Last Chance To Fight (7 page)

“Hot?” Betsy offered, and Hunter burst out laughing.

“Hot is definitely one thing,” he said with a smile.

“All right, well, I’ll leave you two kids alone,” Betsy said with a roll of her eyes. “Will I see you back here tonight after the match?” she asked me.

“Um,” I started, not quite sure how to respond. I certainly hoped that Hunter would be taking me home with him afterwards, but I didn’t want to say it right out.

“No,” Hunter chimed in. “If it’s all right with the lady, I think I’d like to take her back to my place afterwards.”

“Oh,” Betsy cooed. “Well, don’t mind me.”

“Shall we, then?” Hunter asked.

“Sure. I can’t wait to watch you cream this guy. Who are you fighting, anyway?” I asked, trying to make conversation if only to get my mind off of what would happen afterwards.

“His name is Wayne. Actually, he’s a friend of mine,” Hunter told me as we walked to the car. “I am still hoping to kick his ass, though.”

“I’ll never understand your line of work,” I said with a smile.

Hunter walked around to the passenger side of his snazzy red Firebird and opened the door for me.

“My lady,” he said with a bow.

“Oh my,” I said with a sigh. “I’d forgotten you were such a gentleman.”

“Always,” Hunter said, getting in and starting the engine. I couldn’t help but think that he was right about that. He always held doors for me, paid for my dinners even though I knew he couldn’t afford it, and treated me with the utmost respect. Even though he was the poorest kid in school, he was always perfect gentleman.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Hunter began as he started the car, “why have you been staying at Betsy’s when you have your own place?”

“Oh,” I said, not sure how to answer. I knew that Betsy was right, that I really needed to tell Hunter what had been going on. But I didn’t think it was a good idea to get him upset right before his fight. “Could we talk about that later?”

“Later, why?” Hunter asked, turning toward me. I could see concern flashing in his eyes. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

“It’s OK,” I said. “Don’t worry. I just don’t think we should talk about it right before your fight.”

Hunter shook his head.

“Can you just tell me now?” he asked. “I think wondering and worrying about it is going to be worse before the fight.”

“All right,” I said. “If you really think it’ll be better that way.”

“I do,” Hunter said, reaching over to take me by the hand. “Just tell me what’s going on."

I took a deep breath.

“So, I was seeing this guy before I left Australia,” I said, finally. “And then a few days ago, he showed up on my doorstep.”

Hunter was quiet for a moment before he spoke, and I was afraid he might get madder than I realized.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice icy.

“Nothing, exactly. I tried to break it off with him,” I said.

“You tried to? What do you mean you tried to?”

“I mean, I did break it off with him. But he didn’t take it well,” I answered.

“Did he do something?” Hunter asked, anger rising in his voice. “Who the hell is this guy?”

“He didn’t do anything. But he was acting strange. He scared me a little,” I admitted. “But I don’t think he’s going to come back.”

“God damn it,” Hunter swore, hitting the steering wheel with his hand. “I can’t stand fucking guys like that.”

“It’s OK, Hunter,” I said, quietly.

“It’s not OK! My dad was a piece of shit just like that. Scaring people just because he could,” Hunter said, getting quiet again.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“What?” Hunter said, his voice softening instantly as he turned toward me. “Let’s get one thing straight, you don’t have anything to be sorry about. My piece of shit dad has something to be sorry about. Your piece of shit ex has something to be sorry about. But not you.”

“Thanks, Hunter,” I said, touched that he was so angry on my behalf, but still worried that he might get too worked up over it. “How is your mom, anyway? I miss her,” I said, partly because I really did miss his mom, and partly because I wanted to change the subject.

“She’s good,” Hunter said. “A lot better than she used to be. But still struggling to get by, as always.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I always liked her.”

“She always liked you too,” Hunter told me. “And she’ll be all right. That’s why I want to win this damn tournament so badly. The prize money would be enough to pay the rest of her mortgage and then some. It would take a great load off of her shoulders.”

“Hunter, that’s so sweet,” I said. “You’re very generous.”

“It’s the least I can do after she raised me all by herself,” he said. “Anyway, who is this ex of yours? Where does he live?”

“I don’t want you to do anything,” I said. “And anyway, I don’t know where he’s staying. He just flew in from Australia. He’s probably in a hotel or something.”

“I’m not going to do anything. But I don’t want you staying there by yourself, OK?” he asked. “It’s not safe.”

“OK,” I agreed. “I’ll stay with Betsy for a while longer.”

“Fine,” Hunter said. “Anyway, I’m really sorry that happened to you, Anna. I wish I had been there.”

“I wish you had too,” I told him, reaching over to put my hand on his knee.

“I hope there isn’t a next time,” said Hunter, “but if there is, I’m damn well going to be there.”

“Thanks, Hunter,” I said, hoping we could change the subject. Even though I was glad it didn’t seem to upset him too much, I didn’t really want to talk about it anymore. “So, tell me about this fight. Who’s going to win? What are your odds?”

“Odds?” Hunter laughed. “Well, it’s not a horse race, so we don’t have odds, exactly.”

“Wait, you aren’t taking me to a horse race?” I joked.

“Haha, very funny,” Hunter said, nudging me with his elbow. “Anyway, under normal circumstances I would beat Wayne easily. But it could be tricky since this is my first fight since I broke my ankle.”

“I see,” I said. “Well, I hope you kick his ass.”

“Thanks, baby,” Hunter said with a grin.

W
hen we arrived at the arena, Hunter got me my tickets before leaving to change his clothes.

“You’ll be sitting next to my friend Jake and Trina, my agent,” he told me. “You’ll like them, I think.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Maybe they can give me the dirt on you.”

“I hope not,” he said with a wink, then leaned in to give me a kiss on the lips. Though it was just a quick, affectionate peck, it still sent the butterflies in my stomach on another rampage.

“Kick his ass,” I told him with a grin, and left to go find my seat. When I got there, I saw that Trina and a man, who I assumed must be Jake, were already there.

“Hi,” I said, extending my arm. “I’m Anna.”

“Trina,” said the beautiful woman I’d once taken for Hunter’s girlfriend, taking my hand. She had a pretty firm handshake, I noticed.
She must be a go-getter
, I thought.

“And I’m Jake,” said the tall, kind-looking man beside her. “Hunter has told us a lot about you.”

“Oh, has he?” I said, feeling the color rising in my cheeks. “Good things, I hope.”

“Definitely good things. Too good to be true, is what I thought before I met you,” Jake said with a sweet grin.

“Definitely too good to be true,” Trina said, in a tone of voice I couldn’t quite interpret.

“Um,” I said, not quite sure what to say.

“Don’t mind her,” Jake said. “That’s just her sense of humor.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to smile. “I see.”

We made small talk for a few minutes, until the house lights dimmed and the announcer entered the ring.

“Ladies and gentleman!” he crooned into the microphone. “Tonight! We have the Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Final you’ve all been waiting for!”

The announcer paused dramatically as the crowd cheered.

“In the red corner,” he began again, “please give a warm welcome to two-time semi-finalist Waaaaayyyyyne Meyers!”

I saw Hunter’s friend enter the arena, looking ready for a fight. The crowd screamed as he pumped his fists in the air and entered the ring. He looked pretty tough, but I felt fairly sure Hunter could take him. He’d been doing really well with physical therapy, and seemed normal as far as I could tell.

“And in the blue corner, please welcome back last year’s finalist, Hunter, the Skull Crusher, Fiiiiiiiinnnnnn!”

When Hunter came out, jumping up and down, the crowd went wild. This was the part I usually skipped when watching his fights on the internet, as the women in the audience screamed and tried to grab him, some even going so far as to throw their bras and panties. Sitting here now, as proud as I was of him, I wished I could just fast forward to the fight.

“Does it bother you, the way some of these women throw themselves all over him?” Jake asked, sensing my discomfort.

“Maybe a little,” I admitted. “It would be easier if I didn’t know about his past.”

Just then, Hunter spotted me in the crowd and caught my eye. For a moment, I could no longer hear the ecstatic cheering of everyone around me, and the whole world seemed to go silent. Hunter smiled at me, a quiet, knowing smile. The audience must have sensed its significance, because soon I noticed that attention was turning towards me, and people were starting to talk.

“Looks like you don’t have anything to worry about,” said Jake. “I’ve never seen a more stupid in love grin than the one on Hunter’s face.”

“Thanks,” I said, laughing. “I hope you’re right.”

“That is a pretty stupid grin all right,” Trina said. I smiled, assuming this was another sign of her sense of humor. She was his manager, after all. She must at least kind of like Hunter.

“I mean, I’m not just going by his stupid grin,” Jake said. “He told me about you a long time ago. Way before you came back.”

“He did?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah, he did. You were the one who got away. And you were the one who inspired him to quit his bad boy ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess he just always held out hope that you guys would find each other again,” Jake said. “He quit fucking around, excuse the expression, years ago.”

“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s true. I mean, he’s got some other stuff going on that made him get his act together,” Jake said, shifting in his seat a little. “But I know you’ve always been on his mind.”

Soon Jake’s attention drifted back to the fight. The first round was over without a clear victory, and Hunter and Wayne sat in their corners drinking water, getting iced down, and listening intently to their corner men. When the bell rang, Hunter came out swinging, getting a solid hit right on Wayne’s jaw.

“Ouch, that looked like a good one,” I said.

“Yeah, I’m sure that didn’t feel good,” Jake agreed.

The two of them scuffled for a bit longer until eventually Hunter knocked Wayne down onto the canvas and held him down, pummeling him with his elbows.

“And I bet that feels even worse,” Jake said. “The fight’s probably almost over, at this point.”

“Really?” I asked. “Those elbow hits don’t look that bad.”

“You’d be surprised,” Jake told me.

And sure enough, it wasn’t long before Hunter was declared the winner. The announcer stood with Hunter’s arm in the air as the crowd went wild. I stood up and cheered for him like everyone else, because, after all, I was his biggest fan.

Before I knew what was happening, Hunter was climbing out of the ring and into the audience, right to where I was sitting. The spotlight focused directly on us as he took me in his arms and planted a long, deep kiss right on my mouth.

“Goodness, Hunter,” I said when he released me. He laughed and picked me up, spinning me around.

“My ankle feels great, Miss Physical Therapist,” he said.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I chuckled, catching instantly his good spirits.

“So, are you ready to come back to my place? I could use another kind of physical therapy,” he said with a grin. “If you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean, bad boy,” I said, a thrill running through me as I felt the heat of his body pressed up against mine. “I’m more than ready.”

“Good,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of pent up energy. So I hope you aren’t tired, because I’m probably not going to let you sleep.”

With the look in his eyes, and the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around me, I didn’t think I’d ever want to sleep again.

“Let’s just get there, already,” I said.

“Perfect,” he said, and took me by the hand. In a matter of minutes we were in his car and speeding off towards his home. I hoped it wasn’t too far from the arena.

N
ormally nothing can pump me up more than winning a fight, and this one in particular was really important. It put me one step closer to the winning the tournament, getting to take on Jake for the championship, and being able to negotiate the contract I thought I deserved. After all, I had a huge following. I brought the league a ton of money with my matches. I should be getting more in return. Not only would I be able to pay my mother’s mortgage, but I could start a savings account for my daughter, so she wouldn’t have to worry about scraping by, the way I always did.

All of that was what should have been on my mind. But that night, as I drove home from the arena, there was one thing and one thing only occupying my thoughts. Anna was sitting next to me, looking hotter than I could even imagine anyone ever looking. And when it comes to things like that, I’ve got a pretty good imagination.

By the time we got back to my place, I was so hard I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk inside. I switched the car off and turned to look at Anna, who had been quiet for the twenty minutes or so it had taken to drive there. When I saw the hungry look in her eyes, I knew exactly why she’d been so quiet. It took all of my strength not to grab her and take her, right there in the car. But I had other plans for the evening.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” I said, opening my door. I walked around to her side and opened the door for her. Anna climbed out and stood up, so that she was just centimeters away from me. God, I wanted her.