Chapter 37 #2
Ringside is standing room only, like a giant mosh pit waiting to wage war.
My tiny stature proves an issue when the only thing I can see from where I am is the sweaty backs of the six-foot males crowding the ring.
Where my height is a deficit, my small frame becomes an asset.
Quickly and quietly, I slide through the crowd, under people’s legs and around their bodies, heading for the front where I’ll hopefully be able to get a better view of my man.
Finally, I find a spot right beside the cage and I only had to throw a few elbows for breathing room to get it.
The electric current that has taken over the arena flows through me, a powerful pulse I’m under-prepared for, as the announcer hypes up the crowd.
Music blares through the speakers hidden high in the rafters and the floor begins to vibrate as Ryder’s opponent gets announced.
Cheers and boos drown out the song as he makes his way to the ring, donning a silk robe and vibrant red shorts.
Hands already taped and gloved—which I personally think is a pussy notion—he removes the garment, showing off an admittedly impressive abdomen.
Scars are scattered across every visible inch of skin, varying in their degree of healing.
I recognize some of the marks, having had them myself and there’s no way this guy doesn’t also fight underground.
His body still has nothing on Ry though.
The crowd doesn’t even have a chance to still before the announcer dives right into the next introduction. “Ladies and Gentleman, our headliner for this evening. With fifteen wins and three losses this season, Ryder ‘The Savage’ Leung!”
What I originally thought was a massive outpouring of support for “Ironfist,” is nothing compared to the love shown for Ry.
Every single person on the floor seems to be chanting and screaming.
A smile lights my face when he enters the cage and the volume increases again.
The strength, the talent of my man, shines through his fans, as they rally behind him—metaphorically and physically, in this case.
Another smaller man joins Ryder in the cage and I assume this is his new manager, Tommy.
He looks to be about our age, maybe slightly younger, as he gives a final pep talk to his client.
The tidal wave of people finally begins to settle with breaths being held, as the room stills.
It's the calm before the storm as the air grows thick and heavy.
Leaving the fighters' sides, the announcer takes his position behind a desk that sits on a platform right across from me, as the clock ticks down to start the match.
Ryder happens to scan the crowd and glance my way, which has me blowing him a kiss and winking at him in support, when we catch each other's eye.
The smile that crawls across his beautiful face will be etched in my memory for eternity, before he inserts his mouth guard and sheds his robe into the waiting hands of Tommy.
With one final stretch, both competitors meet in the middle, pounding fists and shaking out their limbs. They take their stances, bodies ready for the extra exertion, when a tap to my shoulder has my attention leaving Ry.
Behind me stands Kelsie. The same Kelsie I caught snooping in my room, the only one who I currently want to put a bullet between the eyes of for even looking in Ryder’s direction.
A smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes paints her features, as if someone’s forcing her to be a bitc—I mean, to play nice.
“Hey! You’re Ryder’s friend aren’t you?” The tone to her voice is sickly-sweet, but the malice behind her words still seeps out. And I definitely didn’t miss her emphasis on the word “friend” in that sentence either…
“That would be me. And you’re the bitch I found snooping where she didn’t belong,” I snide, faking a smile of my own.
She actually has the audacity to look offended at my remark, before she schools her emotions and the fakeness returns. “Oh, that little thing, I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.” She waves her hand, brushing off the fact that her “misunderstanding” nearly cost her her life.
“I was only looking out for my RyRy after all. I’m sure as his friend you would do the same when it came to protecting him from…
unknown people.” Her hands clasp behind her back, pushing her chest out in an attempt to look…
you know what? I don’t actually know what she’s attempting. Seduction? Cuteness?
Do I give off desperation vibes I’m not aware of? I must if she thinks this is going to work on me.
“Let’s start over, I’m sure we’ll get along. The best of friends even,” Kelsie coos, and I have to stop myself from throwing up on her neon pink stilettos.
“Uhh, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” Under lock and key, never to be released again.
”In fact, let me give you a piece of bestie advice now! I know a great spot by the announcer where you can see the match so much better!”
The fight has already begun and this conversation doesn’t seem to have a stopping point, which has me missing my man in action.
If allowing her to show me a better location, gets her to shut the hell up and leave me alone, then I suppose no harm can come from moving to the other side.
After all, who can say no to a better view of Ry’s flexing muscles straining under the buzz of fluorescent lighting.
Nodding to give her the go ahead, she jumps—literally hops—with excitement. Her shirt is struggling to contain her bouncing tits as she skips along the side of the ring and around the corner. With a sigh, I put my feet into motion, following behind while trying to also keep eyes on the match.
Ry has taken a few hits, his bleeding lip and the welt forming on his right side, are good indicators.
As my eyes clock the injuries, cataloging them in my head, I’m getting increasingly more irritated that I missed it.
A neon flash in front of me has me searching for Kelsie once again, as she retreats along the far wall but as I look back towards my guy, I stop dead.
Not by my choice mind you, as I walked face first into some burly-chested dude I hadn’t seen in my route.
“Well, howdy there lil’ lady. My apologies.” The looming figure says as he looks me up and down. A grin alights his face, showing his crooked teeth but never reaching a sincere height. It’s forced. Fake. And all too telling.
When I take a step back to really get a good look at him, it doesn’t do me any favors.
There’s something about him that seems out of place among this crowd—and I’m not talking about the thick southern twang of an accent.
His black and grey suit looks too polished, hair slicked back too neatly, and something behind the hazel of his eyes that makes my inner child want to run and cry in a corner.
My instincts are going haywire, alarm bells ringing throughout my head, screaming that this is someone to stay the fuck away from. Far away.
“All good, excuse me,” I briskly retort and try to push past him. I still see Kelsie up ahead, or at least what I think is her and her eye-insulting outfit, but as I go to move forward, a large palm grabs me around my upper arm to stop me.
Oh, now you’ve fucking gone and done it.
I hadn’t planned on getting into a fight myself while here, but if this asshat doesn’t remove his meaty girlfriend-substitute from my skin, I’m going to be the new headliner.
Before I get the chance to spin and insult the owner of the hand, I feel a prick in the side of my neck and a burning sensation begins to flood my veins.
I try to suck in a breath, but the action hits me sharp and heavy.
Darkness descends around the edges of my vision, as the world tilts and I collapse into unknown arms.
I can’t feel any part of me, everything has gone numb from whatever toxin is now flowing through my body. My mind foggy with a cloud of confusion. I’m still spatially aware that there are people around me, but I’m not able to see or feel them.
“She’s stable enough for transport,” a male voice says from somewhere around me. The unfamiliar tone, quiet and distorted by the ringing in my ears.
An agonizing jolt of pain rips through me and I would give anything in this moment to be able to scream.
Flames burn through me, reaching every inch of skin, every cell, as if I’m being encased in a shroud of lava.
Little licks of the flame continue to hit every one of my nerve endings while I travel further and further away from consciousness, until there is nothing.