“I love you the most, Truth. Like seriously probably more than my wife right now.”
“Love you back. Bye.”
I hear Kiki clear her throat behind me and turn to find her glowering.
“What did he promise you? A car, a horse, a house, a million dollars?”
“Just the first three.” I shrug.
“Should have held out for the million.” She shakes her head.
“He’s worried about your heart, Kiki, and here I was, not even thinking about—”
“Gotta take care of yours, too.”
I shrug.
“You’re gonna give him the address, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know? Maybe you should? You know, avoid missing out on all those things he said he was not going to do to you.”
“He what?” She tries not to laugh.
“Yeah, he thought I was you until I yelled his name, but the strawberry and chocolate thing sounded pretty freaking epic.” I laugh, handing her the phone. “Just call him. He knows he can’t show up here.”
She takes the phone and hugs me tight. “You are the best, Truth. Like seriously, whoever wins you over is going to be the luckiest, most loved, and most sexually satisfied man on the planet.”
“What?” I laugh.
“I can’t wait to tell Brand your idea about the strawberries and chocolate, you sexy little minx.”
When I see Tobias walk past us, I know damn well why she said that. And when Downward Dee walks past me, following him in her stripper attire, I want to puke.
She steps back. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “Fuck them, right?”
Chapter Eighteen
Idiom
Fighting an uphill battle.
Truth
I think I can, I think I can, I think….
Guilt consumes me that I’ve allowed myself to think of my bullshit for even a second, that Justice is in this because of me, even though he seems to be on top of the world.
I don’t leave Justice’s side as he warms up and as he shadow boxes with Patrick, who’s wearing coach type punching mitts and talking shit to him to get him riled up. I stand as close to him as I can without getting hit.
Justice is smiling the whole time. He seems to be loving this; happier than I’ve ever seen him. A teeny, tiny part of me wishes Dad was here to see him.
“Look at my feet, T. Am I doing it right?” he jokes.
“Floating like a butterfly.” I smile.
“You ready to sting like a bee?” Patrick asks.
He reaches over the mitt and taps Patrick on the side of the head. “After this fight, we’re gonna have a dance off, T, me, and you, and I’m gonna kick your ass.”
“How about we save that for when my boot comes off?”
“Hell no.” He throws a few punches. “If I’m gonna kick your ass, you gotta leave that thing on.”
Patrick is working him good. He watched Tobias’s fight last week, so he knows some of his moves. But what he doesn’t know is I have a deal, and Tobias isn’t going to mess with his face.
“Patrick, move to body shots,” I tell him.
“You sure, T? He was all about the—”
“Justice needs to tire him out and avoid as many punches as he can. Tobias doesn’t wanna be in that ring any longer than he has to be. He’s out to bring him down with one punch. The face isn’t the only place he can do that. He needs to protect his ribs and his stomach.”
“He hits my stomach, he’ll break a hand, T.” Justice winks.
“Get your fucking head in the game! I’m not playin’ around. I know what I’m talking about, okay?”
Silence.
Then Justice laughs. “All right then. Head in the game.”
When the music starts and I see flickering lights in the hall, I want to grab Justice and run.
I grab his face and pull it down so he’s looking at just me. “Let’s leave.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s gonna be fun.”
“No, no, it won’t. Let’s leave.”
“Let’s go, bro!” Patrick yells over the music.
“Justice, please.”
He grabs my hands and gives them a squeeze. “I’ve got this.”
“I have a pain in my chest, and my belly's in knots, Justice, please.”
“Three rounds, T, and then we’re heading back to grill steaks, drink a few beers.”
“Justi—”
“Don’t lose faith in me, T. I’m telling you, I got this, and you telling me I don’t isn’t cool right now.”
Backpedaling, I shake my head. “I just think Dad should be here.”
“Not thinking that’s a good idea.” He laughs.
“Justice.”
“T,” he sighs out.
“Fuck him up.” I nod.
He smiles. “Where do you want me to land the first punch?”
“In his chest.” I smile, hoping he thinks I’m excited, hoping me freaking out doesn’t kill his confidence.
“Then the next?” he asks.
When the music stops, we hear the announcer shout, “At six-foot-one, weighing in at two hundred and one pounds … Easton the Experience!”
“You kick his ass. Three rounds, max.”
He nods. “Three and done.”
“At six-foot-two, weighing in at two hundred and twenty pounds, Your Man Of Steel … Justice!”
I follow him out and start to climb up ringside, but Justice shakes his head then nods toward the roped-off area.
“But—”
“Three and done, T, three and done.”
“Come on, Truth.” Patrick takes my hand.
“I don’t care what he says. Between rounds, I’m going up there.”
“He’s not gonna need us up there, but he does need us here, cheering him on.” He holds the velvet rope up, and I slide under.
Kiki, Brisa, and Tris are sitting on the crushed velvet couch. I nod and grab the velvet rope; Patrick on one side of me, Max and Amias on the other.
Inside the ring, just like last time, the lights distract me. It’s hard to see Justice’s face, to gauge his thoughts, his feelings. They now stand toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring; Justice in black, Tobias in white. I quickly size up their bodies. Justice is taller but not much, and he’s heavier, but I worry that may hinder him and not help.
When I see them tap fists then head to their corners, I scream, “Go, Justice!”
He smirks as he bounces on his toes, and when the bell rings, my ears ring and I stop breathing.
“Fuck yes, JT!” Patrick yells as he hits Tobias in the chest and Tobias falls back but comes back quickly and swings to get him in the ribs. Justice blocks him and jabs him in the nose.
“Get it, man!” Max yells.
Tobias comes back with a left to Justice’s ribs, and again, he blocks it, but in doing so, he doesn’t see the right coming, and Tobias doesn’t see the uppercut that knocks him back several steps.
Tobias looks toward me as he spits blood onto the mat, and I close my eyes.
I hear three punches land, and I open my eyes to see he and Justice hooked up while Tobias lands jab after jab to Justice’s ribs.