“Got a name for us?” I asked.
“The Tea Trainers?” he said.
I laughed. “Hell no. And keep your voice down. People are going to end up calling us that if they overhear. How about Maxwell and Ramone?”
“Or Ramone and Maxwell?” he said.
“Okay, scratch the names. And scratch the word tea anywhere in the title. How about we sleep on this?”
“Deal. It’s good to have you as a partner, Ryan.”
“Likewise.”
And just like that, I was back in the business of fighting. It felt so good, and I knew that I’d done the right thing. We decided to keep it simple in the beginning, with me just helping out whenever I was needed. But we made plans to meet up the following month to officially set up the business and move forward.
Today was the day of the fight that I had planned with Ron. After I’d made my announcement he’d called his own meeting and called on another fighter to take my place. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d said to me that day, and I knew that I would go and support him no matter how difficult it was going to be for me. Yet, when I woke up that day I felt excited.
“Today is the day,” Blaire said.
“I’m oddly excited,” I said. “This is the first fight that I’m going to watch after my retirement announcement.”
“I’m excited too. The last time that I watched a fight was that time with you and Nick.”
“Oh yeah,” I said as the memory of that night came flooding to the forefront of my mind. “I remember that. I was so happy to see you. I remember Nick telling me that you were not going to be happy with me because I never called you back after Wyoming.”
“Why didn’t you call me back, by the way?” she asked.
“I have no idea. Because I’m an idiot?” I suggested.
“Yes. That must be it,” she said and laughed.
“Well, I’m glad you came in that day. You changed my life, Sunny.”
The moment we arrived for the fight, a reporter came rushing over to see me.
“Ryan Maxwell, I’m surprised to see you here tonight.”
I grinned at the reporter. “You and me both. Turns out I can’t stay away. I’m still going to support the other fighters. It’s way more relaxing to be a spectator,” I said.
“Good to see you here. I’m assuming you’re going to be backing Garrison tonight?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m backing up Ron all the way.”
“You are?” the reporter asked without hiding the surprise in his voice.
I laughed. “I am. This doesn’t mean I like him and it doesn’t mean I think he could’ve beaten me. But I have to admit that he’s a good fighter. He deserves the title.”
“That was nice,” Blaire said as we made our way back to our seats. I’d told her what Ron had said to me after I’d made my announcement, so she knew that I wasn’t angry with him anymore.
“I won’t tell them what a nice guy he really is, but I will support his fights. Anyway, I’m sure he’s got this one.”
“What do you know about Garrison?” she asked.
“I’ve heard he’s good. He’s new to the scene, but he’s already pretty popular. I think it’s going to be a close one, but I’m still saying that Ron will win.”
“PROWL! PROWL! PROWL!” yelled the crowd as Ron made his way into the ring. I found myself chanting along with them.
It was a strange feeling to be in the crowd. I felt a small pang of sadness, but it was quickly replaced by pure excitement and passion for the sport. By the end, I was shouting along with everyone else, and getting just as immersed as a viewer as I would’ve been as a fighter. I hadn’t realized just how much I would enjoy it.
“That was amazing!” I said to Blaire as we walked out.
“Ron was incredible,” she said. “That guy had no chance! Hey, where are we going?”
“Backstage,” I said and laughed as Blaire squealed with joy.
When we arrived backstage, a few people came up to me that I’d known from the industry and everyone seemed happy to see me. I definitely felt like I had a lot of support from these guys.
“Ryan! You made it,” Ron said as he saw me. “And this must be the famous girlfriend?”
I laughed. “This is Blaire.”
“Amazing fight, Ron. Seriously, that was incredible,” Blaire said. She started telling him specifically which moves she had enjoyed the most and Ron seemed shocked by the conversation.
“You sound like you really know what you are talking about. Has Ryan been teaching you?”
I laughed. “Blaire knew about fighting before I met her. She’s a big fan.”
“Seriously?” Ron said. “Uh, you might be the perfect woman.”
“She is,” I said. “And Ron, that really was amazing. “I’m honestly not sure I could’ve taken you. Although, don’t let anyone hear me say that.”
Ron laughed. “I don’t think you realize how good you are. Also, I stole most of those moves from you. I’ve been studying all your old fights.”
“You have?”
“Oh yeah. You’re a legend, man. Also, don’t let anyone hear me say that.”
We laughed and then quickly parted ways before the media saw us talking friendly with one another. As we left, Blaire turned to me.
“He’s not such a bad guy. His teeth don’t even look so yellow to me anymore.”
“Yeah, he’s actually not so bad.”
“I agree with him, you know,” she said.
“About you being the perfect woman? I agree with that too.”
“No! Not that,” she said and blushed. “About you winning if you’d been the one up there fighting with him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know so much. But hey, we’ll never know, so let’s just pretend like I would’ve. Might as well.”
She grinned. “I love you, Knuckles.”
“Still going to call me that even though I’m not fighting? I thought I could shake that nickname.”
“Nope, you’ll always be Knuckles to me. I’m so glad that you weren’t fighting tonight, Ryan. Having you next to me was so much better. I’m relieved that you had a good night.”
“It was great. I can’t believe how worked up I got. In fact, I have a lot of pent up energy right now that I simply need to let go of. What do you think I can do to release it?”
Blaire grinned. “Oh, I think I can help with that.”
Epilogue
Blaire
Two years later
Just over two years had passed since I’d first met Ryan, and now we were sitting on the balcony in our hotel room in Hawaii looking out onto the water. I had been asked to play the lead in a new movie set in Hawaii, and I’d jumped at the chance. Ryan was here with me for two weeks while he took time out from his training. He didn’t mind taking breaks from his work anymore. He’d been there for a few days already, and I was enjoying having him to come home to after a shoot. After two years of being with him, I still didn’t get enough of him.
“Wyoming, Seattle, New York, Paris, Georgia, London and now Hawaii,” Ryan said. “Life with you is definitely not boring.”
I grinned. “From Wyoming to Hawaii—it sounds like a movie.”
“Staring Blaire Kaplan and Ryan Maxwell.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said. “I can’t believe it’s been two years already since the first time I met you.”
“It’s gone so fast, don’t you think? I can still remember the first time so clearly.”
“It has gone so fast, and I remember that day too. I thought you were a cowboy at the time,” I said as a memory came flashing through.
“What? You thought I was a cowboy? Are you serious? I didn’t know that. Why? I’m nothing like Brady.”
I laughed. “Well, you can’t blame me. We were in the middle of a shoot surrounded by only actors. The only other people were the people living on that ranch. So when I saw you, I just assumed that you also worked there.”
“
Did I look like I worked there?”
“I don’t know what you looked like. Although I had already met Brady by that stage and I did think that the two of you looked very similar. You were gorgeous, that’s all I really remember. I noticed your tattoos immediately. You were wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans at the time.”
“You remember what I was wearing?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” I said and smiled at the thought. “I remember. I couldn’t believe that you could turn such a simple outfit into something so attractive. I even turned to one of the other actresses on site and told her that I had no idea the men in Wyoming were so good looking.”
“I liked you too. Although Sloan gave that away when she told you how I’d been asking about you. I still remember sitting at my brother’s place having a barbecue and asking them as casually as I could about you. I thought you were the prettiest girl that I had ever seen in my life. I had this impression that actors were all high and mighty, but you were so down to earth. And you had the biggest smile that I had ever seen in my whole life.”
“And yet, despite all this, and despite having my number, you didn’t call me,” I teased.
“I’ll never live that one down, will I?”
“Probably not,” I said and grinned. “But it’s okay. It all worked out in the end. Ah, this is so nice. I almost wish I wasn’t here to work. I’m glad you got to come for two weeks.”
“Me too. You won’t believe how jealous Nick is. He said I have to work his shifts when I get back so that he can also take two weeks off.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“I would. But you know Nick. He’s not going to take two weeks off.”
“We need to find him a woman. He’s such a great guy,” I said.
“Yeah, and he’s terrible at finding women. He always picks the wrong one. Remember how sad he was when he realized that Katie was married?”
I laughed. “I’d forgotten about that. Okay, let’s try setting him up when we get back.”
“Good idea. But let’s not tell him that we’re doing it,” Ryan said.
“Oh for sure! I have great faith in our abilities as matchmakers. Maybe I’ll be so good at it that I’ll quit my acting career.”
“And give up doing shoots in Hawaii?”
“Okay, maybe not. You’ve got a point. Although so far there’s been more work than getting to spend actual time on the island.”
“We had that one day to explore, which was nice. But you’re not working tomorrow are you?”
“No, I have a two-day break from it all while they work on some of the other scenes. So that’s lucky. I still can’t believe I’m in Hawaii. I think it’s only really hitting me now that I’m not working. It’s so beautiful here.”
“It is. And so peaceful. How about I organize us some dinner tonight?” Ryan suggested.
“We can just get something sent to the room,” I said.
“Nah, we can do that on the other nights. It’s your night off; I want to plan something.”
I grinned. “Okay, then dinner is up to you tonight. I have no problem with that. There are quite a few restaurants around here to choose from.”
“I already know where I’m taking you,” he said.
“You do? Already?”
“I’ve done my research.”
Later that evening, Ryan told me to get ready and said he’d pick me up at six.
“Pick me up? But you’re staying with me?” I said.
He laughed. “Aren’t you an actor? Can’t you play along?”
“Oh,” I giggled. “Okay, I’ll be ready at six.”
Ryan got ready and left the hotel at five. I asked where he was going, but he wouldn’t tell me. He just told me that I must be ready at six as promised. So I jumped into the shower and then got changed into a pretty summery dress that I’d bought to wear on the island. I hadn’t had a chance to wear it yet, but that night felt like the right night for it. I topped it off with silver heels and then curled my hair at the edges because I knew Ryan liked it that way.
At exactly six, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and smiled.
“Blaire, you look beautiful.”
“So do you,” I said. Ryan was wearing the same outfit that he had worn the day that he’d come to my first movie screening. He wasn’t much for dressing up, so I knew that this outfit was saved for special occasions. I liked that about him. Ryan was well known in the fighting world, perhaps even more so now that he was a trainer. He was excellent at what he did. But despite being so well known he was still the same Ryan that I had met two years ago.
“There’s just one thing we both have to change, though.”
“Change? What do you mean?”
Ryan walked in and sat on the bed and started taking off his shoes. “No shoes tonight,” he said.
“No shoes?”
“Nope,” he said and then rolled up his jeans at the bottom.
I threw off my shoes and didn’t question him further. I could clearly see that Ryan wasn’t going to tell me anything until we got there.
He took my hand and led me outside. We walked on the beach until we got to a secluded spot that we’d both pointed out the other day when we were exploring the island. There was now a picnic blanket on the floor, along with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
“Ryan, this is amazing!”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping nobody had taken the champagne while I was picking you up. Can you imagine? I probably should’ve of made provisions for that, but I was hoping that nobody had seen me set this up.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that would’ve been bad. This is incredible, though.”
We sat down on the blanket and Ryan poured us each a glass of champagne.
“To us,” he said.
“To us,” I said and took a sip. “Oh, that’s good. I don’t know why champagne is generally only drunk on special occasions. I think I’m going to change that. I’m going to start having champagne more regularly. Steak dinner? Champagne with it. Sushi? Champagne with it. Chocolate cake? Champagne with it.”
“You’re crazy in all the right ways. I love you, Blaire.”
Ryan was being very serious tonight. “I love you too, Ryan. You’re in an incredibly romantic mood,” I said. “It must be the effects of Hawaii. It tends to do that to people. Either that or you’ve had too much sun today.”
“Nah, I don’t need Hawaii to be romantic. I just need to be around you. You make me so happy, Blaire. You’ve changed my life completely. Now, even when it’s night, I still have sunshine in my life. I love you, Sunny, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I don’t care where we are, be it in the middle of a farm in Wyoming or on a beach in Hawaii; as long as I’m with you I’m happy. Blaire Sunny Kaplan, will you marry me?”
I hadn’t been expecting that. No wonder Ryan had been acting so strangely these past few days. I kept wondering what was going on but figured he was just settling into island living. It all made sense now. And everything about this proposal made me happy.
“Yes!” I said. “Yes! Yes! Yes! I would love to marry you.”
“You’re the only person in the whole world that could make me forget about fighting. Only you.”
I smiled. Tears were streaming down my face. “My father would’ve loved you, Ryan. He would be so happy to know that I married a fighter.”
“Even though I’m not a fighter anymore?”
“You’ll always be a fighter. You fight for what you want in life, and you get it. That’s a fighter in my eyes.”
“There’s something else I want. Something that you probably want too.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I asked.
“Dinner.”
I chuckled. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Is it a liquid dinner tonight?” I said and held up my glass. I didn’t actually care whether we ate or not. Right then, the only thing that I could think about was that Ryan had asked me to marry him.
; “Not exactly,” he said. He got out his phone and quickly made a call. “We’re ready,” he said into the receiver.
“Ready for what? Who was that?”
“You’ll see.”
Five minutes later a man was walking up to us carrying a tray with a silver cover over it. Ryan took the tray from him and placed it down on the blanket in front of us.
“Ooh, this looks fancy,” I said.
“Lift it up.”
I lifted up the lid and burst out laughing. “Hot dogs! This is amazing.”
“Not just any hot dogs, by the way.”
I gasped. “No way. Are you serious? Are these really the same hot dogs from Seattle? But—how?”
He laughed. “I called them and told them about my plan. I flew them here.”
“You flew the chef here to make these?”
“I sure did. Which means, not only are you getting hot dogs for dinner, but you’re getting them for breakfast and lunch tomorrow too.”
I giggled. “I’m so excited,” I said as I reached over for one.
“Wait, are you more excited about the hot dog or about the fact that you’re going to marry me?” Ryan asked.
I looked at the hot dog and then looked at Ryan. Then I looked at the hot dog again. I laughed. “It’s a close one. But you win!”
“Most people would see that as an insult, but I know how much you love those hot dogs,” Ryan said.
I grinned at him. “Hot dogs and a marriage proposal all in one evening. I’d like to officially declare this the best night of my life.”
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