Chapter 8 Lexi
LEXI
Since they agreed on a three-point system, Lexi acted as referee. She rolled her eyes when Grayson asked if she could be objective.
“Been doing this for years.”
From outside the ropes, Lexi watched the men circling each other. They were still testing; gauging response time and reach. Eventually one of them would go for it. Her bet was on Eddie, since she knew he could be impatient, and Grayson struck her as anything but.
She felt a little buzz of satisfaction as Eddie stepped in close for a combination that sent Grayson backwards. She acknowledged his sidestep out of the advance, his glance to Eddie’s right kidney, and realized his stance alone was almost double hers.
With that much extra leg, he would outpace her fast, so she’d have to be quick and calculated with her hits. She couldn’t help but appreciate his moves. He was steady, and while he moved slower than she did, his power made up for a lot.
Eddie won the first round using another combination, which Grayson graciously accepted.
“Been a while since I was in a ring,” he mentioned as they grabbed water.
“No worries man, you still have solid form,” Eddie said.
They stepped back in. Their second round, they began in a wrestling position, with Grayson (of course, Lexi thought) on top.
From his hands and knees, Eddie sent her a saucy wink, and she had to smile. She caught Grayson’s eye in the nanosecond afterward, and her smile faded. She winced as Grayson pinned Eddie harder than was strictly necessary, using a double chicken wing.
He wrenched Eddie’s arms behind his back before pulling him flat to the floor on his stomach. Lexi called it, and they stood, with Grayson helping Eddie up as he shook out his arms.
“Been a while since I’ve been on the bottom,” Eddie said, grinning widely. “You?”
From the sideline, Lexy choked on her water.
“Never,” Grayson said with a grin.
His eyes found Lexi’s and she felt her face go hot. For the third round, they grabbed boxing gloves.
In between their rounds, Lexi continued stretching and staying warmed up for her rounds with Grayson.
She didn’t want him to think she was actually submissive to him, but watching him fight, she knew the match would be difficult.
He was quick, and patient, and strong as all hell, with seriously ripped muscles for someone she’d only thought of as a club guy.
She hadn’t noticed before while she’d been on the treadmill - too busy fighting off her demons. His tank cut in at his shoulders perfectly, and the shoulders themselves were broad and cut, with muscles bunching every time he shifted.
At one point, she was out and out staring at the cut lines of muscle between his biceps and his shoulders.
His eyes met hers and that inner light of his ramped up instantly.
Their eyes only held for a second, but it was long enough.
Eddie caught him with a solid right hit on his chin.
Eddie won the third match; two out of three: winner.
Lexi grabbed a mouth guard before she stepped into the ring, and Grayson frowned.
“I won’t hit you in the face,” he said, and as she popped it in, she responded with her eyes on his.
“Maybe.”
“What style do you want?” he asked.
Given the repeated warnings about being pinned, he wasn’t surprised to hear her ask for a point-fight, medium contact.
What did come as one hell of a surprise was the straight kick she landed in his solar plexus, straight out of the gate.
It knocked him backward, and as he flung an arm out for balance, and in that moment, she stepped in and landed an elbow on his jaw.
With his eyebrows halfway up his dreads, Eddie called out.
“Two points. Winner.” He hopped off his stool and stepped up to Lexi, whose eyes never left Grayson’s. Eddie faced away from him to murmur,
“Baby, I would never tell you what to do. But I thought you wanted to see what he could do? A quick win like that doesn’t help, hm?”
She shook her head. Shit.
“I know. Maybe I just wanted to see if I could.”
Or she wanted Grayson to see she could. After all, she reasoned, wasn’t he there testing her as well? He needed a good fighter; she could say without prejudice that she was an excellent fighter, and now he knew it too.
“Do you want another round?” Eddie asked, turning to Grayson.