stomp kick him in the gut, earning a grunt from his lips. We circle each other again, acutely aware that this fight is taking a while now. Everyone is foaming at the mouth to see what happens. Brawler can feel it too. His eyes start to change because we can no longer play with each other. We have to get this done, and it’s going to kill both of us to do it.
I give him a slight nod, barely imperceptible, as I move in. As before, I know he would never make the first move, so I crack him in the nose. When I retreat, blood drips from his nostrils, and my heart cracks in two.
He licks his lips, a different kind of armor locking into place around his body. He goes from cold mask to even colder mask. A spike of fear hits me.
Brawler moves forward. I throw up blocks to ward off his punches. I do just enough so it looks as if I’m trying to stop his attack, but the first time his fist connects with my face for real, I don’t have to pretend anymore.
The room goes out of focus. He hit me in the right spot. I stumble and shoot for a takedown to make up for the fact that my brain is haywired right now. I must catch him off guard because I’m able to wrap him up. I land on top of him, but he flips me to my back immediately. He catches me in side hold, working for position. I struggle against him, but Brawler is heavy. He’s bigger than me. Stronger than me. Let’s not forget, he’s also a better fighter than me. Listen, I’m good. I hold my own against people, but Brawler’s better. Especially when my head is still ringing from the last hit he gave.
I get out of his side hold and ease into his guard. He postures, swinging his fist down at my face.
My eyes swim. I gaze up at him through fractured vision, and I catch the moment something inside him breaks.
He pulls back.
No. No.
I use my legs to pull him back toward me, wrapping him in a hold like fighters do when they want to get their breathing under control. I hold him until it’s just us two. Hearts crashing against our rib cages. “Don’t you fucking dare,” I say. “Finish it. It’s the only way.”
He growls into my ear, and it probably looks like a sound of annoyance to everyone else.
I give him an elbow to the cheek. It’s weak though. Partly because I’m fucking tired, and partly because he’s supposed to be winning this fight. He will win this fight.
Then I pull him back down, his face crashing against my chest. “I love you. It’s okay.”
The world goes blank after that. His fist connects with my temple, and I’m out.
I’ve lost consciousness in a fight before. It was one of my first ones. It lasted only seconds, waking before I even fell to the ground, but I was so terrified. This time, I must be out for longer because when I come to, I’m in Mag’s arms. He drags me away from the circle.
I blink, and in front of me, Jiko faces off with Brawler.
What the fuck?
34
“The fuck...” I drawl, actually voicing my confusion at seeing two fighters in the ring where I should be.
No one seems to notice me being dragged off, and Magnum doesn’t say a word at first.
“What happened?”
“You’re okay,” Jacob says.
“I know,” I grind out. “What the fuck happened?”
He hauls me to my feet, his corded arms wrapped around my middle as we watch Brawler and Jiko go at it.
Jiko’s dressed in a low-slung pair of joggers and no shirt. My initial thoughts about him when he held pads for me the other day were correct. Dude’s good.
But he’s no match for Brawler.
I glance up into the VIP box. K leans over, trying to get a better view. Johnny’s eyes are on me, and I give him a quick nod to let him know I’m okay.
“What happened?” I ask again as Brawler’s fist connects with Jiko’s cheek.
“He came out of nowhere,” Mag answers. “Brawler was reeling back to hit you again, and Jiko just tackled him off you. Started calling him out.”
The crowd around us is going nuts. They’re loving every second of this unscheduled fight. They’re clearly on Brawler’s side. Someone in the front row even pushes Jiko closer to Brawler, who takes advantage of the situation by