I hurried up and typed the letters TTYL and slipped my cell into my pocket, then stood up. “Yeah, let’s do this.”
I went to the conference and did the poses they want us to do, facing off with our fists raised. Once again, Derek was flapping his big fucking mouth off about how I wasn’t shit and how he was going to make me his bitch.
“I’m going to beat the fuck out of you, bitch,” he said as he nudged his forehead against mine.
I shoved him back and he charged forward. The president of the promotion, our coaches, and security got between us, pulling us further apart as the media went into a frenzy. Cameras were flashing like crazy as the crowd erupted in excitement. This was a highly-anticipated match, as Derek had surprised everyone by defeating Garret Silva in the match to see who’d challenge me. Garret had been on a winning streak at the time, and the fan favorite, so it was a huge upset.
I let Barry and my corner crew lead me back to the dressing room so I could get prepared for the fight. I couldn’t help but wonder if Aiden was in the crowd of media pundits, flashing their cameras or camera phones. I bet he was, and I felt sure he was looking damn good, too.
“Hey, are you focused?” Barry asked me, slapping my cheek lightly.
I nodded. “I’ve just got my head in the match, Barry. Thinking about how I’m going to tear down my opponent,” I said, which was a total lie. I was thinking about how I was going to rip off Aiden’s underwear and then wondering which kind he would be wearing. Boxers or Briefs? Or would he totally blow my mind and be wearing a jock or thong?
Barry smiled. “Good. That’s where you head should be. Now, remember what we talked about. Keep your distance from this guy, he’s got a longer reach than you and he’s a fucking cheater. If he goes to gouge your eye, that’s when you counter with the arm bar, don’t let up until he submits. You need to be prepared for him to cheat.”
“I am,” I said. I’d break his fucking arm if he tried that shit. I’d seen guys bleeding bad and losing their eyesight because of that illegal maneuver. I was going to be on my guard with Derek.
Barry laughed as he tied up my hands with the commission standing by, watching to make sure we weren’t going to be cheating on our end. We then put on the gloves provided by ETC, as I couldn’t fight with my own. All to keep things fair and standard. I had two more company endorsements on my shorts now. Michaelson’s Sports was the first, and now I had American Franks and Texbest Beef. That meant more money for me and my team.
“You ready to kick this motherfucker’s ass, kid?” Barry asked me.
“Fuck yeah.” I made my way out of the dressing room, towards the octagon-shaped ring. My opponent was already waiting and bouncing around, throwing punches like that was going to unravel me. I took off my robe and stepped into the ring. We both approached the referee and stood glaring at each other as he went over the rules. When the bell sounded, I became The Hitman.
We circled each other for a second before we collided, fist and legs being blocked and countered. I had studied all of Derek’s fights and knew his weaknesses, and when he charged me, throwing a right hook, he lowered his guard and I took a chance, side-stepping and leaping with a knee to his chin. The blow knocked Derek dizzy as his head snapped back, and that was when I was on him, following up my successful blow with a barrage of punches he tried to block until I tackled him, taking him down and giving him more punches until I landed another good blow that rendered him loopy as fuck.
Before I could throw in another right hook to truly put his lights out, the referee yanked me off of him, shoving me back, and then turned to check on Derek. After a few seconds, he declared him KO’d and I raised my hands in victory as my corner rushed into the ring, congratulating me.
“Fuck, that was forty-two seconds, kid!” Barry exclaimed as he beamed from ear-to-ear.
Well, damn, that was a record for me! I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him and my trainers. Every win I got meant they were all doing something right. I wanted to celebrate, but not in the way they wanted me to. Lots of requests to go out drinking, but I turned them down. Said I just needed to decompress. There was only one person on my mind right then. I couldn’t wait to get done with the post-fight conference where I saw Aiden in the crowd, smiling back at me.
I was curious what he was going to ask when he raised his hand. I nodded at him and he stood up. “So, now that you’ve successfully defended your title again, how do you plan on celebrating tonight?”
Ahhh, the little slick bastard. He knew how I planned to celebrate. It was our special secret and my cock stirred in my pants as I thought about how I planned on spending my night. “I’m a chill kind of guy. The only thing I want to do now is eat something tasty and suck down a nice protein drink.” It was the boldest thing I’ve said publicly and that was only because the true meaning of my words would hold relevance to Aiden and no one else. To the other sharks in the room, they’d just think I was going home to eat a big dinner or even dessert and drink one of our sports drinks. That was what I hoped they’d think, anyway.
I answered a few more questions, then I stood up when Rupert came to save me. He knew my limit was ten questions. That was good enough, especially since I was being more media-friendly and actually answering their questions. As long as they weren’t too intrusive. For instance, one bastard had the nerve to ask me about my sex life when I was walking to the stage at the weigh-in; I just ignored him. Now that I was done with the conference, I slipped out of the arena, climbing into the limo with Barry and Rupert.
This time, Rupert and I were going to the same hotel, Barry was going home. We only rented the limo for fight night. Rupert was all about arriving in style like a champion. Me, I could care less. My hog was good enough, but whatever. As long as I got back to my hotel room quickly, I was fine with the transportation. They were talking to me and I was nodding, but the only thing on my mind was Aiden and finally being able to be with him again after all these weeks.
It had been a brand new kind of torture for me to be thinking about him and not being able to have him. I could almost taste him on my tongue and couldn’t wait to lick every inch of his perfect, sexy body.
“Hey, kid, are you listening to me?” Rupert asked.
I turned to him. “Um, sorry. Just coming down from an adrenaline high.”
“We need to capitalize on this win, kid.”
I held my hand up. “Rupe, I get you’re ready to dive into the next venture, but let me have tonight be a business-free zone, okay?”
He smiled and nodded. “Sure. I get it. Sometimes I get so excited for your success and I want to be a part of it. I just want to see you soar, Macio.” He put his hand on my knee, patting me. He gave my knee a little squeeze before removing his hand and sitting back. It was an odd exchange, but maybe he just felt emotional because of how the night had gone.
“Thanks, Rupert. I really appreciate you,” I said. I wanted him to know that I cared about him and respected his position.
“I’m surprised you didn’t want any escorts tonight,” Barry said.
Rupert frowned and looked at me. “You didn’t?”
Damn Barry, I wished he hadn’t brought that up.
