Undeclared (The Woodlands) - By Jen Frederick Page 0,94
his nostrils flaring.
“Don’t push it, sister,” he said, growling a little. “Pull up on the top rope.” And he ducked under the raised rope and came out on my side. He jumped down and held up his arms for me. I leaned forward, and he effortlessly lifted me down.
“Why is your nose still unbroken? Or your face rarely bruised?” I patted his face.
“It’s the face masks, but sometimes I can get a bloody nose. Bo wasn’t aiming for that though.”
“Aiming?”
“Yeah,” Bo’s voice came from above us. He jumped down from the ring to land softly beside Noah and me. “Noah has a glass jaw, so I couldn’t hit him too hard, or I’d mess up his photo shoot.”
“I don’t like getting hit in the face, so I try to avoid it,” Noah admitted.
“Does that mean if you get hit in the face you’re knocked out?” I asked.
“Nah, it just means I can’t take too many of them. And I’ve developed very good duck and jab instincts.”
“So this is like the swimming thing,” I said to Noah. “Exposure is like an antidote.”
“You told her you were scared of the water?” Bo asked, surprised.
“He wrote to me about it,” I replied. Bo gave Noah a strange look and then slapped him on the back.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said and took Noah off to the locker room.
The mini high that I had been on faded, and discomfort set in as I looked around the room as it emptied. A big barrel-chested man who had been standing in Noah’s corner during most of the fight came over.
“Paulie,” he said, holding out a giant hand, which could have engulfed two of mine.
“Grace.” I watched as my hand was swallowed up. Where Noah was lean and muscled, this man’s physique screamed steroided body builder. I shrank away at the menace in his gaze, but he didn’t release my hand.
“My boy Noah’s got a chance to be a big name in this sport. You gonna help him or mess with his mind?”
“Um, I think Noah decides what he wants to do without much input from others.” Paulie must not have had a good understanding of Noah’s mentality if he thought I was going to influence Noah one way or another.
“There’re two kinds of girls for a kid like him: The hometown girl and the ring girl. One is going to do everything she can to propel her man up the ladder to the title.”
“I’m guessing I’m a hometown girl.” I tugged at my hand and he finally let it go.
“Yeah and you hometown girls have a lot of ideas about what your men should do. Uptight chick like you with money written all over her probably thinks she’s too good for this place. Maybe you should let go now and hook up with your own kind.”
Right, like I was going to take lessons from a guy whose neck had been swallowed by his shoulders.
“Leave her alone, Paulie,” Noah demanded. He had returned from the locker room. “Let’s go,” he directed to me.
“Bo?” I asked.
“He’s got his own ride,” Noah ushered me to his truck. His hair was wet from the shower and laid flat against his head, like a silky brown cap.
“Bo mentioned you had a photo shoot? What’s that all about?” I asked when we got into the car.
“I’ve been offered an undercard fight on Halloween,” Noah said.
“My God, is that why you were all at the apartment the other night?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I came up to tell you the news. Lana was making spaghetti, and we just dumbly invited a bunch of people over.”
“God, I feel like an idiot. I ruined your big news.”
“Nah, it’s all good, Grace,” He turned his head slightly, and I could see a smirk on his face. “The evening ended just right.”
“What happens now?” I asked, slapping him lightly on the arm.
“It would be great if you could just get into the Octagon and fight. But there is a ton of BS involved. The publicity you’re required to do. The constant monitoring of your diet. The working out constantly. They make me wear my cowboy boots to public appearances,” Noah’s voice started to take on a whiny quality.
I stifled a laugh at his side.
“I can feel you laughing,” Noah accused me.
“I’m sorry,” I giggled a bit. “Cowboy boots? I’ve never seen you wear those!”
“Yeaaahhh,” he drawled. “And they want me to talk with a twang and use loooong vowels.”