Read Submission Moves: An MMA Romance Online
Authors: Camilla Sisco
“Man, Lucky Charms is fucking tough,” the stranger next to her exclaimed. “He should be dead by now.”
Rose clutched her middle in vicarious pain as an oblique kick from Big Ugly sent Nick crashing into the chain-link fence.
It’s just another fight,
she told herself. She had watched all of his other fights. She had seen him get kicked and punched. So why was this so much harder to take?
She knew damn well why. Maybe she was being arrogant and presumptuous, but she couldn’t help feeling it was her fault Nick was getting killed right now, that she sent him to the cage a little broken.
Nick hit Big Ugly with a flying knee right to his face. Rose cheered wildly with the crowd but stopped when Big Ugly recovered and dealt another blow on Nick, a low and dirty punch this time that landed below the belt. All the men in the arena winced and groaned in sympathy as Nick fell to his knees. Rose screamed. She watched Nick double over in agony as the referee called a pause to the fight.
“I can’t watch this, I just can’t,” Rose sobbed. She turned and ran as fast as she could out to the nearest exit.
The group of guy friends seated beside her laughed as they watched her hysterical departure. “Girls,” they said, shaking their heads.
****
That last elbow to the head left Nick in a daze. He had no memory of walking back to his corner at the end of the round. Last thing he remembered was Big Ugly’s spinning back elbow connecting with his temple. Next thing he knew, he was slumped on the stool while the guys worked on icing his back and chest and trying to stop the bleeding somewhere on his face. He looked down on his chest in numb wonder. There was so much blood. He’d never bled that much in a fight before.
Joe crouched in front of him as another guy helped him to a drink of water. He focused on Joe, relying on him and his very specific and technical coaching. Now more than ever, Nick needed to be told what to do.
“Nicky, listen to me,” he whispered, “Rose is here. She flew in this morning. She asked to see you but I told her to wait after the fight. Maybe I shouldn’t have…”
What the…?
Nick looked at his coach in confusion. “Why are you telling me
this,
and why now?”
Joe shrugged. “It’s the last round. I figured it couldn’t hurt. Maybe you’d rally and… Fuck, I dunno. It always works in the movies.”
Realization dawned on Nick’s addled brain. “Am I losing, Joe?”
He hesitated, and that told Nick all he needed to know. “Hard to say, kid. If this goes to decision, it could go either way, but your face looks worse than his, so…”
His face looked worse than the guy they called Big Ugly?
Well, fuck.
“Keep defending those takedowns. But you need to knock him out, you got it?”
The bell rang, ending Nick’s reprieve.
Nick and Big Ugly circled each other, both men bruised, battered, and bloodied. They’d both taken as much of a beating that two fighters could possibly dish out and, in the fifth and final round, it was starting to show. The men were on their last legs.
In a burst of strength triggered by desperation, spite, or God knows what, Big Ugly went for another takedown attempt. Nick had already hit and kicked this man with everything he had. He knew it in his gut that he was never going to knock him out. The man was impenetrable and too damn ruthless. So Nick gave him what he wanted and let him take it to the mat.
Big Ugly went for the choke repeatedly but kept getting thwarted. Finally he caught Nick’s arm when he was trying to twist out of a headlock. In a last ditch effort, Nick went for a dangerous maneuver that could’ve snapped his arm in half. Instead, he got Big Ugly’s back and transitioned the position into a rear naked choke, Big Ugly’s signature move. He subdued the bigger man, locking his arms around his neck and squeezing, waiting for the tap. He squeezed even harder. Finally, Big Ugly clapped his large paw feverishly on Nick’s forearm. He released him and both fighters rolled onto their backs, exhausted.
The referee called the fight. The crowd went insane.
Nick got to his feet first and offered a hand to his vanquished opponent. “Get up,” he said in between pants. “You’re a champion. We don’t stay down for nobody.”
Big Ugly took his hand and allowed himself to be helped up. He and Nick looked at each other for a split second before they hugged it out.
****
He winced as he kicked the door of his suite shut. To say that his whole body was in pain was the understatement of the century. Nick went straight to the hospital after the post-fight press conference, where they patched him up as best as they could and sent him home after an infusion of heavy-duty painkillers and muscle relaxants. Still, everything that wasn’t numb hurt like hell.
And he was too damn tired. He just wanted to pass out in a soft bed and wake up a week later.
With deadened legs, he made his way to the bedroom. He paused at the entrance and managed a painful smile at what was waiting for him.
Rose sat up and a hand flew to her mouth when she saw him. Her face crumpled before she burst into tears.
“It’s not as bad as it looks, I promise,” Nick said.
“Oh Nick, Nick…” Rose sobbed. His handsome face was a mess of black and blue. It broke her heart to see him hurt. It broke her heart even more to think that she might not be allowed to offer him comfort and share his pain.
And his triumph. Because he did win, after all. The still undefeated middleweight
and
light heavyweight champion.
What a man!
Nick hung back by the door, watching and not making a move. Rose was no longer sure this was a good idea. “Angelo said it was okay if I waited for you here…”
“‘Course it is,” he said, taking long strides to close the gap between them and stretching out on the bed beside her. “Remember what I told you before? The first thing I wanna do after a fight?”
“You cannot be serious. You look half-dead.”
He clutched his side in pain as he laughed. “I
am
a little beat. But you can take care of me, right?”
Rose nodded, eager to be useful. Eager to please and to be everything this man would ever need. She reached for his belt buckle and his hand closed over hers.
“I was kidding, Rosie,” he said, sounding as exhausted as he looked.
“But I don’t mind,” she assured him, “I want to. Let me. I’m going to take such good care of you.” It no longer scared her, how badly she wanted to give herself over completely to this man. She welcomed it. As willingly and as gladly as she would welcome all that he had to give her.
“Just let me hold you a minute,” he said, motioning for her to lie in his arms. Cautiously, afraid of inflicting more damage to his bruised body, she folded herself beside him, offering up all her softness and warmth.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m here?” Rose asked, peering up at him.
“I already know why,” he said, stroking her hair.
“Oh?” She had a whole speech memorized. She was prepared to grovel and make a case for why he should give her another chance. But maybe there was no need for that, at least not tonight. “Why then?” she asked, curious.
“Because I’m hung and I can do things with my tongue like you wouldn’t believe—”
Rose groaned and buried her face in his shoulder. “You’ll never let me live that down, will you?” she asked in a muffled voice.
Nick chuckled as he shook his head. “I can’t believe you said that to your mother. You’re such a naughty girl.”
The weight lifted from her chest, and she was overcome with relief beyond measure that he was back to teasing her and flirting with her. She was so happy she nearly started crying again.
“I’m going to make you fall in love with me,” he vowed.
Rose bit back a smile as a single tear slid down her cheek.
“I’m going to make you fall in love with me,” Nick repeated, “then I’m gonna knock you up so fast, so you’ll have no choice but to marry me.”
She jumped out of his arms. “Nick! That is so—” She stopped and narrowed her eyes at the teasing smile curling on his lips. “That wasn’t funny.”
He just laughed and pulled her back down into his arms. She laid her small palm on his chest, right over his heart, and spoke softly, “I’m sorry, Nick. For being so stupid. I was just—”
“You were scared, I know,” he finished. “You were scared of not being in control. Scared I’d let you down and wouldn’t be everything you expected. Or maybe it’s more like you were scared I’d be everything you expected and confirm your worst beliefs.”
Rose heard the wry smile in his voice. He was spot on, as usual, but there was more. “What if
I
disappoint you? What if you get tired of me, decide I’m a pain in the ass—”
Nick shushed her. “You couldn’t. I wouldn’t. And you are a pain in the ass. I like that about you. I mean, look at me. I eat punches for a living. I guess I enjoy pain— Ouch!” he exclaimed, laughing, when Rose swatted his forearm.
“I don’t have to take your name, do I? When we get married?”
They both paused to consider it and cringed.
Rose Rossi. Rosie Rossi.
“You can call yourself whatever you want, sweetheart,” Nick said with a smile in his voice. “Makes no difference to me.”
Rose had made a decision long ago. If she ever found a man worth marrying, she would take his name. She felt no connection to her own name, no connection to the man who’d given it to her.
“I’d be honored to hyphenate my name with yours,” she said. “In the future, I mean. A long, long,
long
time from now.”
Wincing in pain, he turned to his side so they were now face to face. “Will you bust my balls if I ask your dad for your hand in marriage?”
“Let’s not go crazy, Lucky Charms. Let’s go out on a date first and take it from there,” she said, making a face even as her heart bloomed. “There’s no rush. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah?” He cupped her face and smiled, a smile full of hope and tenderness. “I’m finally getting a date with you then?”
“Yeah. I’m done fighting you. You’ve caught me and I’m tapping out. I’m all yours.”
“
I’m
all yours,” he murmured. “You had me at ‘your penis is enormous and pure magic.’”
Rose laughed. Her whole body shook with mirth. She was still laughing when Nick kissed her. “I fuckin’ love you,” he said plainly with no expectations, no wordless demand for reward or reciprocity. He stroked her hair with the same tenderness and infinite patience she’d come to expect from him. She knew he’d give her all the time she needed, whatever she needed. That certainty gave her all the courage and faith necessary. He kissed her again, slow, soft, and utterly consuming.
And just like that, everything else faded away and she let herself fall the rest of the way in love with him.
The End
About the Author
Camilla Sisco has been an avid reader most of her life. She has a soft spot for unconventional heroines, and an aversion to misogynistic “heroes” in fiction and in real life. She began writing fiction in earnest when she adopted a cat. Submission Moves is her first book. Her dream is to quit her day job, write more books and adopt more cats.
She loves getting feedback from readers! Email her at
[email protected]
, or find her on Twitter, @camillasisco
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