He observes me, gaze never straying from my face. “Like a beautiful soldier, an avenging warrior.”
“So, Wonder Woman basically?”
“Basically,” he says, and I swear he almost laughs.
He stands from the chair, pushing it back under his desk and then moves forward. He spins me around and then puts his hands on my shoulders. He massages my muscles there. “Now you’re going to go out there, put your Wonder Woman face on, and tackle everything head on. I’ve never seen you do anything less, so there’s no reason to stop now.”
He gives me a hearty shove, and I walk back out of the office, lifting my chin into the air. Brawler is in the ring with Finn. He has his game face on. We all do. I peer around the gym, catching on each of us as we watch Brawler work. Tomorrow’s going to suck for all of us, not just for Brawler and me. We’re the most directly affected, but what affects us impacts them too.
But like with everything that’s happened, we’ll get through this, too.
Oscar swaggers over to me, never missing a moment to make me smile. “If you want, we can just go back to my apartment. I’ll sink myself so deep inside you you’ll forget everything going on.”
I chuckle, almost letting loose a few more tears. “You’re sick, Drego.”
“Too soon?”
I shake my head and then pounce on his back. I wrap my legs around his middle and hug his neck. I give him a sloppy kiss on the side of his head. “To the ring, please.”
“Oh, so I’m your horsey now?”
“You wanted me to ride you, right?”
He chuckles. “Not quite what I was thinking, Princess, and you know it.”
I throw my head back and laugh. I catch Johnny watching us and smile at him. He looks away right after as if I’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t.
I might be losing it. I might be looking for things that aren’t there. However, I could swear he wore a half-smile while watching us.
Maybe. Possibly. I bite my lip and hold on for dear life as Oscar springs to the ring.
33
On the way to The Ring, I have flashbacks. I asked Oscar to be with Brawler, but Johnny and Magnum are with me while we drive to the Crew’s new fighting venue that never got to see its opening night. It’s as if time has rewound, and I’m replaying the chapter in my life that should’ve happened a couple of months ago. Only this time, Brawler will be staring me down from across the ring, not the girl whose name I can’t even remember.
Everything must be working out for the Crew because as we pull up, the amount of bodies waiting near the building to get into the fights triples. They’re coming in hoards, as if a concert is about to go down in the middle of the Heights. Girls dressed in skimpy leather skirts or booty jean shorts hang off guys with saggy pants, backward hats, and t-shirts. The Heights has shown up tonight. For this.
Big Daddy K better be happy. The blow I’m about to walk into says he better be creaming his pants over what’s about to go down.
Johnny and Mag have been pretty quiet since they picked me up. There was no pre-fight training meeting with Jax and Finn like there was leading up to my last fight that never happened. Oscar had already left to be with Brawler when Magnum and Johnny showed up at Oscar’s place. Magnum looks almost the same. Almost. A veiled layer of tension hovers over him. Johnny, however, is tense. His foot jumps up and down in the car, gaze darting out the windows, as we pull around the back to the fighter’s entrance.
“I’ll be fine,” I promise him.
The swelling on his face has gone down, so he mainly just looks like he got his ass kicked instead of tied to a chair and beaten. His skin is probably still tender to the touch. I’ve been there. Bruises like that will linger, even long after the fight is over. It’ll probably be worse for Johnny though. The person who left him looking like that was someone who was supposed to love him, not a pre-ordained match to see who’s more skilled.
“I’ll follow you guys in,” Mag says as he pulls up to the door.
Johnny shoves the car door open and then reaches back for my hand. I place my fingers in his, and he squeezes tightly before leading me out of the car and through the back door. It leads to a narrow hallway and then a back set of stairs. The building they got is practically the width of the entire block. It’s huge. Once we’re up the stairway, the narrow hallways lead to different changing rooms for the fighters. Johnny walks me down to the door that has my symbol on it. It’s the same symbol that’s on my robe. I smile as he opens the room up, and there everything is, laid out and ready for me. Brawler must have done this. My own personal training room. I finger the bra and shorts I’ll be wearing in a little while. A cute set. Black with purple trim. It’s too bad they’re about to get bloody. That I know for sure. Glancing up, I notice two doors in the dressing room. Johnny explains that one exits out the back—the one we just came in with—and the other leads to the fights themselves. It’s a cool setup.
Brawler and I didn’t plan out the fight ahead of time. Mostly because it needs to look real. Big Daddy K is going to be out there, watching us with a critical eye due to it being one of Brawler’s initiation tasks. I asked Johnny if he thought it was weird Brawler’s other tasks weren’t set yet, and he told me no. They set them in succession. So, if Brawler beats me, then he’ll get the next one. If he accomplishes that, he’ll get the next and so on. No sense in planning more activities if Brawler loses the first.
I sit on the small bench and Johnny walks over. “Is there anything we can do to make it hurt less? I Googled it, but I couldn’t find much of anything.”
I smile at his concern. “I’m going to take some Tylenol in a little bit and then just have ice ready. Lots and lots of ice. Maybe an ice bath.”
“The rooms only have showers,” Johnny admits, looking at the space as if it will suddenly change because that’s what I want.
Behind us, the door opens, and Mag appears, shutting it soundly behind him.
Before Johnny can offer to rip the showers out and put tubs in, I tell him ice packs are fine.
“Don’t let Brawler see me right after, okay?” I say, flipping my gaze between the two of them so they know I’m serious. “Get me out of there as soon as possible. I have a feeling his acting abilities suck.”
“Done,” Mag says.
Johnny growls. He’s been bitchy and on edge all day, but there’s nothing I can do about it. He knows this is all his father’s fault even though he’d love to blame it on Brawler. It’s too easy to do that. There are always reasons for everything, however hidden they may be. Hardly anyone or anything is black and white. Everything is made up of layers, just like nature. A predator with an alluring shell. Or an angel who looks like the devil.
I pick up the bra and shorts and head into the attached bathroom. The whole area is one space. The bathroom doesn’t have a door, just a walkway into a separate room. It’s also ten times nicer than what we had at the warehouse. I peel my clothes off then stare at myself in the mirror over the sink. My eyes look dead today. You ever just stare at yourself and wonder what’s going on in your head? I’ve had years of experience of staring at myself in mirrors, searching for my parents’ reflections. Searching for pieces of them they may have passed on to me. But right now, I can honestly say I don’t even look like myself.