I take a deep breath, reset my stance, and prepare to give him a taste of why I’m up for the first-place position. I move in again, determined not to let him dictate the pace any longer. I fire a straight right aimed at his jaw, and just as it connects with a satisfyingthud, his elbow crashes into my forehead. The impact is brutal—skin splits, and the sharp crack of bone vibrates through my skull, echoing so loudly in my ears that it drowns out the roar of the crowd.
Blood immediately starts pouring down my face, trickling into my vision, but there’s no time to process the pain. Not yet. My head is swimming, but my instincts kick in. I can’t let him take advantage of the opening. I press forward through the haze, blood blurring everything into a red smear. Arms shoot out, wrapping around his neck like a vice. I drive my weight into him, feeling his balance shift just enough for me to take control. With a grunt of effort, I drag him down with me, both of us crashing to the mat in a scramble of limbs and adrenaline.
He thrashes, but I’ve got him. My legs coil around his torso, locking tight as I cinch in the choke, squeezing my forearm deeper under his chin. Blake claws at my arms, trying to pry me off, but the panic in his movements tells me he knows it’s too late. I’ve got him.
The blood keeps dripping from my forehead, seeping down my face, but I can feel him weakening beneath me. His body shudders, his resistance faltering. I squeeze tighter, my grip relentless, each second pushing him closer to the edge. Then, in a last desperate motion, he taps.
I release him immediately, rolling off to the side as the ref rushes in to check him. My chest heaves as I gulp down air, blood still streaming from the cut, but none of that matters right now. I push myself up to my knees, the ref grabbing my wrist and hoisting it into the air.
“Winner by submission, and our new first place contender in our end of July tournament, Clay“the Crusher,” Cameron!”
The crowd erupts in a deafening roar, but all I can focus on is Maggie. She’s there, in the front row with a mixture of glowing pride, excitement and horrified concern on her face as she cheers for me loudly. I stoop down, gesturing for her to come closer to the edge of the rink. She pushes through the crowd until she’s right in front of me and the moment she’s near, I want to tell her everything. I can feel the adrenaline of the fight mixed with my love for her pumping through me.
Blood drips into my right eye—I’m sure I’ll need stitches or staples for it—but I don’t care. Wrapping my hands around her neck, I pull her in and kiss her deeply, tasting her fear, pride, and excitement as the crowd erupts around us.
“You were incredible,” she breathes, pulling back and in that moment, it’s just us—no crowd, no noise. Just two people making their own way in this world, doing what we want, on our own terms. Age gap be damned. I want it all with Maggie—the woman who stands by me in my wildest, most reckless moments.
Her eyes become more concerned as they roam over my face. “We need to get you to the hospital; you’re bleeding pretty badly from this gash.”
I pull back, jump over the ropes and down to the floor, but not before I scoop Maggie up in my arms and roar like the champion I am. I have it all: the girl, first place in my fighting league, a job I love, a fulfilling hobby, and the woman thatI love.
Now I just need to tell her.
Chapter 29 – Clay
The emergency department is packed for a Thursday night.
The blood from the gash on my forehead has mostly stopped, thanks to compression and a heavy-duty, tactical bandage that Dallas had in his car.? He dropped Maggie and me off, saying he had to head back to San Angelo to pick Dove up from the airport after the conclusion of her latest tour.
After a thirty-minute wait, Maggie and I are finally escorted into a spare room in the back, where we sit and wait again, this time for the doctor.
“Mr. Cameron. I wish we weren’t meeting under these circumstances,” the doctor says with a smile as he enters.
I smile back, recognizing him as the one who treated me a couple of months ago for bruised ribs. He shakes his head playfully and flips through my chart.
“How are you feeling now?”
“Like I took an elbow to the face.”
Maggie snickers beside me but remains quiet.
The doctor shakes his head and snaps the clipboard shut. “With the bleeding and the blurred vision that you mentioned onintake, we’re going to do an X-ray just to be safe.”
“Possible fracture?” Maggie chimes in.
The doctor nods. “Unlikely, but we’ll rule it out. Once we’re sure, I’ll stitch up that nice gash you’ve got, and it’ll barely leave a scar.”
“Can’t damage the moneymaker,” I joke. Maggie snorts and shakes her head.
The doctor leaves, and almost immediately, the door opens again. This time it’s McKenna, the X-ray technician, who also happens to be Maggie’s manager for her internship.
“Hi, I’m McKenna – Oh, hey, Maggie,” she says, once she realizes who is in the room.
Maggie smiles. “Hey, McKenna.”
McKenna glances between us, her eyebrows lifting. “So, back again but this time for a possible face fracture?”
I raise my hand sheepishly. “That’s me.”
