by L. P. Dover
“I bet you wouldn’t have been scared to touch the worms. No, not my little girl. You would’ve been a fighter just like me. It just so happens I have a tough one tonight, little angel. I’m sure you’ll send me some good luck, right?”
Closing my eyes, I leaned over and put my forehead to the soft, green grass below, letting the tears flow freely. I sat there for about an hour, feeling the wind all around me and hearing the tree branches as they swayed back and forth. There was no one in the cemetery except me, but for some reason I didn’t feel alone.
“I promise I’ll come back again and talk to you, Maddy. There are so many stories I could tell you about your mother. When I come back, I’ll tell you one.”
Getting to my feet, I kissed my fingers and placed them on top of her gravestone. “Good-bye, my little angel.”
I’ll be back.
“YOU’RE UP NEXT, SON. ARE you ready for this?” Carter asked.
Jumping in place, I closed my eyes and stretched out the muscles in my neck and arms. “I’m ready,” I growled low. “That fucker’s going down tonight.”
Carter chuckled. “That’s what I like to hear. Remember, stay focused. He’s going to taunt you and say some things to get your hackles up. Don’t … let … him … break your concentration, you hear me?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, I opened my eyes and nodded. “I got this. I’m not going to let anyone down tonight.”
Before I could put my earphones in my ears, Garrett charged through the door, his chest heaving up and down. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he sputtered. “Traffic’s a bitch out there tonight.” With a wide grin on his face, he handed me what he had in his hands. “I thought you might want to see this. I was going to show you the originals last weekend when I stopped by your house, but I was sent these today. They completely changed it.”
Holy shit, I thought, staring wide-eyed at what I had in my hands. “Is this what it’s going to look like?” I asked.
Garrett nodded. “Yeah, that’s the final one. I didn’t know how you would take it considering the circumstances, but I think it looks great.”
It did look great. “Was this Shelby’s idea?” I asked curiously.
“No, she doesn’t know. Bryan said he decided on this just today. Once he read the article he knew he had to put a picture of you and Shelby on the front. He agreed it was her best work yet; very powerful.”
“Can I keep this?” I asked, holding up the cover mock-up.
“Yeah, it’s yours, but put it aside so we can go. You’re on in like two minutes,” he announced, rushing me out the door.
To get pumped up, I put my earphones in and cranked up the volume so that Five Finger Death Punch was all I could hear instead of the cheering crowd for that worthless cocksucker, Kyle. My heart thumped wildly in my chest and my adrenaline was through the roof. I had waited for this moment for too fucking long.
I just wish Shelby was here to see it.
Carter signaled for me to walk, so I took my earphones out and handed them to Garrett. This was it. Once the black curtain pulled back, I took a deep breath and strutted out to the beat of my song. Tonight it was “A Warrior’s Call” by Volbeat.
Keeping my gaze focused on the ring, I intentionally didn’t look toward the left where Shelby’s seats would’ve been. I knew she wouldn’t be there, but to look would only confirm it. The disappointment would only break down my focus, so I kept my head up and kept walking; secretly pretending she was there the whole time, watching me.
Once I got into the ring, the audience cheered and I did my usual circle around the ring, wearing the arrogant smirk the crowd loved. The announcer, with his black suit and slicked back white hair, acknowledged both me and Kyle with a nod before addressing the crowd. “All right, ladies and gentleman, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. For the Heavyweight title we have two fighters that have gone head to head for years, but only one victor will reign over the gold.”
Pointing over to Kyle, he said, “On one side of the ring we have Kyle ‘The Demon Slayer’ Andrews who’ll be competing to try and win back the title he lost three years ago to the one and only UFC bad boy, Matt ‘The Destroyer’ Reynolds. The tension is high, folks, and judging by the looks on these fighters’ faces we’re going to have an intense grudge match tonight.”
“Fighters, if you will?” he asked, motioning for us to join him in the center of the ring.
Kyle leered at me like the smug bastard he was, but I kept my face blank, emotionless. He thrived on response, but he wasn’t going to get it.
“Okay, gentlemen, you know the drill. When you hear the bell you may begin. Good luck,” the announcer instructed before vacating the ring.
“So where’s Shelby?” Kyle asked with a smirk on his face.
Getting into stance, I grinned and said, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Well, I haven’t seen her here, so I’m assuming you two couldn’t work things out. What a shame. I might have to give her a call.”
Focus, Matt. With my teeth and fists clenched, I anxiously waited on the bell to ring, my muscles ready to strike out. Hurry the fuck up before I explode.
Ding, ding, ding.
I was ready to strike, and my fist flew the second I heard the bell. Kyle didn’t have time to block the right handed uppercut, so when I connected with his face, blood spewed out of his nose and mouth. I smiled a real smile for the first time all week.
“Get ready, cocksucker, because it’s going to get a lot worse than that.”
“WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME,” I snapped, pushing my way through the crowd, wearing the ‘Team Matt’ tank top Gabriella let me borrow. Jace settled on a simple navy blue T-shirt, jeans, and a Duke Blue Devils baseball cap that I’d never seen him wear … ever. I didn’t even know he liked Duke.
I heard them call out Matt’s name, and if he looked over at the seats he wouldn’t see me there. Dammit, that’s not what I wanted. I wanted him to know I was with him, supporting him. Traffic was terrible coming into Sacramento, and if it wasn’t for my exceptional weaving in and out of traffic skills we would’ve never made it.
From the pale look on Jace’s face I probably almost gave him a heart attack in the car. Or it could’ve been because I found out something he kept from me; something that we witnessed together and would always stay ingrained in my mind.
“Were you ever going to tell me you gave him my journals?” I asked, rushing to find our section of the arena by the labels posted over the doors.
In a way, I felt like it was an invasion of my privacy with Jace sneaking off with them, but I wasn’t unhappy that Matt had them. I didn’t exactly want him to know my inner demons, but he needed to know everything; even the parts that weren’t exactly pretty.
“He needed to read them, Shelby. I know they were private, but if you want him to trust you then he needs to know it all. Although, I have to admit I could’ve foregone what happened at the cemetery,” he admitted sadly. “Now that was a private moment that broke my heart. If you weren’t in the car with me I’m pretty sure I would’ve cried like a damn baby.”
Like me, I wanted to say.
When we pulled up at the cemetery, I saw Matt’s truck parked on the side of the road, or at least a truck that was exactly like his. Jace didn’t seem to notice, so I drove around until I could get a glimpse of my family’s plot. The moment I saw Matt broken down on the ground I shattered into a million pieces. I wanted to run to him and hold him while he cried, but it was his moment with Madelyn and I didn’t want to interfere. Instead, I sat there and watched him with a fractured heart, sobbing my eyes out.
“Are you going to tell him you saw him there?” Jace asked.
Once I found our section, I stopped at the entrance and sighed, trying hard to keep the burn behind my eyes at bay. “No, I’m not going to tell him,” I replied. “That’s something I feel should be between him and Madelyn.”
Taking his hand, I quickly pulled him along behind me. “Now come
on, the bell’s about to ring.”
Matt had on a pair of white and black fighting shorts with a pair of black gloves, and he was in full fighting stance. He was so focused on Kyle that he didn’t see me and Jace take our seats. The second the bell rang, Matt moved so fast with an uppercut to Kyle’s jaw that I barely saw his arm move. The power of it radiated through the room. Kyle’s head snapped back and blood splattered in an arc across the mat from his mouth and nose.
I had never seen Matt move with such speed and dominance before in any of his fights. He fought to win, even if that meant hurting his opponent, but I could see it in his wild eyes that he wanted to hurt Kyle and not just to win the fight. His ultimate goal was to punish him and I was going to enjoy watching it.
“Okay, Shels, the smile on your face is kind of creepy. Hopefully, I’ll never get on your really bad side,” Jace noted.
Keeping my eyes on the fight, I chuckled. “What can I say? He deserves it. I just wish Matt would look over at me so he’d know I was here.”
“You could always stand up and scream,” he teased. “That would get you noticed. However, I’m pretty sure that Garrett and Carter will see you out here and tell him.”
Ding, ding, ding.
“Wow, that was fast,” I chimed.
Breathing hard, Matt went to his corner and grabbed the bottle of water Carter handed to him, guzzling it down while nodding his head in reply to what he was being told. Kyle spent most of his minute reprieve by wiping the blood off his face and yelling at his coach. Matt’s chuckle could be heard from where I sat, and arrogantly so, he kept his gaze on Kyle the whole time. He demolished him in the first round and now he was getting cocky.
We all knew what happened to people when they got like that … they made mistakes. Matt had never been one of the fighters to let his ego get in the way, but he had so much animosity toward Kyle that eventually it had to get to him.
“Am I the only one who thinks this is bad?” I muttered nervously. Sitting on the edge of my seat, I chewed on my thumbnail as Matt and Kyle met back in the center of the ring.
Jace agreed, “He’s letting round one get to his head. Kyle’s not looking so good, but all it takes is one wrong move and he’ll get his energy back if he catches Matt off guard. Let’s just hope Matt continues to pound him.”
Ding, ding, ding.
Matt struck fast again, swinging his body around in a roundhouse kick, but Kyle deflected and ducked under Matt’s foot. Before Matt could get back into his fighting stance, Kyle caught him off guard with a one-two punch combo. Kyle was coming back full force and swung his fists left and right. For the round so far there wasn’t a second their bodies stopped moving or even took a break for that matter by circling around the ring, and they still had another minute to go. Matt’s left side of his face dripped in rivulets of blood from a gash above his eyebrow, and the whole area had already started to swell and turn purple.
Just like me, Jace had planted his elbows on his knees and leaned over, bouncing his foot up and down; it was a nervous twitch we both possessed. In another life I swear he had to have been my brother.
“This is a good fight,” he said. “I just hope we get to see the end of it. I thought it would be over by now, but it’s not.” Looking down at his cell phone, he held it up to me and pointed at the time. “We have to be in the car and on the way to the airport in ten minutes in order to make our flight.”
Anxiously, I glanced at the clock and then back up to Matt. “Come on, Matt, you can do this,” I whispered. I couldn’t leave without knowing he won the fight.
The bell rang and off they went to their corners. This time Matt had a scowl on his face as Carter yelled at him and threw a bottle of water in his lap. Come on, let’s get it going. I only had five minutes left until Jace was going to drag me out of the arena. Another minute down and now I only had four left.
Ding, ding, ding.
It was the third and final round and Matt started off strong, but he was angry and I could see it in his stance; he wasn’t focused. His goal was to make Kyle pay for what he did. I think he cared more about punishing him than defending his Heavyweight title.
I had three minutes left.
For the first time in all the rounds, Kyle took Matt to the floor and it was hard to tell who had the upper hand. Cries and cheers erupted from the crowd, but from their position I couldn’t see a thing. Finally, when they turned and grappled some more my heart sank when I realized Kyle was trying to put Matt into a Kimura hold by grabbing Matt’s wrist and angling his own body to the side where he could grab onto his other arm that held onto Matt’s. Once he got into position, all he had to do was start pulling and it would be game over.
I never knew about MMA submission holds or anything like that until Matt started fighting. He didn’t know any of that stuff when I was with him and it was amazing how much he’d learned over the years.
The Kimura was a highly notable maneuver and was used to hyper rotate the shoulder, which in turn could snap your opponent’s arm and be very painful. I had two minutes left and it didn’t look like Matt was going to get out of it.
Come on, Matt.
Blood red and eyes closed, Matt’s face contorted in full-blown pain and anguish, but he still had that stubborn sense of determination. He was holding on for as long as he could, but if he didn’t tap out Kyle would break his arm.
Jumping to my feet, with my heart pounding, I screamed as loud as I could, “Matt, focus! I didn’t come here to watch you lose. Tear him apart!” I didn’t care who heard me or if I made a scene.
Out of the corner of his eye, he looked over at me and it was as if the whole world had frozen still in that moment. The only sound I could hear was my ragged breathing as I waited on him to make a move and finish it. His lips moved in a silent plea of my name and I nodded, reassuring him that I was there for him.
“I’m here, Matt,” I whispered.
Closing his eyes for only a second, a small smile splayed across his lips. Before I knew it, he was out of the hold and on his knees, pounding his fists into Kyle’s side, stomach, and face.
Jace put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed; my time was up. “Shelby, it’s time to go,” he murmured regretfully.
Slowly, I walked away from my seat, keeping my gaze on Matt as his relentless blows finally knocked Kyle out. He was motionless on the floor and the crowd went wild, their cheers more deafening than I’d ever heard in an arena before.
I was halfway up the walkway before the announcer rushed into the cage and lifted Matt’s arm triumphantly. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your Heavyweight champion for four consecutive years … MATT ‘THE DESTROYER’ REEYYYNNOOOLLLDDSS!”
While Kyle’s coach and a medic helped Kyle out of the ring, the announcer turned to Matt. “Okay, so I’m sure the whole crowd wants to know … what gave you that last jolt of energy that got you out of Kyle’s Kimura hold? That’s pretty much an impossible feat.”
Jace and I were almost to the door, but I stopped, refusing to move a step further until I heard Matt’s reply. His brows furrowed when he didn’t see me in my seat, but once he lifted his gaze he found me as if I was the only person in the room. No matter where we were or what was going on, I could always find him in a crowd. Even if there were a million people around I knew I’d be able to find him. It was as if our connection tethered us together by an invisible cord and every time he was around that cord would tingle and spark like a bolt of electricity. I remembered feeling the same thing on the first day I met him after school as a teenager. For that many years nothing had changed, and I knew it never would.
Keeping his gaze on mine, Matt smiled directly at me and spoke into the microphone, “What can I say? I have an angel watching over me. It was all her.”
“Shelby,” Jace called, “let’s go, babe.”
Taking a deep breath, I smiled at Matt one last time and lifted my hand in a silent farewell. I didn’t know what was going to happen or how long I’d be go
ne, but there was one thing for certain … I was going to miss him, terribly.
FOR THE FIRST TWO DAYS after I arrived in North Carolina, I honestly admit that I did kind of stare at my phone in hopes that Matt would call or text. Jace ended up taking my phone and hiding it so that I’d stop looking at it and have fun. I was a routine kind of girl, so it didn’t take long to develop one. The weather was hot and sunny, so I went shopping on my first day and bought a ton of little sun dresses since it was hard to wear them at home with the cooler weather.
Each day I watched Jace work, and once sunset came I’d walk to the pier that was only a little over half a mile away. Sometimes Jace would come with me, but most of the time I preferred to take the walk myself.
The highlight of my week was watching Jace act on film. His lead was a beautiful red-haired female with creamy skin and a dash of freckles on her cheeks that gave her a natural glow. Her name was Allie and she had the cutest southern accent I’d ever heard. One thing was for certain, her and Jace’s chemistry during the love scenes was epic. I honestly didn’t think Jace could pull it off.
“So what did you think of the ocean scene?” Jace asked, sitting down on the towel beside me.
The ocean scene was a romantic one with his leading co-star taking a sunset dip in the water where they gave in to their urges and made love in waves. The whole sky was bathed in the beautiful sunset colors of reds, oranges, and pinks. I had never seen a more beautiful sunset in all my life, or a more beautiful kiss for that matter.
“It was amazing, Jace,” I breathed, staring out over the water. “I swear you have to be one of the best damn actors I know. The way you look at Allie and the way you connect on film is phenomenal. In a way, it felt like I should cover my eyes when you two were out in the water. It all looked and felt so real.”
