Chapter 24 #3
Brent McGovern looks at the simple gold ring gracing his ring finger in surprise. “Uh, thank you. I’ve been married to my beautiful wife for over ten years. You should consider getting yourself a wife. May keep you out of trouble.”
Danny’s hand balls underneath the arm it’s supporting, and his eyes break from the gold band.
“The way being married keeps you out of trouble?”
Oh, shit, no.
Brent looks side to side in panic, a fly caught in a spiderweb. “I’ve never been much of a troublemaker,” he laughs, beads of sweat congregating on his forehead. “You, on the other hand—you had to hire a babysitter to keep you in line for this fight, is that right?”
Danny’s eyes narrow. “Lauren was my life coach.”
“That’s my daughter they’re talking about,” I hear Dad say, turning around in his chair.
“Ah, a life coach. Did she, uh, tuck you in at night too?” Brent says, leaning in.
My stomach tightens. The cameras pan over to me, and I stand there, shell-shocked. Truly a deer in headlights.
Danny grabs the microphone with his good hand, and holds it to his lips, his voice low and clear.
“You and I both know you’re a piece of shit, Brent. So why don’t you go fuck off over there while I talk to the fans directly.”
The arena is now deafening at having been brought into the conversation.
My hands clasp at my chest. Danny, what are you doing?
“They don’t want me to make waves,” Danny says, looking out to the crowd. “If I do, they’ll pull my fight again.”
The crowd boos at the league officials seated at a table ringside, all of them wearing expensive suits and worried faces. Danny holds their fans in his hand.
“But I’m a fighter,” he says. “And just like you, I love this sport.” Danny looks into the camera, and it feels like he’s looking directly into my eyes. “But only recently did I learn how to respect the discipline it takes to become the champion.”
I look around the cheering arena, my eyes misty. Danny has gone rogue, and although my job was to prevent exactly this, it feels inevitable—and right. The league has knocked him down too many times, and tonight he’s finally gotten back up. Like a fighter. Like a champion.
Danny turns around slowly as the crowd cheers.
He holds the microphone to his mouth, and a hush falls over the crowd.
“To the fans of ultimate fighting, I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.
But I’m here now. And I won’t let you down.
So, buy your tickets. Order the pay-per-view.
Pirate the damn thing, for all I care—I don’t give a fuck. ”
I cover a laugh. The feed cuts to the UFC president, who places his head in his hands.
“Just don’t believe their bullshit when they pull my fight, saying I don’t deserve it, because I do,” Danny continues. “I deserve that belt. And on fight night, I’m going in that ring to get it.”
Danny drops the microphone and storms out of an arena going wild. Topher and Gracie follow him, wearing matching wide grins.
Tears prick my eyes as I take it all in. Good job, Danny.
“Let’s go, Gerry,” Maya says, pulling Dad to his feet. “There’s an open bar and snacks in the greenroom.”
“I want to get some merch first for the fighters to autograph.” Dad stands, ready to follow her. “You coming, Lauren?
My heart sinks. Of course I want to go celebrate with them in the green room. But Danny made it clear he doesn’t want me anywhere near him. “No. You guys go on ahead.”
I watch them go, filtering in with the rest of the crowd.
“He couldn’t have done it without you, Lauren,” Casey says, his hand on the small of my back. “You’re amazing.”
He draws me to him, wrapping me in a hug. I let him, my limbs numb at my side.
“Hey, are you OK?” he asks, when my wet cheek touches his.
“I’m fine,” I say, wiping my face. “Just relieved it’s over.”
Casey tilts his head to one side, clearly not buying it.
“OK. That’s it. You’re coming to my place tonight. The girls are at a sleepover, so we can get drunk on some good wine, eat all their Pirate’s Booty, and hash this out.”
I hesitate. “What about Helena?”
“What about her?”
“She might not want you getting drunk alone with another woman. That kind of thing tends to be frowned upon in relationships, or so I’ve heard.”
Casey watches my face carefully. “I can’t move forward in a relationship with Helena until I know where I stand with you.”
Oh, Jesus. “Casey—”
“I mean it, Lauren. Every time she brings up the future, it’s like I’m stunted. I keep coming back to us. Like, I can’t envision anything with her, because the possibility of this whole other life with you still exists, you know?”
I nod, swallowing hard. “I do.”
“So what do we do?”
I wince. “Maya once said I should kiss you, to see if these feelings are real or not.” My eyes slide to the side. “Well, she didn’t exactly say kiss. But something along those lines. More X-rated.”
“I can imagine.” Casey’s eyebrows raise. “Interesting idea.”
I press a hand to my fluttering heart. Fuck. This is all too much. Getting wine drunk sounds good right about now. Very good. Anything to dilute this complicated mess.
“Hey, hey. Just breathe,” Casey says, placing his hand over mine. “Slow that pulse down. It will be OK. Come over tonight and we’ll figure it out together.”