Thirty-Three #2
“Well, I’m not worried. You’re the best and hottest fighter I know.” Mia flirts with her which causes Oliver to roll his eyes. She fucks with him every chance she gets.
Rory hands AJ her bottle of water again as he laughs.
“Mia, don’t make me have to fight you tonight.
” Mia laughs and Oliver’s eyes are on her.
I don’t know what happened between them last weekend but it’s very clear that it messed with my brother’s head.
And it’s hard not to notice that Mia isn’t wearing her daily dose of confidence that she normally does.
The crowd starts to get worked back up as Tucker appears at the top of the empty pool with a girl that has red hair that looks like a rich sunset with swirls of black mixed into the fluffy braid going down her back.
I can tell she trains just by the way she is standing and how toned every muscle on her body is.
She came ready for a fight unlike the girl that AJ just dominated.
Tucker leans in and there’s a softer look on his face than I have ever seen before.
Almost tender, like he is telling her to not get hurt.
“She looks fun.” AJ appears next to me at the same time my brothers show up on the other side.
“Tuck, definitely knows her.” Oliver points out exactly what I was just thinking.
“I think you can take her.” Max says, always the one to encourage.
We huddle up and I look at AJ. “Don’t give her an opening. Do what you do best.” I catch Maxwell’s eyes peeking back up at the redhead and I snap to get his focus back. “You have to stay with Ol again.” And as if I was summoning him, Oliver’s next guy jumps down into his side of the pool.
He gets AJ’s attention and his tone gives no room for argument when he says, “You don’t have to fight.”
“If you don’t want me to fight, then scratch.
” She stays firm on what she said earlier.
Oliver’s jaw clenches because the one thing they both hate more than anything is backing down from something.
When he doesn’t agree to scratch his fight, she lifts her shoulders.
“Then try not to lose like you have been. You’re making the gym look bad.
” Her words hit their mark when Oliver stalks over back through the line of men separating the pool.
Maxwell runs his hand through his hair, he hates feeling like he is stuck in the middle.
Normally when we have family disagreements or gym disagreements, we go to the ring at the gym and spar it out.
This is AJ’s way of doing that. She is going to beat him at his own head game.
It’s stubborn and strong-willed. Just like her.
I go back to the corner where Rory and Mia are waiting.
AJ goes to meet the redhead in the middle.
When they come together to stand face to face the air surrounding us shifts.
AJ is three inches shorter than the other girl which would put a normal person at a disadvantage.
But she trains with all guys that are taller than that, so she is practiced.
With her closer, I can make out bruises on the girl's legs which is more proof that she trains and doesn’t just do this for fun.
AJ keeps her stance even and strong. She is the queen at not giving anything away if she doesn’t want to.
The sound for the fight to start rings through the air and normally AJ makes the first move because she is the quickest. But the other girl drops and sweeps her leg out to make AJ fall backwards.
What the other girl doesn’t know is that AJ also trains with me every day.
She locks her leg in a wrap around the other girl’s leg so that when she goes to stand from the sweep she also falls down.
AJ is fast to get back to her feet and I can tell that she is already recalculating her plan. Rory steps up to stand next to me.
“That was impressive.” Rory observes as we are both suddenly more locked in on the fight and not as relaxed as before. I glance up at where Tucker is watching from just above. He never watches this closely. His lips twitch in his attempt to hide a grin.
“Yeah.” I breathe out as the redhead is back in her fighting stance.
They circle each other for only a moment before AJ decides to close the space.
She goes in for a close body shot but as soon as the girl reads it she closes in to take away the opening, AJ comes up fast and quick.
She throws a nasty right hook that lands in the open space since the other girl dropped her elbows to defend her body.
AJ doesn’t stop at the one hit though, she throws two punches straight down the line, splitting open the girl’s lip immediately.
Then she takes her heel and puts every ounce of her body weight behind a kick to her abdomen, causing the girl to buckle over and lose her breath.
AJ is a machine, going right back in for another combo execution.
The girl manages to block the next punch and she pivots out of the way.
She takes a hard breath in through her nose to get her oxygen back before she throws a fist at AJ’s face.
AJ isn’t fast enough to avoid total contact though.
Her cheek starts bleeding and I think she is shocked because there is a split second of hesitation that the redhead takes advantage of and her fist connects directly to AJ’s mouth.
Blood spills from the corner of her mouth and she spits more out.
Thankfully the sound for the first round ending stops them both in their tracks.
AJ comes overly quickly and Rory is fast to start cleaning her up. “She hits fucking hard.” She says half in awe and half in anger.
“I noticed.” Rory’s forehead is pinched as I wipe down the other side of her face to clean up the sweat.
Mia looks nervous in the corner. She’s used to seeing Oliver take a hit but I’m sure it’s a completely different feeling when you see your friend take hard hits that you’ve never seen her take before.
“She’s okay.” I reassure her. Then I grab AJ’s chin to look at me.
“I think Tucker educated her on your fighting style right before the fight.” She drops her eyes as she processes the probability of that.
When she looks back up at me. I can see her eyes harden.
“How is he?” She asks absently.
I glance up at the other side and see Oliver still free of any blood or heavy breathing. ”He seems fine. Pissed, but fine.” She nods and then stands back up. Then she looks at Rory for advice.
“She’s going to try and outsmart you if Tucker told her how you normally fight. Play dumb, pull her in. Bite viciously.” Rory’s normally collected demeanor shifts to one that is protective and decisive.
“Pull her in and use a switch kick to create an opening and give yourself space to back her up to the wall. She might have some training, but it’s overwhelming being backed into the corner.
Crowd her.” She takes a big gulp of water from the bottle that Rory is holding and he wipes away the few drops that escape down her chin.
She swishes the water around in her mouth and then spits it out with streams of blood clearing from her mouth.
Shaking out her shoulders, she walks back to the middle.
I take the half second before the fight starts and see Oliver already going in on the guy he is fighting.
They exchange a few punches as AJ and this girl circle each other.
Oliver finds a spot and puts his whole body behind the punch as the other guy falls hard.
He runs over to our side and I see AJ take another hit to her face.
At least this time it’s to her jaw. She absorbs the punch and then does exactly what I told her to do.
She switches her footing and lands not one kick but two, one right above the other.
The girl tries to frame the second one but AJ is faster.
Her foot is back on the ground while the other girl is still moving her forearms to block.
Then AJ marches her backward with body shots until she can’t push her back anymore because they reach the wall.
AJ brings a knee up and I know from experience that she knows exactly where to land them.
Her knee lands hard between the girl’s ribs and she drops her hands.
AJ throws down the center, busting the girl's nose and then clipping her with her elbow causing blood to spurt out. She tries to get her hands up but AJ doesn’t stop.
She lands a left hook then throws another knee to keep her from being able to take a full breath.
She throws a hard punch to her temple and the girl's head and body collapses forward.
AJ catches her before she hits the ground too hard but then steps back as the ref goes to check her.
AJ finishes the fight by flipping Tucker off.
Rory is at her side in a heartbeat and Oliver is at her other side. “You win. I’m done fighting for a while.” AJ doesn't look happy about getting her way though. Rory tells us he is going to get her cleaned up but AJ looks back up at me before they leave.
“Figure out what her name is, invite her to the gym.” Never once, in all the fights I’ve watched her in has she ever invited someone to the gym.