Iwasin awe of how crowded the arena was. Fans were hooting and hollering as Griffin made his way out of his locker room, and after leaping to our feet, Shaw, Pat, and I all started cheering.
“This is so exciting,” Pat shrilled. “Thanks again for inviting me.” He put his hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad you and Shaw were able to come with me.”
With their entourages in tow, the fighters were in the middle of the ring with the referee. “I gave you your instructions in the dressing room. Remember, protect yourself at all times, and above all, obey my commands. Let’s have a clean fight. Touch hands…now back to your corners.”
I watched as Griffin went over to his corner and started glancing around the crowd. We were two rows back, just to the left of where he stood. I tried to call out to him, but my voice was swallowed up by the rowdy roar of the fanatics.
Finally, our eyes locked and he gave me a quick wink.
I jumped up and down, waving like an idiot.
“That’s your man?” Pat yelled up at me, pointing to Griffin.
A feeling of pride settled in. “Yeah, yeah it is.”
“Mmmm girl, he’s sexy!”
Shaw leaned across Pat. “I hope he doesn’t hurt his pretty face! It’s too perfect to fuck up.”
I took my seat as the bells signaled the beginning of the round. I held my breath as I watched the fighters size each other up, bouncing around the ring. This was the first time I had ever watched boxing, and I knew why right away—it was boring in the beginning and then way too violent.
I kept cringing and hiding my eyes as Griffin took blows, blocked, dodged, and punched. I was a fucking wreck. I didn’t even realize at first that I was holding Shaw’s hand over Pat’s lap.
The first round ended and Griffin’s nose was bloody.
“You doing all right?” Shaw called over to me.
I cringed a little. “I think so. God, that must hurt like a bitch.” I pointed to my nose, and both of the guys agreed.
From what I could tell, the next two rounds went on just like the first. Most of the time I had my eyes closed or was looking away because I was too damn nervous that Griff was going to get seriously injured, but I could totally understand why fans got so pumped up about boxing. It was gory, fast-paced, and technical. The announcers kept commenting on how much faster Griffin was than his opponent and how he was the favorite to win by a landslide.
The fourth round started, and Griffin went in for the kill. Within a few seconds, he hit the other guy so hard on the side of the face that he was down on the mat, knocked out cold.
The ref started to wave off the fighter as the team rushed in to help. Griffin dropped to his knees next to his opponent, making sure he was okay before getting pulled back by a man I could only assume was his coach.
Over the raging crowd, the announcer yelled, “Ladies and gentleman, the end comes officially at one minute and thirty-six seconds into the fourth round. Your winner, middleweight champion of the world, Griffin Hayes!”
His gloved hands were being held in the air as people swarmed around him. I was jumping with Shaw and Pat when Griffin started waving his hand our way.
“I think he wants you to go up there!” Shaw yelled.
Without thinking about it, I leaped over the row in front of me. “Excuse me.” I pushed through the other ecstatic fans as I threw myself onto the railing. I didn’t know how I was going to get over the barrier, but I tried to climb over it. Security was stopping me before I even had one leg over the metal.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a huge man asked.
I heard Griffin yell over to us. “She’s with me.”
“I guess we can make an exception for the winner.”
The security guard effortlessly lifted me over the railing and I slid through the ropes into Griffin’s arms.
“Holy fuck!” he yelled. “What did you think?”
I kissed his sweaty cheek. “That I am so thankful it wasn’t longer. I don’t know how many more times I could handle watching you get punched.”
We started to follow everyone out of the ring and back toward the locker rooms.
