Chapter 42
Without realizing it, I’d chosen a short-sleeve lightweight sweater the same color as Jackson’s button-up.
I paired it with dark-washed jeans and cheetah-print flats.
Abby grumped because I was more dressed up than her, but we were both in jeans.
Only after the fourth time of me telling her she looked great did she stop pouting.
With my hand locked on to Jackson’s, he led us to a dark gray SUV. Trevor, Elton, and Lance waited by the rear of the vehicle.
“Who is that?” Abby whispered in my ear, tugging on my free hand, pointing at the man who just started talking to me again. “He’s cute.”
“That’s Trevor. He’s Jackson’s trainer.”
“Introduce us,” she rushed to say just before he was within earshot.
“Right on time,” Trevor said, opening the back door for us. “Hi, Sophie.” He pushed a strand of his dark hair off his forehead, briefly looking at Abby with interest.
“Hey, Trevor.” I pointed toward my sister. “This is Abby.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Abby,” he said, his eyes brightening the moment they connected with hers.
Abby’s excitement was palpable, and while I wanted to tell her to play it cool, who was I to give anyone advice on how to act?
After I introduced her to the two other guys on Jackson’s team, Elton slid behind the wheel, while Lance occupied the passenger seat. The SUV had three rows, all of them with captain seats. Trevor and Abby sat in the second row, and Jackson and I took up the third.
“Are you nervous?” Abby asked, turning in her seat to talk to Jackson.
“Nope.”
“Not even a little?”
“Jax is an old pro at these things,” Trevor said. “Wait until you see him perform for the crowd. He’s something else.”
“Is that right?” I asked, angling my body toward the fighter. “And what do you do that’s so entertaining?”
“Nothing. He’s fucking around,” he replied, his tone slightly bitter.
“Tonight is going to be different,” Lance said from two rows up.
Jackson mumbled something beside me, but I couldn’t make out what he said. I reached across the small aisle and touched his arm. He looked at me, but his expression was strained. I was seconds away from asking him what was wrong, but something told me not to.
“So, Abby, is this the first one of these you’ve been to?” Trevor asked.
“It is. Will there be a lot of people there?”
“Absolutely. Press. Fans. And of course, Jackson’s opponent and his team.”
Again, Jackson spoke under his breath, only this time I felt I should say something. At the very least, show him I was here for him if he needed me.
“Are you okay?” I asked in a hushed tone, hoping for a bit of privacy, although I wasn’t sure that was feasible with everyone in such proximity.
“I’m fine. I just want to get this over with.”
“Because you don’t want to see the guy you’re fighting?” For the life of me, I couldn’t remember his name. “I don’t think you can get away with it, since you’ll be dancing around in the ring with him in two days.”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” He stole his attention from me and peered out the window, his tone resolute.
Close to a half hour later, Elton pulled up in front of what looked like a large office building. The left side of it was glass, while the right side was concrete. Throngs of people stood outside, and I had no doubt they waited for a glimpse of the man beside me.
“Maybe we should pull around back,” Elton said, tapping his hands against the steering wheel. “What do you think, Jax?”
Jackson leaned over me and looked out my window. “There’s not that many people out there. We’re good. Let’s just go.”
“Not that many? There’s like a hundred people out there,” I retorted.
“Yeah, like I said, not that many. Listen, stay by my side. Once I go up to the table, you’ll stay by Lance.”
“Okay,” I replied, unsure of what to expect, as this was all new to me.
“And you can stay with me, Abby, until it starts. Then you can go with your sister and Lance.”
Jackson reached forward and tapped Trevor’s arm.
He turned in his seat, and while the man next to me frowned, his friend shrugged.
The interaction happened so fast that if I wasn’t paying attention, I would’ve missed it.
I didn’t entirely understand what they were silently saying to each other, but I believed it to be some sort of warning from Jackson.
“Everybody ready?” Lance asked, opening his door. “Here we go.”
Elton handed his keys to a valet, and we all gathered on the sidewalk.
Jackson grasped my hand, but his attention wasn’t on me.
It was on the crowd. Once they’d seen who’d stepped out of the SUV, they swarmed us, shouting his name, flashing camera lights momentarily blinding me.
He tightened his hand around mine and navigated toward the doors.
But once inside, even more people rushed toward us.
Luckily, security appeared and formed a perimeter around our group, keeping the crowd at bay.
I searched for Abby, suddenly becoming overwhelmed. She saw the panic on my face and hooked her arm in mine. “This is wild, don’t you think?” she asked, trying to divert my attention.
“It’s a lot,” I answered, reminding myself to breathe.
“Jackson, this way,” Elton shouted, pointing toward a set of double doors. We were ushered inside, and while there was a mass of people inside, it was calmer than it was moments ago.
A long table sat on top of a platform at the front of the room. Multiple cameras were set up in front, and there was a flurry of activity around every section of the space.
“Is it always like this?” I asked, hoping Jackson heard me over the noise.
“Not as bad, but this fight….” He exhaled before continuing. “People are looking forward to this fight more than ever.”
“Why?”
Jackson veered away from the rest of his team and pulled me toward the corner of the room. “Listen, Sophie, there’s something I should’ve told you before, but I didn’t want—”
“Jax, let’s go,” Trevor shouted, interrupting our conversation and ushering him toward the front of the room, leaving me more confused than ever.
Before they had a chance to step onto the platform, several women rushed forward, grabbing at Jackson and shouting how they loved him.
One of the women specifically looked familiar, and as I tried to place her, I couldn’t help but judge her based solely on her outfit.
A scrap of black material she called a dress covered barely any part of her.
If she bent over, she’d not only fall out of her top, but she’d show everyone what was underneath.
“Who is that bitch fawning all over Jackson?” Abby asked, her irritation at the display fueling mine.
“I don’t know, but she looks familiar.” I barely got the words out when I suddenly remembered where I saw her. She was the blonde woman who came to the gym to have sex with Jackson that first day I was there, when he mistook me for someone else. That’s a polite way of putting it.
A surge of jealousy echoed through me. I was suddenly very warm, and my heart beat faster with every second she groped him. He didn’t seem to placate to her, but he wasn’t trying to get away from her either.
“Don’t pay attention to that shit,” Lance said. “It’s all part of it.”
“They shouldn’t be allowed to hang on him like that,” Abby retorted, and I completely agreed, although my shock at the spectacle held my tongue captive.
After Jackson, Elton, and Trevor eventually took their seats, a deafening eruption of noise pulled everyone’s attention toward the back of the room.
I turned to see what had caused the commotion as several men walked toward the center of the large space.
I barely got a glimpse before three of them walked up onto the platform and filled up the other seats.
Elton sat in the middle, between Jackson and a dark-haired man who I assumed to be the other fighter. He appeared slightly younger, sporting a clean-shaven face. There was something familiar about him, but I was confident I’d never seen him before.
“Who is that guy?” Abby asked, the inflection in her tone telling me she thought he was attractive.
“I guess the other fighter.”
Jackson didn’t look happy at all. Even from this distance, I could see his clenched jaw and flared nostrils. Trevor said something into his ear, but he continued to look straight ahead. Until he caught my eye, then he seemed to relax, albeit marginally.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” The man who had spoken sat in front, a pad resting in his lap as a large camera loomed behind him. He was slender with a receding hairline and was dressed in jeans and a polo top. “My first question is to Jay. How are you feeling about this fight?”
“I feel good,” the dark-haired man answered. “Great, in fact. I’ve been training hard, and this is my shot.”
“Do you really think you can beat Jackson? He’s the middleweight champion. No one has managed to take that title from him so far.”
“There’s always a first time,” an older gentleman answered. He sat beside Jay, sporting a beard as well as a full head of dark hair with gray sprinkled along the temples. “And Jay will do it.”
My eyes bounced between Jay, the older gentleman, who was most likely his manager, and Jackson. Every time Jay or the older man spoke, Jackson flexed his fists.
“If you win, will it be that much sweeter because he’s not only the champion but he’s also your brother? Was there a lot of competition between you growing up?” the commentator asked. “If you don’t remember, I’m sure your dad does.”
It took a moment for his words to fully resonate, but once they hit their mark, I gasped. Brother? Dad? Jackson told me he didn’t have any family. He lied to me. But why?
“These can get boring,” Lance said. “Why don’t we wait for Jackson somewhere else?” He tried to usher me and Abby from the room, but my feet refused to move.