Chapter 38
Summer
Friday after work, I head home with Zander so I can pack for the MMA tournament this weekend. Nick is picking me up to drive to Columbia, and Alex and E are meeting us up there. Zander grills us some burgers on the deck while I talk to Jake.
Nick arrives in time to eat dinner with us, then I give Zander a hug before getting in the Jeep. I saved two chocolate croissants from the pastry class and offer one to Nick as we pull out of the driveway. I get a smirk from him as he takes a huge bite.
The drive is quiet except for the radio playing.
The convertible top is down, but the windows and doors are up to minimize the wind.
I can’t wait to see Nick compete and catch up on some much needed sleep.
While I successfully avoid thinking about Ben and John during the day, thoughts of them still plague my nights.
Sometimes it’s the cabin, but often it’s imaginary scenarios of him and John in my life growing up. None of them are good.
After a two-hour drive, Nick pulls up to an upscale hotel in Columbia’s city center.
He hands the keys to the valet after we get our bags out of the back.
Nick shows me a text from Alex with our room number, so we walk straight to the elevators.
Nick hits the button for the top floor as we ride up in the opulent contraption, accompanied by instrumental music.
After texting Zander about our arrival, I knock, and E opens the door immediately, hugging me. “Hey E,” I smile.
“Hi. Come in and look around,” he says, stepping aside. “Alex gave you the primary bedroom with the ensuite. It’s on the left.”
I head that way to drop off my bags, Nick following me. Guess he’s sleeping here tonight, not that I mind one bit. Going back to the living area after peeking at the ensuite, I see Alex coming out of a bedroom on the opposite side of the room. “Hi Alex. Thanks for the primary bedroom.”
“You are welcome, Summer,” he smiles.
We relax and watch a movie until bedtime, and I snuggle into Nick’s side when we get into bed. “Night, Grumpy,” I say.
“Night, Shortie,” Nick replies. We don’t bother watching anything tonight since we’re both tired.
All four of us are up early on Saturday morning for the tournament.
Alex has breakfast delivered to our room before we leave for the venue.
I give Nick a container of protein granola bars to put in his bag as we head out.
It’s a short drive to a large complex on the edge of the city.
A long registration table greets us upon entry, so we wait aside for Nick to fill out his paperwork.
Once he’s finished, we go in and show our weekend passes at the entrance.
We enter the arena about halfway up. There are 5 cages set up on the arena floor with benches and chairs along the edge.
Nick leads us across and down to the floor near the middle, where we find Markus, Hunter, Juan, and Ceres waiting.
After greeting everyone, Ceres points to the seats behind us where Neve, Ezra, and Levi are sitting.
I give Nick’s arm a squeeze and follow the guys up to sit in the row behind them. “Hi Neve,” I greet.
“Nice to see you, Summer. How’s it going?”
“Okay. How about you?” I ask.
“I’m pregnant,” she replies with a wry smile.
“Oh my. Congratulations Neve. That’s exciting.”
“Thanks. It was a big surprise since we weren’t trying, and I’m sick as a dog right now, but I’m happy,” she says as Ezra kisses her cheek.
“We’re happy,” he corrects her as Levi squeezes her hand.
“That’s what I meant,” she tells him, rolling her eyes. “If I thought these guys were protective before, they’re unbearable now,” she tells me.
“Precious cargo,” Levi answers without hesitation, happy to be overprotective.
I smile at them. They seem thrilled. “So guys, how does this work?” I ask Alex and E.
“Match officials will draw the first round pairings just before 8am; those will be posted before the matches begin.”
“Okay. Easy enough,” I reply. I sit back and listen to the conversations around me as the stands fill. There are numerous coaches and participants down on the floor, too. “E, are we in a special section? There’s not as many people heading our way,” I ask.
“Yeah. We’re in the family section, which shouldn’t be as crowded,” he says.
“Oh, good,” I smile as an announcer speaks.
Officials huddle together around a spinning bingo-style basket.
Numbers are drawn and announced, then displayed on a large electronic screen.
Nick is number 23 and is fighting in the second round of matches, which means he’ll be up at 8:30am. Ceres is up at 9am.
We watch the first set of matches, waiting for Nick to have his turn.
Many end quickly, while a few go the full 5 rounds.
After each match, someone sanitizes the cages.
I can see Nick bouncing around near Markus and Ceres warming up.
He looks back just before he moves to the right cage, catches my eye, and gives me a smirk.
His opponent is a large, bulky guy a few inches shorter than him.
As the match begins, Nick charges the guy and has him pinned before the end of the first round.
He’s not messing around today. We cheer for him as he leaves the cage to rejoin Ceres and Markus.
Ceres’s match begins at 9am, and he wins after two rounds. Neve, Ezra, and Levi leave right after the match because of Neve’s morning sickness. Alex estimates the guys won’t compete again until the afternoon, with the number of competitors so we opt to stay awhile before finding lunch.
At 11am I text Nick that we're leaving and ask what he wants to eat. Lots of protein is his response. I send an eye roll emoji back and follow Alex, with E behind me. The arena is so big that even with a vast crowd, I don’t feel cramped.
Alex drives us to a group of food trucks at the edge of a park.
E gets a sampler platter from two of the trucks for us to share while Alex tries some tacos.
The Greek food is excellent, but the burgers are just okay.
Alex finds the tacos acceptable, though not amazing.
I order some gyros and a salad for Nick and get extra for Ceres, while E gets us gelato.
The gelato is amazing and the best of the food trucks today.
When we get back to the venue, E and Alex follow me down to the bottom row of seats so I can give Nick his lunch, but I don’t see him, so I send a text. A few minutes later, he comes over from the far side of the cages. He grabs the bags and opens them up to look. “Thanks, Shortie.”
“Welcome. I got extra for Ceres. I wasn’t sure when Neve was coming back,” I tell him.
That gets me a peck on the cheek, which surprises the heck outta me. Markus comes over to say hi to us as Nick digs into his food. “Hey guys. I found two venues for the tournament next spring. The private school is available, or there’s a park on the south side.”
We’ve been talking about how to make the MMA tournament an annual event.
Markus has agreed to spearhead the venture, with us pitching in as needed.
So far, we’ve just been brainstorming fundraisers and venues.
“We’ll have to compare the cost of the school with facilities versus setting everything up from scratch,” I reply.
“Yes. Although the school charges more, we get access to their restrooms, tents, and other facilities. Alex, can you send me a cost breakdown of what the rentals were last year? I can do a price comparison from there,” Markus says.
“Of course. I will email you Monday morning with that information,” Alex replies.
Ceres joins us, and Nick hands him a bag of food. “Thanks,” he says, digging in. Nick and Ceres are both competing at 1:30pm today, then 3:30pm and 4:30pm assuming they win all their matches. We leave them be, and the guys escort me to the washroom before we climb back up to our seats.
My phone dings with a text from Seb that he and Bay are grabbing food before driving this way, so I take a minute to check in with Zander. Troy and he are grabbing lunch, doing some grocery shopping, and then catching a movie tonight.
I tune back into the matches going on, Ezra joining us around 1pm. “Neve isn’t feeling well,” he tells us with a shrug.
In this round, Nick is on the left, with Ceres in the middle cage.
I switch between watching each of them. Nick wins in round three, so we cheer for him, then focus our attention on Ceres.
He’s having a harder time. His competitor is the same height as him but doesn’t stop throwing kicks and punches long enough for Ceres to go on the offensive.
The guy isn’t connecting with Ceres, but he doesn’t let up.
When round four starts, the competitor practically jumps towards Ceres, swinging and kicking, and you can see the frustration on Ceres’ face.
He lets a punch connect to use the momentum against him and gets him on the floor to go on the offensive.
Nick and Ezra are both shouting encouragement to him as he tries to contain his opponent.
At the end of the round, he bends down to talk to Nick.
When round five starts, he meets his opponent in the middle, changing up his usual style to something closer to what I’m used to seeing from Nick.
Ceres pins his opponent with less than a minute to win the match.
We stand and cheer for him as he leaves the cage, shaking his head.
“That’ll piss him off,” Ezra says. “I’ll see you guys later,” he waves, and leaves.
Since we have a few hours to kill, E joins me to walk around and look at the vendor booths out in the hallway while Alex takes a call. “Does Nick usually buy the tournament t-shirts?” I ask, admiring the black on black design.
“I don’t remember him having any,” E says, “but those are definitely his style.”