“I’ll try.” He nodded and paused. “You’re making this so hard.”
“What am I making hard?” I frowned.
“You’re making me want to believe.” He closed his eyes. “You’re giving me hope.”
“I love you, Hudson,” I whispered in his ear. “That’s never going to change.”
“God forgive me, but I don’t know if I can give you up.” He grabbed my hands. “I’ve done bad, Riley. I know I’ve done bad and I know you’re going to hate me when I tell you, but I swear to God, I’m going to fight for you. I can’t let you go. I can’t let this go.”
“You don’t have to,” I whispered against his lips. “Now go out there and win that fight.”
We held each other for a few minutes before Hudson kissed my forehead and walked out of the locker room. I let him go ahead of me and sat down on the bench. I touched my lips and rubbed them softly. I felt warm and fuzzy inside. It seemed to me that everything was finally going to work out. He didn’t hate me for what I’d done. In fact, he loved me. He really loved me. I hugged myself as I sat there grinning. Finally, everything was working out. Finally, Hudson and I were going to get to be together.
***
I waited in the locker room for about five minutes before going back out. I was shocked by the crowds of people I saw in the gym. It was loud and packed, and there was a buzz in the air that I had never felt before.
I reached into my bag, grabbed my phone, and started taking some photos. They would be awesome to include in my article. I realized then that I should start taking some notes. This was the biggest fight Nick’s gym was going to see; in fact, it was the first real fight I was going to see. I was scared at what I was about to witness. I half-smiled to myself as I realized I should get used to it. If Hudson won and entered the championships, then there was going to be a whole lot more fighting for me to witness.
“I’ve got fifty on Channing.” A tall guy passed some money to a skinny guy with spiky blond hair.
“I’ve got two hundred.” Another guy gave the blond guy money and grinned. “He’s going to beat the shit out of that punk ass.”
“What’s his name again?” the tall guy asked and laughed.
“Rudson or something,” the other guy replied. “Or maybe it was Robin or something.”
“It’s Hudson.” I walked up to them. “The other guy’s name is Hudson, but he also goes by Batman.”
“Okay, okay.” The tall guy gave me a surprised look. “Don’t get it twisted.”
“What?”
“Don’t get it twisted.”
“Don’t get what twisted?” I rolled my eyes at him and turned away. “Dumbass,” I mumbled under my breath. I was pretty sure he had used the slang phrase incorrectly.
“Riley, come over here!” Justin shouted and waved at me.
I pushed my way over to the seat he was saving for me and gave him a look of thanks. “It’s really busy in here.” I looked around.
“Yeah,” Justin nodded. “Nick’s pissed. No one else was supposed to be here, but Channing created an event on Facebook.”
I frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“He thinks he’s going to win.”
“He doesn’t have a shot, does he?”
“If he plays dirty.” Justin shrugged. “Who knows?”
“You really think he’s going to fight dirty, don’t you?”
“I don’t know.” Justin’s face was grim. “I really don’t know.”
“He’s going to try and hurt him, isn’t he?” I stared at him and felt my body going cold. “I know you said that earlier, but I thought it was just conjecture. But you weren’t just saying that, were you? You think he’s going to really try and hurt him.”
“I don’t know what he’s capable of, but yes, I think he has a few tricks up his sleeve.”
“I need to talk to Hudson.” I jumped up, feeling panicked.
What if he didn’t fight back because I had told him to fight clean? What if he just took it because he was worried what I would think? I had to let him know to fight as dirty as he had to.
“You can’t go to the mat.” Justin grabbed me. “You’ll get him disqualified.”
“But I need to talk to him.” I shook my head as my whole body convulsed.
“You can’t go to the mat.” His fingers tightened their grip on my arms. “If you do, he’s out. It’ll be okay, Riley. Hudson knows what he is doing.”
“I hope so.”
I sat back down and watched as an older-looking man stepped onto the mat. He looked at Hudson and Channing and said something I couldn’t hear. Then the fight began. The room became quiet. I was shocked by the silence. I had always assumed that fights were noisy events.
“Why is it so quiet?” I whispered to Justin.
“People want to hear every break and crunch.”
“What?”
“They want to hear the bones break.” He offered me a gentle smile. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I swallowed hard. “It just seems so weird that people would want to see other people get hurt.”
“That’s humankind for you.” He shrugged and then gave me a once-over. “Are you sure you want to be here? It could get pretty bad. I’m sure there will be a lot of blood.”
“I want to see.” I nodded. “I have to see. I’m writing an article.”
“Yeah.” He looked at my pad and paper. “I forgot about that.”
We turned back to the fight and I tried not to squirm in my seat as Hudson and Channing faced off. So far neither one of them had made the first move, and the tension was high in the air. We were all waiting to see what happened.
I sat there with my hand over my mouth. I wanted to scream, but nothing had happened yet. I was scared for Hudson. I was scared for myself. A horrible feeling was building up in my stomach and there was a ringing in my ears. My entire body was still in tension.
And then it happened. It seemed like everything was occurring in slow motion. I watched Channing’s right hook connect with Hudson’s jaw. The crack was heard throughout the room, and I heard everyone gasp. Hudson tried to hit Channing back, but Channing blocked him easily. I watched as Channing hit him again and blood squirted out of Hudson’s nose. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see him getting hit.