the big bed behind us.
All three parts of me are in sync, finally in perfect harmony.
"I haven't been with anyone else since we broke up," he says, his expression turning serious.
Every hair in my body stands up. I know that. I believe him. "Neither have I," I say.
He pulls me close for a kiss. His lips are warm and salty and he’s sweaty, but just inhaling his familiar scent makes me drunk. Completely smashed, more like. We kiss like it's the last time we'll ever touch each other again. Even though he's here and we're together—definitely together—I'm still heartbroken for all the lost time. Living life without him was hell on earth. Nothing felt good without him by my side.
He pulls me closer, and by the bulge pressing my stomach, I know exactly where we're heading.
"Are you sure you’re not too hurt for us to...?" I drop my gaze to his erection. He looked like he could use a few days at the hospital when he walked out of that cage earlier this evening.
He nods. "It's been too long. Jesse said I grew my virginity back."
"I heard. I'm not sure men can do that, though. Like, physically. Not that women can, but..."
"My point is, I'm getting you out of this blue dress now."
"Okay," I agree, laughing.
"I love you," he says.
"I love you too," I promise.
And that's the last thing we say to each other before we collapse back onto the bed together. Forever tied.
-THE END-
ACKOWLEDGEMENTS
To my amazing husband, who has been nothing but supportive throughout this journey and convinced me that I'm not crazy for pursuing this dream (Granted, I'm crazy for other reasons, but not because I decided to self-publish a book).
To my close group of friends and beta readers for tolerating me through all this - Eliya Orman, Lin Tahel Cohen, Lilian Nahum, Ilanit Adani and Linda Mizrahi. You rock. I don't think you even realize how much I love you.
To my editor, Karen Dale Harris, for turning this from an okay book to something I'm actually proud of.
To my mom and dad, for telling me I should write a book. I'm pretty sure you had something entirely different in mind when you suggested it, but here we are.
To my readers and reviewers for encouraging me to continue writing. You have no idea how important you are. I feel so incredibly lucky to have you guys in my life. Thank you for your feedback, for your support...and yeah, thanks for the snarky comments, too. You sure know how to keep me on my toes.
Shane and Izzy have been nagging me for months, and I finally started writing their heart-wrenching story. Hopefully you'll join their journey, too, because these two are even crazier than Ty and Blaire (Luckily, Ty and Blaire are going to make a very cute cameo in book #2).
If you made it to this list, I want you to know that I love you. I really do.
L.J Shen
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
ACKOWLEDGEMENTS
