His jaw tightens, then he nods. “I’ll be there. Get ready.”
My stomach is in knots as I walk toward the ring, but my stride doesn’t falter. I hear cheers and boos, but I hardly acknowledge them as I focus on my opponent.
Naomi.
Her long blonde hair is in a perfect braid, and she's wearing glittery pink shorts and top. A smirk appears on her face when she sees me, eyeing me up and down. I focus on her face. I need to focus on reading her face and moves if I want to win this. Contrary to what I told Boris, I’m entering this fight with the focus on winning. There is no other way. I need to win this for me, for Gabriel, and for my gym. Naomi might think she knows how I fight, or think I’m inexperienced. She doesn’t know one thing, though, and that is that I get what I want, and I’ll fight for it to the death.
As soon as the bell rings, I tune out everyone and focus. Naomi comes at me, and before I can react, her hand slashes across my face. Fire rips across my cheek, and I hiss through my clenched teeth. I force air into my lungs as I feel the sting of blood running down my cheek. Seeing her laugh, I raise my guard. She circles me again before lunging. Her elbows crush into my ribs. Pain shoots through me, and before I can defend, she grabs my hair, jerking my head down as she ends it with a knee to my face.
The ref shoves her away from me. “Cut it out, Naomi! One more and I’ll end it!”
I stagger to my corner with my chest heaving, my ribs screaming, and blood spilling from my face.
Boris gives me water and tends to my wound.
“She's playing dirty, but you already knew that. I need you to focus, and don’t let her distract you.”
The bell echoes again, and I force myself to move forward, focusing on her hands, but she goes low this time. Her shin cracks against my thigh. I lose balance but get back on it in a second.
“Come on. This is too easy,” she shouts before she swings wide at my head. I cover, arms tight, receiving blow after blow.
“No shots to the back of the head!” the ref shouts, and of course, she ignores him. Her fists hit wherever they can.
I clench my jaw and wait, biding my time, because her punches are getting sloppy. I see the opportunity, her chin open, and I shoot forward. My fist connects with her jaw, snapping her head to the side. The crowd erupts just as the bell saves her before I can follow through.
I come into the third round with a fierce fire burning inside me and the realization that I could beat her. Only that fire is lost to me as soon as her fist slams into my ribs again. This time, I can’t hold. Air leaves my lungs in a rush, my knees buckling.
The crowd roars. I guess they’re cheering for my loss.
Naomi stands over me. “Stay down; that’s where you belong. Do you see him, how disappointed he is in you?”
My eyes move and land on Gabriel. I can’t see clearly, but I can see the clench of his jaw. Is he mad at me? Or because of me?
“He will never be yours. He still cares about me. In his own way, there are things we shared that you and he never will.” I hear her, but my eyes follow Gabriel as he leaves, and I can’t see him anymore.
I hear the ref calling me. “Valentina, are you good? Show me something!”
I force myself to stand, my legs trembling. Even with my vision tunneled, I lift my fist. “I’m not done.”
Naomi grins. “You stupid bitch.”
“No, you're stupid if you think I’m going to let you talk about Gabriel. You cheating bitch.”
She’s angry as she lunges, making her careless. I duck under her hook and come up with an uppercut that cracks against her chin. Her head snaps back, her body jerking. I don’t stop, don’t let the gasp of the crowd distract me as I keep punching. Left, right, left, right. My fists are fire, smashing into her face, letting out all the rage I carry on behalf of Gabriel and me. My fist smashes into her, driving her backwards. Naomi stumbles, arms flailing, but I chase her down, every punch a roar from my aching body. Her back hits the ropes, and I pin her there, raining punches until her body sags, her eyes glassy.
The ref grabs me, showing through the crowd. “Enough! She’s finished!”
I freeze, my chest heaving, blood dripping down my face, and my ribs screaming. Naomi is crumpled on the floor, unmoving, and I couldn’t care less.
The referee lifts my hand, declaring me the winner, but the roar of the crowd fades beneath the pounding in my ears. My gaze sweeps the arena, searching, needing to find the one face that should be running toward me right now.
But Gabriel isn’t here.
This is the moment I dreamed of, him here with me, pulling me into his arms, lifting me off my feet with that fierce, unstoppable pride only he has for me. The moment he kisses me like the victory belongs to us both.
Finally, I see him. Our eyes lock across the chaos.
His stare hits me like a punch; proud, burning, possessive. I smile as I watch him approach me, but he changes direction, not leading him toward me, but toward my fear.
