by Love, Amy
He pulls back his fist and feints at King, dancing around him, graceful and light on his toes. Adriana’s heart is in her mouth, as King swings a meaty fist at Grayson and connects with his jaw. The impact sends Grayson’s head snapping back, but he shakes it off, continuing to feint and jab at Kong. Grayson delivers some hard body blows into Kong’s abs, and Adriana is so close to the ring that she can hear the air as it is knocked out of him.
“Yes!” She stands up from her seat, fists in the air, carried away by the emotion of seeing Grayson do his thing. She ignores the sidelong look that Willow is giving her; she already knows what it means.
The bell rings, and the men go back to their respective corners. West is giving Grayson some advice and spraying water in his face, but Adriana can’t make out what he’s saying. Before any time at all seems to have passed, the men meet each other back in the center of the ring.
“You’re going down,” Kong’s says loud enough so that the words are heard by the crowd, and they’re met by universal heckles. Grayson just smiles at him, like he has a secret that Kong has no idea about.
“Breathe, Adrie,” says Willow in her ear, reminding her that oxygen would be good right about know. She hadn’t even realized that she was holding her breath.
The men circle each other, exchanging blows and kicks, grunting as their fists or feet connect with each other. Kong is bloody and breathing hard; but, Grayson looks like he’s barely broken a sweat.
“What’s he doing? Why doesn’t he hit him harder?” The frustration in Adriana’s voice is clear. She doesn’t know how much more of this she can take, seeing Grayson get hit. It’s like she feels every punch that lands on him, as if they’re connected.
“It’s a tactic,” Willow explains hurriedly. “He’s wearing that meathead down, tiring him out so he can go in for the big hit.”
Adriana pauses from her intense study of the fight in front of her and looks at Willow in surprise. Willow just shrugs and says, “So I did some research when we got invited to the fight the first time around. I like to be prepared.”
Adriana rolls her eyes and focuses back on the fight. Grayson has a cut on his bottom lip that’s bleeding a track down his chin. Kong’s right eye is swollen shut, and his face looks like it’s been used as a battering ram. It doesn’t take an expert in the sport to work out that, between the two of them, Grayson looks like he could go on for days and Kong looks like he might pass out.
The bell rings again, signaling the break, and West gives Grayson’s massive shoulders a rub, massaging the muscles. Adriana cranes to hear what’s being said, and she can’t be sure, but it sounds like West is saying, “It’s time, Gray. Let it out.”
Let what out? she thinks. But as the men take up their positions again in the center of the ring, it’s clear that something has changed. All trace of humor is gone from Grayson’s expression. In its place are a laser-like focus and a fire that demands to be quenched.
As soon as the bell rings, Grayson advances on Kong, batting off his tired punches as if they were irritating flies. Adriana feels her heart beating faster as she watches him. He really is magnificent, stalking his prey like a lion. Now, he was going in for the kill.
The expression on Kong’s face says it all, as he realizes what is happening. However, it’s too late, and he’s already dropped his guard, too tired to keep it up. Grayson pulls back his fist and powers through, delivering a punch that snaps Kong’s head to the side, blood and spit spraying out of his mouth, as he falls to the mat, face down.
Adriana feels a thrill as Kong doesn’t get up; but, the emotions playing out on Grayson’s face chase away all trace of her own excitement at his win. He looks terrified, as he stares at Kong’s prone body on the floor. He takes a step towards him as if he wants to get a closer look, but he’s pulled back instantly by West.
“It’s over, Gray. He’s fine.” West’s voice is low, but Adriana still manages to catch his words.
The referee kneels down, checking Kong who still hasn’t gotten up, and he makes a sweeping gesture with his hands. “TKO. The Punisher wins the match.”
A roar of approval goes up amongst the crowd; women whoop and holler; and, Adriana is vaguely aware of Willow getting carried along by the excitement around them. But Adriana is still focused on Grayson, wondering what it is that has him so spooked. The referee lifts his fist in the air, and the crowd goes wild. However, Grayson barely reacts. He looks like he’s searching through the spectators, and Adriana feels a physical jolt as his eyes settle on her.
There’s something in his eyes that looks as if he’s asking her for something, needing something, like he wants her to tell him that it’s all alright. She smiles at him, nodding in encouragement and claps harder, trying to show him how amazing he was in that ring. Adriana watches his eyes soften, as he looks at her, and she’s grateful for the distance between them. She doesn’t think that she could stop herself from rushing to him if he weren’t in the ring, and she knows that would be far too dangerous for her.
All too soon, Grayson is guided away by his entourage including West and Tommy. He sweeps through the tunnel back towards his dressing room, only pausing to sign autographs and pose for photos as he makes his way through the crowd. Adriana hadn’t really understood that this fight would launch Grayson into another stratosphere until this moment. He’s a celebrity now, and more than that, he’s a sex symbol. Women were stepping over each other to get to him.
Even Willow is fanning herself with the flyer handed out at the door. “Well, that was seriously hot.” She gives Adriana a shrug as she looks at her. “What? I know he’s off-limits, but you’re telling me there isn’t something that gets you all hot and bothered about seeing him up there in all his glory, the crowd shouting his name as he lays out some justice.”
Adriana raises an eyebrow at her friend. “If you’re having fantasies about Grayson, I’d rather not hear about them.”
“Uh-uh, honeypot, I’m more interested in his friend. Blondes are more my speed.” Willow licks her lips hungrily, as she looks at the tunnel the men have disappeared through.
Adriana looks at Willow in mock-shock. “Isn’t he a little young for you, Will?”
“No such thing, baby girl, no such thing.” Willow re-arranges her low cut top and flips out her compact to check her flawless make-up. “So are you going to introduce us or what?” She looks expectantly at her friend.
Adriana looks towards the tunnel and shakes her head. “I did what I came here to do, Will. Everyone’s happy. Now I’m going home to try to forget that Grayson Fletcher ever existed.”
“Right, because that’s what you want, isn’t it?” Willow gives her a no-bullshit stare.
“I can’t go there again, Will. You know that. I’m not a masochist!” Adriana watches as a stretcher is brought out for Kong who is just starting to move. A doctor is tending to him, and Adriana feels herself shift into work mode, cataloguing Kong’s injuries from what she can see from her vantage point. It beats thinking about her own emotional damage.
“I get that.” Willow doesn’t look at her as she re-applies her lipstick. “But that doesn’t mean you’re getting out of introducing me to the man that just might be my soulmate. So, lead the way, Adrie.” She snaps shut the compact and looks at Adriana expectantly.
Adriana looks towards the tunnel, sighing deeply and knowing that this is one of those moments that she’s not going to be able to walk away from. She can’t pretend that there was nothing between her and Grayson; it would be a lie. She cares about him; that is why she had come tonight. She had tried to persuade herself that it was just because West had laid on the guilt trip, but she knows that it is more than that.
She also knows that there is no way she can allow herself to be vulnerable with him again. She’d let her guard down twice with him, ten years apart, and nothing had changed. As a kid he’d had secrets, but all these years later there was something else, as if a part of him had been hidden, like he didn’t want anyon
e to see it. He had pushed her away again and again, and any sane person would be done with it all by now. But much as she tries to reason it out in her logical brain, she knows that she isn’t done with him. So, there is only one thing she can do. She takes a deep breath and leads the way.
GRAYSON
The dressing room had been tidied up while he’d been in the ring and now it is filled with goodies from various sponsors trying to court him. It really had happened in an instant. He had been plunged into the limelight, and it wasn’t anything that he could have been prepared for.
But that isn’t the only thing in his dressing room when he gets back.
“What the hell are they doing here?” His question is met with an uncomfortable silence, as he looks at the three girls in various states of undress, posing.
“Hey, don’t look at me.” West holds his hands up, backing away from the fight.
“Get them out of here.” His voice is a growl directed at Tommy who he knows is the instigator of this little welcoming committee.
“Come on, man. I thought you might be in the mood to party after pounding on Kong!” Tommy looks appreciatively at the girls, hand-picked to appeal, all long legs, short dresses, and pouty lips.
Grayson levels him with a look that tells him differently.
“Alright, fine. Sorry girls, but it looks like our boy’s a little grouchy. But you should totally come to the after-party.” Tommy starts herding the girls out of the room like cattle.
“I know what’ll make you smile, big boy. Cassie knows what you like.” The brunette wraps herself around Grayson, whispering in his ear like she’s telling him a secret.
She’s hot; there’s no denying that. However, right now, he can’t stand to have another woman’s hands on him. There’s only one whom he wants.
“Are we interrupting?” The familiar voice filled with humor makes Grayson’s head snap up towards the open door. Willow is looking at him pointedly, but that’s not where his focus lands; it’s on who’s in front of her. Adriana is standing stock-still, staring at him or, more accurately, at Cassie’s hands wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. She looks like she’s just been punched in the stomach, hard.
“We should come back.” Her voice comes out husky, like she has to force the words out, and she goes to turn around, trying to get out of the room as fast as she can.
“No. Stay!” Grayson reaches his hand out towards her, and she turns around slowly at his words.
This time the look that she gives him is one of disappointment rather than pain, and he’s not sure which is worse. He becomes acutely aware of the woman still holding onto him, her fingernails digging into him ever so slightly, as she gives Adriana an amused glance. He realizes how this must look to her. Adriana had come here to help him out of the hole he’d dug himself, to get him in a place where he could fight and win, and this is how he repays her, throwing the image of him with another woman in her face, like she doesn’t matter at all.
“Get off me.” His voice is low and commanding and more aggressive than he had intended. Cassie seems to think about it for a moment and then grudgingly releases him.
“See you at the party, baby,” she almost purrs, as she saunters out of the room, looking down at Adriana as she pushes past her.
“Classy girl, Fletcher. Didn’t think the ‘Fatal Attraction’ gig was your type.” Willow cocks her hip, her eyes narrowing at Grayson, making it clear just how big an asshole she thinks he is.
“It’s just the world.” Tommy shrugs, as he sidles up towards Willow. “He’s just won the biggest fight of his career. Girls come as part of the package. And you are?” He levels Willow with that all-American smile of his, and she raises an eyebrow at him.
“Leaving. Let’s go Adrie.” Willow takes hold of her friend’s hand but notices that Adriana has made no attempt to follow her.
“You’re hurt.” Adriana looks at Grayson’s lip, which is split and swollen. Plus, bruises are starting to mottle the perfect skin on his jaw.
Willow sighs loudly and nudges Tommy in the rib cage. “Come on, Blondie; I think we’ve overstayed our welcome. Why don’t you tell me a little about this after-party?” She winks at him, and Tommy’s shit-eating grin gets a little wider, as he puts his hand on the small of her back and follows her out.
Grayson and Adriana continue to stare at each other, as if there weren’t anything or anybody else in the room. West clears his throat loudly, reminding Grayson of his presence.
“I should head out, too…I’m sure I’ve got coach stuff to do…” West heads towards the door as fast as he can, mumbling as he goes. But he stops as he gets to Adriana. “Glad to see you, gorgeous.” He gives her a quick peck on the cheek that seems to surprise him as much as it does her before he hurries out of the room, closing the door behind him.
The air suddenly seems to have bee sucked out of the room, and all Grayson can do is stare at Adriana, at the woman who has this incomparable effect on him. In her skinny jeans and her black crop top that shows off her beautiful caramel skin, she is the most stunning thing he’s ever seen. He can feel his body responding to her. Between his attraction to her and the adrenaline that’s still pumping around his body, he has to physically stop himself from jumping her right there and then.
She’s the first to look away, and he doesn’t think that he’s imagining the blush that creeps up her neck, giving him the impression that she’s read his thoughts. But that isn’t possible, is it?
“Let me take a look at you.” Adriana makes a beeline for the first aid kit that’s been given a place of pride in the middle of the room. When Grayson doesn’t move, she nods towards the massage table, which now stands the right way up. “Hop on.”
Grayson obeys without thinking, feeling his aching muscles as soon as he moves. He lifts himself gingerly up onto the table and watches Adriana as she busies herself with the limited equipment in the little kit. It looks like she’s gone into nurse mode, figuring out what she needs to patch him up. There’s something unbelievably sexy about knowing that she wants to take care of him. He can feel himself growing hard just at the thought, and he tries to concentrate on the paint peeling off of the wall to take his mind somewhere other than the gutter.
“This is going to sting a little.” Adriana doesn’t wait for a response before she dabs at his split lip with something that stings more than a little. She bites her own lip, as he grunts at the pain. “Why did you let him hit you so many times?” She grabs some ice from the champagne bucket that’s been delivered to congratulate him and twists it inside a towel, holding it against his jaw.
He hasn’t had a look at himself yet, and the way that Adriana’s looking at him, he doesn’t think he wants to. “I had to draw him out. I knew that he’d go all out in the first couple of rounds. Besides, I wanted to give the crowd a good show.”
The shock on Adriana’s face is palpable. “Give them a good show? You mean you let yourself get beaten up so that the crowd got their money’s worth?” She shakes her head as if she can’t believe what she’s hearing.
“They come for a fight. Knocking someone out in the first minute isn’t the same thing.” Grayson shrugs noncommittally. Showmanship is part of MMA; it isn’t just about who could hit the hardest and who is the best strategist. It is also about getting the crowd behind you and creating a following; West had taught him that. “When you’re in trouble in the ring, if you’ve got loyal fans, they’ll help get you up off of the mat. The relationship works both ways. It’s give and take.”
Adriana shakes her head. “I still don’t understand it. That animal could’ve really hurt you. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying to!” The gold in her jade green eyes is more pronounced, as they flash in anger.
“But he didn’t.” Grayson covers her hand with his and gazes straight at her. “I know what I’m doing, Adrie. I’m okay.” He hopes that the look he’s giving her is one of reassurance, but he doesn’t have time to read her expression as she turns away from him,
pulling her hand out from underneath his.
The silence stretches out between them. There are so many things that he wants to say to her, but his brain is a mess, and it’s like he can’t maintain one coherent thought. The adrenaline that had been filling his body only a few minutes earlier is seeping out of him, leaving him exhausted.
“Did you like the fight?” It’s a lame question, he knows, but it’s the best he can do right now. Besides, her opinion really matters to him.
Adriana turns back to him, taking one of his hands and then the other, unwrapping the tape gently. Her fingers work quickly, methodically, like she’s done this a million times. “I don’t know if ‘like’ is the right word.” She sighs deeply, as she reaches his red knuckles. “I don’t know if I could like something that leaves you in this state.”
Grayson feels a warmth in his chest that spreads through his body. The fact that she cares what happens to him must be a good sign. But at the same time he wants her to understand why MMA is so important to him; he wants her to see what it means; he wants her to be proud of him. As if she’s done that uncanny thing again of reading his mind, she drops her head so that her hair covers his view of her face.
