Louis has crossed a threshold.
For the first few weeks, he seemed always on the verge of tipping over. But it never quite happened. He fought and pushed and sweat and bled, and he came out the other side standing taller than before.
Nothing stops him now.
My dad says jump, and he flies higher than expected. He trains later. He hits harder and faster than we expected by this time. That wonderful body is a machine, perfectly oiled. And if I was attracted to him when we first met, it’s safe to say that I’m properly obsessed now.
He walks around naked in my apartment, a picture of perfect lethality. Every inch of him is geared toward explosive speed and power. Even when he’s relaxing, his muscles are stacked and ready.
It’s a testimony to my father’s training, to Louis’s drive and commitment.
Yet, I still don’t want to see him in the ring…
“I win again,” he says, flexing at the edge of the small cliff. He’s bolder with me now, showing sides of himself usually protected.
I jab him in the ribs, catching my breath.
“You’ve got a fight in three weeks. If you didn’t beat me every time, you’d be in trouble.”
Even still, I can’t help but feel that he’s in trouble.
I’ve had nightmares of Louis in the ring with Ruiz. There’s always so much blood, and Louis’s face swells until he can’t see a thing. No matter what I do, I can’t make it stop.
No matter how many hits he takes, Louis never stops fighting until I wake up and find him sleeping soundly next to me. My instinct to protect him is primal. Hasn’t he had enough pain in his life?
“What’s wrong?” He puts his fingers on my chin, so gently that it’s hard to imagine the power hiding in him. “You’ve got that look on your face.”
I meet his dark eyes. “You don’t have to take this fight.”
He turns away, staring out over the desert. “Not this again.”
“Yeah,again. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you step in that ring without letting you know how I feel. Ruiz is—“
“You think I don’t know?” He whirls on me, smacking his palm with each word. “I’ve watched his fights. Over and over. Every hit. Every knockout. I know what he can do. You think it’ll be worse than the beatings I’ve taken on the street? The fights Ihadto take.”
“But you don’t have to take this one.”
Louis scoffs, averts his eyes, shakes his head like nothing could be so wrong.
I grab his face, force him to look at me, fingers raking through his trim beard. “Youdon’t. Louis, there’s nothing to prove. If you want to fight, wait for a better match-up. Get more training in.”
“A match with a purse worth a couple thousand,” he says. “I’m broke, Catherine. No job. No future. This is all I’ve got.”
“That’s not true!”
I practically scream it, voice soaring off the cliff.
Louis looks at me like I’ve just shaken him from sleep.
“It’s not true,” I whisper. “You have me.”
He wants to run, to shy away from my affection. It’s his instinct: he was abandoned by everyone who was supposed to take care of him. Since he was born, all he’s known is that he’s alone.
Not anymore—I have to make sure he knows.
“Hey.Hey.” I pull his face to mine. “You haveme, Louis—I promise. If you drop this fight, I’m not going anywhere. Stay in my apartment. You can be my personal chef.”
He laughs softly, a tear rolling into his beard.
