Fight of Life (Perception Book 3)

by Shandi Boyes

  “I don’t know Noah” I reply concerned, wanting to make him sweat it out a little longer. His eyes form into little slits, before he storms up the front stairs.

  “Alright, I will ask Lola for her number” I yell, making Noah come to a halt at the top of the stairs. He seems to have freaked out enough and I had great pleasure in finally seeing him being rattled over someone.

  He quickly walks back down the stairs and stands in front of me, waiting for me to text Lola.

  “Jesus Noah, calm down, you don’t need to get your panties in a twist” I laugh while I pull my phone out of my pocket to text Lola.

  Noah wants Emily’s number.

  I friggin knew it! It’s 555 315 455

  Seeya on Tuesday xx

  Yep!

  Noah stores Emily’s number into his phone as I recite it to him. I decide not to tell him about Lola purposely sending him to Emily’s room as he would hate the idea of being set up. Now that I have done Noah this favour, it’s time for him to return one.

  “Do you have any plans on Tuesday night?” I question eagerly.

  “Nope, why?” Noah instantly replies as he places his phone back in his pocket.

  “Remember that car prank we have done a couple of times? I am taking Lola out to the State Forest for a driving lesson on Tuesday night and I think she might appreciate the rush of adrenaline” I answer while smiling and waggling my eyebrows.

  Noah has helped me with this prank a couple of times before and I swear on my mother’s grave that it works every single time. I just hope it works with Lola as I can’t stop thinking about the first and only time we have slept together.

  Chapter 9

  Jacob

  “You’re good to go” declares Hank once he finishes taping my knuckles and placing on my new pair of black UFC gloves.

  I stand up from the wooden bench I am sitting on and start jumping around the room in an attempt to warm up my muscles. Tonight’s fight is being held in a rundown old boxing gym on the outskirts of town. Hank said you have to start somewhere, but once I get a few fights under my belt the locations should start to improve. I haven’t told anyone about the fight tonight, I don’t know why. I think it is because this is the one thing that I get to do for myself and I don’t want to share my passion just yet. Or maybe I am just worried about my friends witnessing me getting my ass kicked!

  I am going to be fighting another local fighter that uses the nickname ‘The Terminator’. Hank said that he has been fighting professionally for the past year but he doesn’t think I should be concerned about my lack of experience.

  When Hank indicates that it’s time to go, I pull off my long sleeve shirt and start following him out into the old gym. They have a black UFC fight cage set up in the middle and there are several black steel chairs lining the edges of the octagon shaped cage. People have only just started slowly filtering into the gym. Because we are both unknown fighters, we will only fight in front of a small crowd of people who arrive early to secure the best seats.

  The instant I enter the cage my nerves start to get the better of me. Out of all the fucking careers in the world I had to pick one that requires me to use my fists.

  “You’ve got this Jacob” encourages Hank from the sideline, just as I notice my opponent strolling towards me.

  My opponent is just as built as I am but he is at least a head shorter than me. He is wearing bright red shorts that are so tight and close to his skin he looks like he is wearing underwear. I slightly chuckle, causing Hank to narrow his eyes at me while motioning with his hand to cut out my laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh, the guy looks like a fucking tool.

  As he enters the cage, he glares over towards me and I see that his nostrils flare as he takes in several large deep breaths. Once the referee indicates the start of the fight, he starts jumping around on the mat as he throws jabs into the air. I stay standing in my spot as I watch him move around me, waiting patiently for him to take the first swing, then I won’t feel so bad when I knock him the fuck out.

  What I wasn’t expecting was for him to attack my legs first. Once he wraps his legs around my ankles, I plummet down hard onto the mat. I instantly lift my arms to protect and shelter my face as Hank has taught me. My opponent dives on top of me and starts throwing left and right combinations against my arms, that are managing to successfully block his heavy swings from connecting with my face. I can feel my anger starting to surge from his hard onslaught against my body. I wrap my legs around his torso and with pulling back hard, I end up successfully flipping him backwards. He is now underneath me and I manage to get a few jabs into his unprotected face.

  Some of his punches hit harshly on my ribs, forcing me to roll off him, before I immediately stand back on my feet. He appears to be dazed from the punches I had managed to connect to his face. I lift my arms ensuring my face is protected as I slowly start to step towards him. I have never been a dancer and my stance stays solid. He spends most of the time dancing around throwing punches into the air, allowing me the opportunity to observe that every time he swings his left hand, he leaves the left side of his face completed unprotected.

  I slowly move in closer and once he swings his left fist towards my ribs, I swing my right fist hard against his face. The instant my glove covered knuckles connects with his left jawline, I hear the sound of cracking, before his body flops hard onto the mat. The referee runs over towards him, declaring that the fight is over by technical knockout.

  “Hell yeah” I scream loudly, as I lift my arms up into the air.

  I also notice that Hank is jumping around the outside of the cage. The feeling of victory is euphoric and I can see how this type of fighting can become addictive. The adrenaline rush is like nothing I have ever experienced before. I had just won my very first UFC fight by a knock out in under four minutes. I walk over towards my opponent, causing the referee to run towards me. He wraps his arms around my torso and tries to drag me backwards.

  “No, no, no the fight is over” he yells, while he attempts to hold me back from ‘The Terminator’.

  “I know” I reply sarcastically, shrugging off the referee.

  Once I am standing in front of my opponent, I offer him a hand to assist him off the ground. The referee watches me cautiously as ‘The Terminator’s’ gaze lifts from looking down at the mat to stare into my eyes. The feeling of defeat is clearly etched on his face. He hesitantly accepts my offer and I help him back onto his feet, while he holds together his broken jaw with his spare hand.

  “It was a good fight” I say, while I tap my gloves down against his spare hand.

  “Maybe for you” he murmurs. His manager then comes and assists him out of the cage.

  Hank gave me a bit of a ribbing after the fight saying that I am supposed to portray a sense of arrogance when I am in the cage and that I wasn’t going to get a reputation as a serious fighter if I continued to help my opponents off the ground after knocking them out. But I don’t see a problem with it. If the fight is over, it’s over. Why did I need to continue to act like an ass?

  The next morning, I was feeling a little worse for wear from some of the jabs he had managed to connect against my ribs and arms, but the feeling of victory made the aches and pains totally worth it. None of his jabs connected with my face, so no one was any wiser that I had been in a fight the night before. Because of my win last night, I am automatically placed into a fight the following week. UFC fight nights are held on Saturday nights, so I will be able to maintain my current schedule. Gym Monday to Friday, Mavericks Friday night and Saturdays will now be dedicated to fight night.

  All day Sunday, I spent the day recuperating from the fight and first thing Monday morning I arrived bright and early back at Hank’s Gym to start preparations for my next fight.

  “You need to come up with a fight name” says Hank the instant I walk into the gym.

  My senses have started to adjust to the stench of the gym the past few months and today my stomach doesn’t lurch a
s much as it normally does when I entered the large glass door.

  “A fight name?” I question as I place my gym bag down onto the floor to remove my shirt.

  “Yeah like a nickname, they won’t just call you Jacob” he replies sarcastically while chuckling.

  I stare at Hank while I try to think of a name, but my mind is completely blank. Is it just me or does it seem a little arrogant to give yourself a nickname?

  “I’ll let you pick it” I advise Hank, before I move towards the boxing bag to commence my three-hour morning gym session.

  Chapter 10

  Jacob

  I had just arrived at the front of Lola’s house to collect her for our driving lesson that we had organised on Friday night. I was surprised when she darted towards the car excitedly, before she greeted me with a long steaming kiss. Maybe she had reconsidered her stance on dating?

  “Emily is coming with us” she advises waggling her eyebrows, before she once again starts making out with me. I definitely think she has reconsidered her stance on dating and it causes my heart to soar with excitement.

  Not long later, I hear the sound of a car door closing harshly. I pull away from Lola and notice an attractive girl sitting in the back seat. This must be Emily.

  “Hi Em, you ready for this?” I chuckle. And I am not just talking about the driving lesson. Emily seemed to have sparked a huge interest out of Noah Friday night and I am now understanding why. She is as stunningly beautiful as Lola, but she seems a little more down to earth.

  When she replies “As ready as I will ever be” while screwing up her pointed little nose and sticking her tongue out, I can’t help but chuckle. I don’t think even Noah knows what is about to hit him.

  Lola does exceptionally well throughout the driving lesson, that it starts to make me wonder if she really did get failed just because the female instructors didn’t like her. The driving lesson went a lot longer than I had expected, so I had completely forgotten that I had asked Noah to wait for us under the railway bridge. Normally, when I pull this type of prank, I ensure that I am the one driving. It was pure fucking luck that Lola managed to keep control of my car after Nick’s truck pretty much ran us off the road. My anger surged when the car stopped spinning out of control, wondering how the fuck Noah couldn’t have realised that I wasn’t driving. Lola would be around five-foot-five at the most and I think it should have been pretty darn obvious that I wasn’t sitting in the driver’s seat.

  “Oh my fucking god” I scream in frustration while pounding my fists on the dashboard.

  When I notice that Lola flinched from my outburst, I quickly remove myself from the car to pace back and forth, trying to bring my anger under control. I hadn’t meant to scare Lola and Emily and my anger should have been directed at Noah.

  I move over towards the driver’s side window and tap gently on the glass, once again causing Lola and Emily to scream in surprise.

  “Sorry Lola, I just thought maybe you would like to swap seats and let me do the driving again?” I offer, since Lola appears extremely rattled from our stupid prank.

  I try to hold in my smile when she asks if my house is close by so she can have a drink, but I miserably fail. It isn’t that I liked scaring Lola, but I certainly liked the idea of being able to get inside her panties again.

  It was only when I was driving back to my house did my mind start wondering why Lola flinched when I hit the dashboard. She seems more rattled and scared about my outburst than what she was from the car spinning out of control. When I move my hand over to grasp her hand within mine, she pulls away from my embrace. Her gaze stays firmly planted on the sky outside and the happy carefree Lola that was making out with me earlier tonight seems to have vanished. Obviously the prank I had decided to pull has completely backfired against me.

  When I arrived back at my house, I spot Noah standing against the doorframe in his boxer shorts with an arrogant smirk on his face. Lola’s obvious dismissal of me and the fact that Noah could have seriously injured Lola and Emily causes my anger to come rolling back in.

  “Just give me a minute” I request to Lola and Emily, before storming over towards Noah.

  We have never really had a fight before, but we managed to say a few harsh words to each other. I hadn’t realised that Lola had exited the car until she placed her hand on my shoulder. She had startled me that I shrugged away from her, once again causing her to flinch at my actions. Why the fuck does she keep flinching?

  I knew my size normally scared girls when they first met me, but once they get to know me they know that I would never lay a hand on them. Noah ends up storming off into the house as I turn to face Lola.

  “Why do you keep flinching at me?” I question concerned. Lola’s eyes open wide in shock and she takes on a defensive stance.

  “I don’t flinch at you Jacob” she replies angrily, as she storms back over to my car.

  I end up driving Lola and Emily home in complete silence. Nothing is mentioned about the driving lesson, the prank or the fact that Noah and I nearly ended up in a fist fight. But I am more concerned at the fact that Lola has flinched at me twice in one night.

  “Thanks Jacob” Emily whispers quietly as she exits the car.

  I quickly grab a hold of Lola’s hand before she fully exits my car, causing her to flop back down into the passenger seat.

  “I won’t ever hurt you Lola” I inform. I would never put my hands on a woman and I hate the thought that Lola could be scared of me.

  Lola takes in several deep breaths, before she turns to face me.

  “I know that Jacob” she whispers firmly, while her tear filled eyes look up at mine, causing a deep pit to form in the middle of my chest.

  “Who did this to you?” I question, as I use my thumb to rub away her tears that are threatening to fall down her beautiful face.

  “No one important, just drop it Jacob” she whispers angrily, before she bolts out of the passenger seat of my car and runs into her house.

  I sit in my car trying to work out what the fuck just happened. Do I go into her house and force her to tell me what had happened, or do I just drop it as she requested? It kills me, but I slowly and hesitantly start to pull my car out of her driveway.

  When I arrive back at my house, Noah and I pretty much rehash the exact same argument we had earlier. It was only when he realised that it was Lola driving the car that his anger surges to a level I have never witnessed before. I could tell when the realisation dawns on his face that we could have caused a serious accident tonight with our stupid actions. He then bolted outside to pummel his fists against a tree trunk.

  I know Noah is a person that doesn’t like to talk, so I watch him cautiously from the living room window, silently letting him know that I am here for him if he needs me. When his gaze turns towards mine, I notice his eyes are darker than I have ever seen them, before he starts running out of our driveway.

  I grab my keys of the hallway table and attempt to go and jump in my car to follow Noah, before my brother Patrick stands in the doorway blocking my exit.

  “Let him go, he needs some time Jacob” instructs Patrick.

  I hesitate, Noah has been through so much shit in his life and he needs to know that I always have his back.

  “He won’t do anything stupid, just give him some time” Patrick states sympathetically before he walks away from the doorframe.

  Chapter 11

  Lola

  After I darted out of Jacob’s car, I quickly ran into my room. I wanted to ensure that Emily didn’t see my tears. I was already angry at myself that I had allowed Jacob to see them forming in my eyes. This is why I don’t date. I hate the fought that Jacob thinks he can come in and save me. I don’t need saving, I can look after myself.

  I had thought my ex-boyfriend Callum was the love of my life, but I was just young and stupid. The fact that he instantly started to try and change me when I moved in with him, should have caused the alarm bells to start ringing. But I was blinded by
his good looks and popular reputation. The first six months our relationship blossomed nicely. We had the occasional spats about jealously issues, but the makeup sex was out of this world. When he asked me to move in with him I was ecstatic, but that is when his shiny exterior started to fade. He would often comment that the skirt I was wearing was too short or that my makeup was too slutty.

  I thought it was funny that the things he used to find about me attractive, now seemed to repulse him……

  “There is no fucking chance I am taking you out anywhere in that. Go and get changed!” Callum yells aggressively as he grabs a hold of my arm roughly and forces me to walk back into our room.

  His brother Curtis is over and I have noticed over the past three months that when Curtis visits, Callum acts even more aggressive and bossy. I can hear Curtis’s chuckle rumble down the hallway as Callum’s grip tightens around my arm.