The first blow to Riggs’ jaw caught him by surprise. It was my right hook that did the initial real damage.
“The fuck?!” Riggs cursed while ducking my next left jab.
I didn’t let that deter me as I sent a blow to his ribcage. I ignored the screams and the shouts of the women and the people, likely many of which were our teammates, around us.
“I knew you were fucking stupid as hell but I didn’t realize you had a death wish!” I yelled at the same time another one of my fists hurled Riggs’ way. He dodged that one and I stumbled just enough for him to land a fist in my ribcage. I felt the hit but no pain. In fact, it served to make me angrier. I blocked his next blow and another one of my fists made direct contact with his abdomen.
I made an effort to advance forward, only to feel two pairs of arms holding me back.
“Get the fuck off of me!” I yelled to whoever thought it was their fucking civic duty to break this shit up. They could get some of what I planned on giving Riggs, as well.
“Tyler, calm down. He’s on our team, man.”
“Fuck off me, Marco!”
“All this over some used up pussy?” Riggs had the audacity to yell even with the bloody lip he was holding.
His comment enraged me more.
“The only used up pussy you better be referring to is the one you came out of, you piece of shit.”
Riggs’s eyes doubled in size with anger. I knew that comment would get to him and he began charging me. I broke free of Marco and whoever else was holding me, and ducked the wild fist Leonard sent my way. I countered with another hook to his ribs, sending him stumbling to the ground.
“Get off of him!” came shouts behind me, both male and female.
Before I could really end Riggs the way I wanted to, I was being pulled off, this time by more than two pairs of hands.
“Tyler, calm down!” one of our defensive linemen shouted.
Four bodies now stood in between Riggs and I.
“Fuck you and that bitch!” he shouted from behind them.
“Tyler, no!” everyone shouted as I charged him again. Words were inefficient for expressing how much I wanted to rip his fucking head off.
“Let’s go,” someone said as they pulled Riggs farther down the long hallway.
I squinted, looking toward one of the women that was next to him, helping him as he limped along.
“Hey! Hey!” shouted our teammates as I bulldozed past them, grabbing the woman by the arm and spinning her around to face me.
“Let go of me!” she bellowed.
My hand immediately dropped from her body as I recognized the same woman that’d woken me up in the middle of the night nearly two months earlier in my hotel room. I looked to Riggs and went to charge him again.
“You set me up! What is she, a fucking hooker?” I charged, realizing that this same woman being in Riggs’ house was no coincidence.
“I ain’t no hooker!” she screamed, but I ignored her.
“Yeah, Charlene did me a little favor! You should be thanking me. I know she gives good head!” he yelled while being carried down the hall.
Again our teammates moved in between us, stopping me from being able to get to him. I snatched my arm free and spun around, ready to head down the stairs, only to be facing a familiar face. We’d never met in person but most people knew who Darryl Wright was. Unfortunately, I knew him as more than just an athlete, and although he stood there, saying nothing—and technically, I had no reason to be pissed at him—I had half a mind to deck him as well, just because.
I gave him the same scowling looking he was giving me. “Something you need to fucking get off your chest?” I questioned, fists tightening at my sides.
His jaw worked but he remained silent.
“Didn’t think so.”
