Once I had the shorts snug and in place, I let myself sweat for a short while, shadowboxing, jumping on my toes, and doing some stretches while Cosette and her guys watched.
I may be a trained athlete, but so is Gio, and who knows what extra training he has outside of football?
After a few minutes, a bell sounded outside, and Siege straightened up from the locker he had been leaning against.
“It’s time.”
Anyone who’d be able to feel my sweaty palms would know that I was getting nervous, feeling the anticipation build as we stepped out of the room and into the bustling main hall. But the moment I saw Gio’s effortless climb over the ring ropes, I instinctively began cracking my knuckles, my muscles buzzing with eagerness for the fight to start.
Before my feet could carry me up the ring’s steps, a hand, tight and cold, clamped around my wrist, and I spun to face an irate Cosette. “You better win, or I’m kicking you myself, Combs.”
“Gee, thanks for the confidence, C,” I said as I reached up to ruffle the top of her head, giving her a confident smirk before I finally climbed up the ring.
The guy from earlier with the jazz hands followed suit, his grin widening as the roar of the crowd echoed around us, and he started to talk about bets and other bullshit underground fighting terms.
I think he even gave me a persona at one point.
“Ready?” Jazz Hands finally asked Gio after his whole spiel, to which Gio just grunted and beat his chest with a fist, smiling like a goddamn lunatic.
I nodded before Jazz Hands could even ask me, and he made his way off the ring before the bell went off again, signaling the start of the fight.
Gio didn’t waste another second before he was barrelling towards me, hellbent on taking me down.
He was wrong if he bet I would plant my feet on the ground and wait like a sitting duck. I sidestepped, shoving him to the side as he ended up grabbing onto nothing but air.
Gio’s initial strikes were clumsy, fueled by adrenaline and raw power.
I weaved, I ducked, I dodged.
The fact that he has been acting offensively while I have been forced to play defensively has been an utter embarrassment.
“Start throwing punches, Combs!” I couldn’t bear to look at C. Not right now. Nonetheless, her screaming, cutting through the crowd’s heckling, actually spurred me to do something.
The moment Gio tried to give me another jab, I dodged and immediately let my bare fist connect with his cheek with a resounding thud.
He staggered back before he let out a groan, followed by a furious roar, and what C’s cheer did for me was what the contact did to him.
It awakened him.
The fire in his eyes burned so fiercely that I could almost feel its heat. It was in the way he moved more swiftly. Efficiently. Blow after blow, his punch would land on my jaw or my stomach until I was coughing, feeling the breath drawn out from me.
Withdrawing, I moved in a circular path to gain some space, panting as I attempted to get some air. The only sign that I even managed to land a blow was a small trickle of blood from his nose, and it was utterly humiliating, while I could feel my cheek throbbing with pain, and I couldn’t tell if what was running down my lips was blood, sweat, drool, or perhaps a combination of the three.
“I can’t believe you brought her here,” he said, an arrogant smirk finding its way to his mouth. “Though it makes sense.The piggy does belong in a barn.”
My vision went red.
My ears were ringing, hearing the rush of my own blood.
A bellow of pure rage escaped me as I charged toward him, and I finally struck him again, this time squarely on the nose.
The douchebag attempted a counterattack as he swung back wildly, but after yet another dodge, I was able to dance around him, and I threw a punch across his goddamn face.
He stumbled back a few steps, losing his footing, and I took the chance, jumping on him as I pinned him down.
The darkness came back, and I clearly saw the irony that the one who should bring me out of it with her light was responsiblefor it this time. For making me feel so goddamn protective of her that I want to murder the fucker who tried to belittle her.
With renowned focus, I welcomed the pain of feeling the skin on my knuckles split open, as I hovered over Gio, my fists raining down on him. I watched the blood turn from his to a sickening blend of his and mine, the crimson staining my hands.
