by T M Kelly
“A time or two.” Brooks nodded and tapped the mitts for me to continue. “Ignore it. You’re here to win your first fight with AFC, so do it.”
It was easy to get caught up in the drama and bullshit of it all. “Fuck yeah. I will win this fight.”
“I know you will, but you need to focus to do it.” He always knew how to get me on track.
When it was time to head out to the octagon, I threw on a Fight It Out T-shirt. As my team and I walked down the hallway leading to the arena, several cameras followed us. I had my head up bobbing up and down to the music playing over the speakers. This was my time to shine. I knew I had this.
I made sure to share the event in all different ways on social media. I wanted my fans to know where I was and to join me on this new journey. The moment I stepped foot into the arena, the crowd roared. It was almost deafening. Throwing my hands up, I jumped around, and then I started to high-five fans as I walked by, making my way to the referees. What a rush. The best way to feel ready for any fight.
I stepped up to the mat on the outside of the octagon and took my pants and T-shirt off. Then Julian placed my mouth piece in and offered me some water. I made my way around my team giving each one of them a hug. Before I stepped back onto the mat, I fist bumped Chuck. Then, finally, I stepped up and let the referees ensure I was set to step foot into the octagon. The moment I was given the go-ahead, I ran up the steps and circled around the octagon a couple times with my arms up high.
Walking to my corner, I stepped side to side, unable to stand still while I waited for Amber to make her appearance. Since this was being televised, I knew the process would take a little bit longer. Brooks was giving me cues as we waited.
Finally, she stepped into the space and leaped up in the air a few times. We only glanced at each other, probably because we both were too focused on winning at the moment. As the announcer finished sharing our names and stats, the referee for our fight had us step forward to tap fists. The moment the bell rang, my mind was set on one thing: winning.
We had three five-minute rounds to complete. By round three, I was spent but still determined. Amber had managed to take me down to the mat to wale on my face several times. I had a cut above my eye and one on my cheek bone. My corner could not get the blood to stop flowing. Every time I was face down on the mat, I left a large trail of blood behind me.
Before this last round started, Brooks lifted my chin up and forced me to focus. “You are better than this. Every time she plows into you, it looks like you are allowing her to do it. Are you forgetting all that you learned? If it’s fear that’s holding you back, then use that feeling to drive you forward and win this fight.”
Was it fear? Maybe that was true. His words stayed with me as I straightened up and started to throw one punch after another in her direction. Suddenly, something shifted. I was the one in control, and she was the one fighting to keep her head above water.
I was still leaving a trail of blood in my path as I threw one kick after another, and my fist managed to make contact with her face. One of my punches must’ve been the money shot because she was now bleeding but worse than I was. It was her nose, and the blood was flowing fast.
Amber looked spent with that last hit. I heard Brooks behind me yell, “Don’t hesitate. You know what to do.” He was right, I did know. I took her moment of weakness and made it my bitch. Jumping forward, I threw one punch after another on her head and face. She dropped down to her knees, and I followed suit, continuing to be relentless in my pursuit of the win.
I’m not going to lie. Never once did I expect my opponent to tap out, yet she did. It was all happening so fast I couldn’t see her hand, so I let my adrenaline get the best of me and continued to rail on her. The referee had to jump in and push me away to protect Amber from any more damage.
The moment I was forced to step back, I knew I had won. I did it. That realization caused me to scream at the top of my lungs and run around with my arms up in the air.
First time in the ring as an AFC fighter, and I won by submission.
Brooks, Julian, and Tyler all ran up and surprised me by lifting me up above their heads. “Holy shit.” I tried not to laugh, but I was just too damn excited.
As they brought me back down to the mat, Brooks circled his arms around my waist. “That was amazing, sunshine.”
“I don’t know what happened. Maybe I got that second wind I was hoping for,” I teased.
Amber was still being looked at by the doctor. Her nose wouldn’t stop bleeding. I ran over and hugged her again before leaving the octagon. As I quickly made my way out of the arena, I slapped people’s hands while passing by. There was a man in a baseball cap with the Las Vegas logo directly in front of me. He put his hand out for me to slap. Instead of drawing attention, I just kept things normal. The moment he made contact with my hand, I felt something poke my fingers. Looking down, I noticed a small piece of paper.
“What is that?” Lily said and stepped in between Brooks and me.
“I have no idea. That guy in the baseball cap—”I pointed behind me only to find he was not there anymore—“he was there.” I stopped and opened the little piece of paper. It read, Baltic Bakehouse tomorrow at eight a.m. sharp. “Well this is cryptic.” I handed the note to Lily.
“Yeah, and you’re not going.”
“You don’t think we should go?”
“Julian and I will.” Brooks snatched the paper from my hand. “You will be in the safety of your hotel room.”
“Now that is a fight I could watch over and over.” Chuck surprised us when he stepped up behind me.
I had to let that conversation go and give the happy face for Chuck. “I really didn’t know if I could finalize with a win. She had me for a little bit there.”
“You figured out her weak spot and acted on it.” Chuck reached for my hand. “That’s what sets you aside from all the other fighters. I knew I made the right choice.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
As Chuck stepped away, Brooks resumed the previous conversation. “This meeting is shit.” He waved the piece of paper with the note back and forth. “It’s a rouse. I smell a rat.”
“Fine.” I grabbed Brooks’s hand. “You do you and find out what it’s all about.”
I had a feeling it was my brother Mason, which meant he would hide until I showed my face. Whatever my brother was up to, I had to stay close to my friends and avoid any danger. If that was possible.
10
“The trifecta,” I yelled and ran over to Zoe and Lily. “Holy shit. We all walked away with a win. How the hell did the ladies that represent Fight It Out manage that one?”
“I had no doubts I could take my opponent down.” Lily sounded so confident.
“Look at you all smug and shit.” I pushed at her arm.
“My fight was a wee bit different. I’m surprised they called my name,” Zoe said, sitting down at the table we all were occupying.
“What happened?” Some fights were so close it was hard to know where the judges would lean in the end.
“It was just a fucking great match up.” Zoe shrugged her shoulders and reached for the menu sitting in front of her.
“Well, this calls for a celebration.” I grabbed my water and held it up. “Wait, I can splurge a little. We need wine.” I enjoyed a cocktail here and there. When I was cutting wine was not allowed. Since I was not cutting at the moment, I planned to treat myself. I waved over our waiter and asked for the best champagne they had available.
That may have been a bad decision.
My head was buried below two pillows. I was not ready to get up yet. Last night after the fight, we all went for a night out on the town and ended up staying out until four in the morning. Now, as I slowly woke up, I fought against my body and tried to keep my eyes shut.
Finally, I gave in to defeat and threw the pillows off. “Do I have to get up?” I moaned and slid my hand up Brooks’s back. Leaning forward, I kissed his sh
oulder blades and then turned to jump off the bed.
Last night, I threatened to cover the mirror with a sheet to avoid looking at my bruised and battered face. I knew I looked awful and questioned going to the beach for the next two weeks. At first glance, everything was blurry. Then as my eyes adjusted to the light. I wanted to shrink away at the horror before me. Both my eyes were swollen with black and blue coloring around each one. My cheek looked three times too big and had six stitches. The cut above my eye was small and only required a butterfly bandage.
“You’re still beautiful to me.” Brooks wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Yeah, yeah,” I teased. “You’re supposed to say that. You’re the boyfriend.”
“And the boyfriend is not supposed to lie.”
“Hopefully.” I reached for a towel and my face wash. “Hey, did you meet with the creep at eight this morning?”
“Julian and I sat there for about thirty minutes, but no one showed.”
“I had a feeling that would happen.”
He turned his head to the side. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Setting my face wash back down, I leaned against the counter. “I just mean, if that is my brother, he would only show his face for me.”
“Why would your brother even be here in Liverpool?”
“I don’t fucking know.” Continuing the process to wash my face, I reached for the towel and carefully blotted instead of wiping. “I think an Epsom Salt bath is in order for me. May not sound sexy but you can still join me?”
“You really know how to sweet talk your man,” Brooks said, tugging me closer to him. “First you insist we have sex in an airplane bathroom. Now you want to get busy while soaking in an Epsom Salt bath. Is this a sign?”
“Sign for what?” I was struggling to hold in a laugh.
“That you are ready to throw me to the curb?”
I stopped laughing. “Oh, God.” My face had to show my horror. “I didn’t mean—”
He placed his index finger over my lips. “Baby, I’m teasing.”
“You do know how much I care about you, right?” Saying I love you was not in the cards for me yet. That deep of a commitment scared the shit out of me. “You better not go anywhere. I need you.”
“You do?”
“Why would you ask that question? Of course I do.”
“Good. I just wanted to hear you say it.”
I swatted at his arm. “You’re still getting in the bath with me.”
“Where else would I go?”
He started to fill the tub, and I ran to grab the box of Epsom Salt. “I think this day requires a whole box.” Pulling the tab open, I poured all the contents into the hot water. We both moved the salt around to help it dissolve before stepping in.
Brooks held out his hand. “Ladies first.” Then he helped me to step carefully into the tub. As he eased into the small space, I placed my legs on his lap and let my body go deeper into the water. “Earlier I was looking at the drive down to the Jurassic Coast.”
My head was resting against the back of the tub, and my eyes were closed. “Yeah. Does it seem crazy long? Should we fly instead?”
“Nah, it may take a full day to drive there. Is that okay?”
I opened my eyes. “Yeah, we can sightsee then.”
He rubbed his hands up and down the length of my legs. “That’s what I thought, too.”
I reached for his hands, and he helped me to a sitting position on his lap. “Good. Now let’s talk about a more pending situation.”
“Oh, does it have to do with this?” Where he placed his hand made me jump.
“You catch on quickly.” I leaned forward and kissed his nose. “It also involves this.” I reached my hand down, causing him to jump.
“Two weeks. Really?” Lily pouted.
“You knew I was leaving for that long, silly.” I tugged at a lock of her long blonde hair. “And this trip better not fly by. I want to soak it all up.” Reaching for Brooks’s hand, I squeezed it tightly. “Every last second of it.”
“Fine but know I will miss you like crazy.”
“I’ll send pictures to make you miss me even more.”
“Bitch.”
“But you love me.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed. “You’re right. I do.”
I reached for Brooks’s hand before I turned to leave, and I waved goodbye. We rented a small car that almost didn’t fit Brooks’s tall frame. He said he would be fine. I had a feeling he would end up with a neck cramp two minutes into this adventure.
“Where to first?” I slid into my seat and rested my hands on my lap.
“Well, I only want a beach and you in a bikini.”
“But there has to be some beautiful places to explore before all that?” He leaned back in his seat and seemed to be thinking. “Oh my shit, you never set up a fun itinerary?”
“I might have neglected to do that.”
“But you do know how long we will be in the car, right?”
“Only five hours, unless you need to stop for a momentary pause for a sanitary cause.”
“Which will happen.” I pulled out my phone and looked for the nearest hotels by Durdle Door. “There is a hotel thirty minutes from our destination. Let’s head to Rudds of Lulworth first.”
Brooks plugged the details into the app on his phone and placed it in the holder on the dashboard. We both agreed before leaving our hotel room this morning we needed to rest. Throwing on a pair of sunglasses to cover my beautiful black eyes, I leaned back in the seat and enjoyed the skyline as he started the first leg of our adventure.
11
“You’re in charge of music,” Brooks said and turned onto a main road.
“Wow, you’re giving me control?”
“I’m sure I made a poor decision.”
“Such low confidence in me. That hurts.” I threw my hand over my chest and let my head fall back in a dramatic fashion.
We continued to tease each other until we finally made it out of the city. Then my eyes were glued to the country skyline. The grass was a vibrant shade of green and went as far as the eye could see. Hills and rocks were scattered about to make the sight that much better.
Brooks reached for my hand, and I interlaced my fingers with his. “I want to find a house far away from the intensity of the city life.” I glanced over. “Wouldn’t that be amazing? Complete solitude. No one would see every fucking thing you’re doing in your day.”
“Privacy would be nice.”
I turned in my seat. “Do you plan to keep that house you own forever? Or sell someday?”
“Why, do you have plans for us already?”
“What?” I immediately felt uncomfortable. Almost as if I’d overstepped my bounds. “No, I was just curious.”
“Charlie?” He reached up and brushed his hand down the side of my face. “I was teasing. It’s okay.”
Sometimes when I say things, I realize too late how they sound. Instead of saying any more that could embarrass me further, I brought his hand to my lips and lightly kissed each knuckle.
Brooks thought he knew all the dark places in my heart. That wasn’t true, though. I only let him into the places I felt were safe for him. If I shared too much, I worried for his safety. My father could easily crush Brooks with one phone call or public smear. I needed to protect him from my family’s hate.
“You with me?” he said, waving a hand up and down in front of my face.
“What?” I shook my head. “Did I miss something you said?”
“Just three little words.”
“What?” I sat up so fast my seat belt locked and threw me back. “I thought we talked about this.”
“Wait, what do you think I said?” Then it must have registered. “Oh, no, I…definitely didn’t say that.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I do but I don’t. Ya know?”
“Not especially but that’s okay, baby.” I slid my hand over his thigh and down in between his l
egs. “Should we drop that subject for now?” I moved my fingers back and forth, trying to drop that topic quickly.
“Evil woman.”
I pulled my hand away. “Who, me?”
A little while later I woke up. I’m not sure what time it was but I must’ve dozed off at some point. I lifted my hands to stretch at the same moment the sound of a car door closing caused me to jump. Leaning up, I glanced around. My head was still in a fog. I removed my sunglasses for a split second, but quickly put them back on top of my nose. A woman passing by my side of the car gasped and increased her speed toward the little building with a sign on the front that read, pay here.
“Hey, sleeping beauty,” Brooks said, sitting down behind the steering wheel.
“I think that woman that just entered the convenient store thinks you beat me.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I removed my sunglasses.”
“Should we buy some extra special cover up?”
“That is water proof.”
He leaned over the center console. “And even if I did beat you, it would make you just beg for more.” I laughed at his words as he kissed me. “I would need a stop word because you are so needy.”
“Brooks?”
“Yeah, baby.”
“Less talking and more driving. I need a bed or any flat surface.”
“Message received.” He buckled his seat belt and started the car.
I watched the woman step out of the store and stop on the sidewalk. Her face showed concern. I only blew her a kiss for caring. Normally after a fight, I went into hiding until my bruises were healed. For some reason, I didn’t feel like hiding after this fight. Probably because I was in the U.K. Who wants to hide in a hotel room when you are in such a gorgeous country?
About two miles down the road, I noticed a man walking with a big duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He had his arm out with his thumb up. As we passed by, I glanced at the man. He seemed older, disheveled with clothes two sizes too big. He nodded at me as if he knew who I was, causing my insides to squirm. I quickly turned away and rested my head back against the seat.
