I had to find a job, find a way to support myself once I graduated, and see what my parents were going to be able to figure out. I needed to know if anything was salvageable. I needed to plan for my future that was only months away. How could I juggle that, school, and the overwhelming relationship I knew Talon would be?
The answer was that I couldn’t.
Something had to give, and I had a bad feeling it wouldn’t be Talon Draven.
∞∞∞
Talon~
I saw her the second my feet hit the mat.
Kenzlee was here, and if I was frustrated and pissed off earlier, that was nothing compared to what I was feeling now.
She didn’t belong here.
Kenzlee was too good to be in a crowd of hustlers and the desperate trying to make some money. So, the sooner I knocked this motherfucker out, the sooner I could get her out of here.
I wasn’t really surprised she had shown up, though. I mean, everyone who’s anyone shows up to these things. I think Edie was the only exception. I just didn’t like her…exposed.
I looked over to where Lars and Hunter were and, jerking my head towards where Kenzlee and Alexandria were standing, I knew they’d get the message. I might be stuck up here until the fight ended, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make sure Kenzlee and Alex were safe in the meantime.
Turning my attention back to my opponent, a guy named Gary Simmons aka Night, because, supposedly, one punch makes his opponents go to sleep, I realized I was going to have to put him down faster than I had originally intended. Lars and Hunter had convinced me to extend the match a little, and really exorcise my frustrations, but seeing Kenzlee here changed all that.
Gary-or Night, I suppose, wasn’t going to know what hit him.
The problem with the guys who signed up to fight me is that they study the recordings of the fights. They study me and, sooner or later, convince themselves that they have my technique figured out and can win.
The thing is, I don’t have a technique. I have gut instinct, and that’s how I win my fights. Sure, I had fighting skills that were sharp and lethal, but I won my fights mostly on perception. I had this weird ability where I could anticipate someone’s move before they made it. It was little movements; little ticks. It was almost like a professional poker player taking note of other players’ tells.
Like, right now. Gary was bouncing back and forth on his feet, doing that whole pumping up thing, but I noticed how he put more weight on his right leg than his left. This meant he was lefthanded, and he was probably going to try to surprise me with that. It also told me that if I had to sweep his leg, go with this right since it was weaker.
Of course, it wasn’t going to come to that.
I was going to knock him out with one punch.
The volunteer ring girl made her way around the outside base of the ring, and the second she stopped in front of the bettors’ table, the bell rang.
We walked towards each other, and meeting up in the center of the ring, we hit fists as the ref told us not to kill one another. That’s all he was really here for, anyway. His sole purpose was to make sure no one was killed because there weren’t any real rules. We fought until someone conceded or was knocked out and couldn’t continue.
We each took one step back, fists raised, and I waited. I waited patiently for him to make his move and I didn’t care how boring my fight was going to be. I didn’t care that there’d be no workup to some huge climax of blood and broken teeth. I was here to win for Edie and my Mom, and that was it.
Everyone knew I was never the first one to swing, so Gary swung with his right, trying to distract me so he could come back with his left, but I was able to duck before my left hit the underside of his ribs and my right hit a direct shot to his chin. He didn’t fall though, and that had me infuriated. I didn’t have time for this shit. I needed to get to Kenzlee.
Gary got one good shot into my ribs before my right hit his chin again, and my left followed up to the temple, and the motherfucker went down this time.
The roar was deafening, but it always was. It didn’t matter who was fighting, this was a bloodthirsty crowd. A few people rushed the ring as the ref held my arm over my head and announced me as the official winner. I didn’t pay attention to anything else because, as soon as my name and win went into the books, I exited that ring and headed straight for Kenzlee, and it was a good thing I did. I was approaching just as some stuck-up looking rich kids walked up to her.
I stepped next to Kenzlee and Alexandria as Lars and Hunter each gave me a congratulations pat on my back. Alex was standing next to Lars.
The guy with the blue button-up and goddamn penny loafers had a surprised look on his face as he said, “Kenzlee, what are you doing here?”
I watched Kenzlee scan his little entourage of another guy and two girls. “What…what are you guys doing here?” she countered. “Lakeside’s a long way from Madison Prep.”
People were slapping my back and offering casual congratulations, but I was too busy eavesdropping on Kenzlee’s conversation.She was from fucking Madison Prep.That explained the fucking diamonds in her ears.
“We…we heard about some fights, and Jimmy thought it’d be fun to check it out,” he answered. “You…uh, you look great.”
And that was my cue. I stepped up until Kenzlee had to look at him on her tiptoes over my shoulder. “And who the fuck are you?”
