Chapter Six
Blaire
“Oh hey, Blaire. What’s up? I was just about to leave to get you.”
“You sure you don’t want to go to the fight? It will be fun. I think you might like it more than you think you will.”
Katie laughed. “You don’t give up, do you? Nah, it’s honestly not my thing. Maybe if it was a food fight. Oh no, actually then I’d be more depressed about the fact that they were wasting food. So, basically, no fighting for me, thanks.”
“Well, it was worth a try. But what about Chris? He might want to go.”
“Chris? Chris hates fighting. Now, if it was a day of golf, then he’d be interested.”
I chuckled. “Well, this is certainly not golf. Okay, no problem.”
“Blaire, is it because you don’t want to go alone? Because now I feel bad.”
“No, not at all. You’re there for the dinner. That’s the main thing. I don’t mind watching the fight alone. Anyway, I figured you would say no. What I was really calling for was to say we should just meet there. Doesn’t make sense to go together if you’re not staying for the fight.”
“Oh yeah, that’s true. I didn’t even think of that. Okay, I’ll see you there. I’m leaving now.”
“Perfect, I’ll leave now too,” I said.
I put the phone down and chuckled. I figured she was going to say no, but it was a pity. I would’ve preferred watching the fight with someone rather than being alone, even if I told her otherwise. It was always nice to have someone there. But it would probably be worse to have someone that really didn’t want to be there, so maybe this was better, anyway. I grabbed my bags and headed out.
“You look beautiful,” I said to Katie as I met her in the parking lot. She was wearing a dark green dress that flowed around her slim body. “Planning on making a baby after this or something?”
She laughed. “Just a food baby.”
“Ah, I’ve had plenty of those.”
“You look gorgeous too.”
I was wearing tight black jeans and a black tank, with black boots. I had a green bag swung over my back for a bit of color. The green sort of went against the look I was initially going for, but I liked it.
“I’m dressed to fight!” I said and kicked out. At that very moment, a kid walked past and quickly ran back to his parents in fright. “Oops.”
I looked at Katie. “I’m clearly not ready to have kids.”
We made our way inside and found a table. I explained to Katie how the restaurant section was new.
“This is where so many great fighters started. But back then, it was just the fighting arena. It didn’t have this restaurant attached to it. So back there, right now, the fighters are probably getting ready. I think it was clever to build the restaurant. I bet you now that a lot of people here are only here because their partner wanted to watch the fight. They just came because they were promised food.”
Katie laughed. “You know, you almost convinced me to stay.”
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have done that. I know fighting is not your thing. Anyway, how’s it going? Are you and Chris still keeping a level head or is the whole baby thing freaking you out?”
“Surprisingly, we’re handling it pretty well. We’ve both decided not to get too excited about it, and we’re not telling anyone until it happens. Also, no baby clothes buying and all that. I’m sure everything will be fine, but you just never know. So, we’re just going to take it as it comes and go with the flow.”
I sighed. “You’re so mature. I’d be running around like a headless chicken if I were in your position.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’re more mature than you think. Anyway, it’s only because you haven’t found the right guy yet. When you do, all that will change. I promise you.”
“Ha, that’s if I ever do meet the right guy.”
“You will.”
I wasn’t so sure. Lately, I was starting to feel as if it was never going to happen. And it wasn’t exactly something I could just force. I’d just never looked at someone the way that Katie looked at Chris. And nobody had ever looked at me the way Chris looked at Katie. I pushed the thoughts away and picked up the menu.
I was trying to decide what to eat when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and jumped up in surprise when I saw who it was.
“Ryan?”
“Hey, Blaire. Small world.”
I grinned. I couldn’t believe it. When Ryan hadn’t called me, I figured I would never see him again. Yet here he was, smiling down at me and even more gorgeous than I remembered him to be.
“Small world indeed. Oh, Ryan, this is my best friend, Katie. Katie, this is Ryan. He’s an MMA fighter.”
“Oh,” Katie said. “Are you fighting tonight?”
“No, sadly not. I’m in recovery from my last fight. So now I just have to sit and watch everyone else. Which is never easy.”
“I’m sure,” I said. Katie just nodded, but I could tell she didn’t understand why.
“Look, I’ve been hoping to see you again. Would you both like to join my friend and I? He’s over there,” he said and pointed at a man sitting alone at a table.
“Uh,” I looked at Katie, but her face gave nothing away, so I nodded. “That would be great. I’ll be right there. I just want to let the waiter know.”
When he was gone, I turned to Katie. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Of course. Hey, he’s gorgeous. How do you know this guy?”
“That’s the guy that I met in Wyoming. The one I was telling you about.”
“The one that didn’t call you back?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that one. Idiot.”
“You don’t seem to care.”
“I don’t, really.”
“Well, he seems nice. Oh, there’s the waiter,” Katie said and beckoned him over. He was carrying our wine glasses so we took them and brought them over to Ryan’s table.
Ryan introduced us to his friend Nick, and explained that he was also a fighter.
“I know you! Nick Ramone,” I said as I registered his face. People always looked different from how they appeared on TV, so it took me a while to figure him out. “Oh, you had the eye injury. How are you doing?”
“Blind as a bat in one eye, sadly. No more competing for me.”
“But he still trains with me,” Ryan said. “And trust me, the lack of vision has done nothing to slow him down.”
I could see that the two of them were good friends and it was nice to see him stand up for Nick.
“So, you definitely won’t fight again?” I asked Nick.
He shook his head. “No. I’d love to. But I’m not going to risk losing both eyes. Anyway, my new job is to kick Ryan’s ass in training and get him ready for the competitions.”
I grinned at Ryan. “Good friend! And you’re doing so well. You keep winning! Oh, did you see that interview with that Prowl guy? I was watching it before coming over.”
“Sadly, I saw it. So did Nick. The guy is an idiot.”
“Yeah, he seems like one. And was it just me, or was that news reporter all over him? She was practically drooling. Personally, all I could see were his crooked teeth.”
Ryan burst out laughing. “Same here. He’s not a nice guy. But it’s okay; time will come for him. When I heard that interview, I wanted to challenge him to a fight immediately, but Nick here convinced me not to.”
“It’s all about the timing,” Nick said. “He needs to recover. And once he’s ready, I’ll set him out to get that guy.”
“Good thinking. Listen to your friend,” I said to Ryan. Then I turned to Katie. “I’m sorry. So much fight talk. Katie isn’t really into fighting. But she’s into food, so I convinced her to come to the restaurant.”
Nick grinned. “I love a girl that’s into food.” He started talking to her and seemed to be flirting with her until she mentioned Chris and his smile faltered.
We ordered food and tried to keep the topic away from fighting as much as we could for Katie’s sake. But she was being a good sport about it and even asked a few questions here and there to seem interested. I was sure that she would much rather talk about the fact that she was going to have a baby. I would have to go out with her sometime soon to make up for the night. Nick and Ryan were very nice though and kept asking Katie about herself or asking me about my acting. And we talked a lot about the movie that I had been doing in Wyoming. He was just as easy to talk to as I had remembered him to be.
“Okay, the food was delicious,” Katie said when the waiter pulled the plate away.
“Yeah, I’m surprised. I didn’t think it would be this good, to be honest,” Ryan said. “So, are you staying for the fight?” he said to me.
“I am, but Katie is going home. She was kind enough to come to dinner with me, but I’m not going to put her through a night of fighting.”
“Fair enough. Nobody should have to do something that they don’t want to. And if you don’t like watching fights on TV, you will hate it in real life,” he said to Katie. Then he turned to me. “Do you want to join us? We’re both going to watch, and it would be nice to have you there.”
I grinned. I couldn’t think of anything better than watching a fight with a fighter. It was like a dream come true for me. Also, I wouldn’t have to watch the fight alone now. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
Afterward, I said goodbye to Katie, who whispered something into my ear that sounded like ‘be careful, ’ but I couldn’t be too sure because it was so loud inside. Then I made my way over to the fighting arena with Ryan and Nick. It was fun watching the two of them together. They were constantly teasing one another and making jokes about who was the better fighter. And it was interesting to hear them commentate on the guys in the ring. I learned a lot more from standing next to them throughout the fight than I did when I watched it on the TV. We didn’t get a chance to talk to one another much, and when we did, it was only about what was going on in front of us. But it was nice seeing Ryan again.
When we stepped out into the open air, we all laughed at how quiet it suddenly seemed. We hadn’t realized just how loud it was inside the arena until that moment.
“That was fun,” I said to the guys. “Nice to get an insider look at the whole thing. It’s put a lot of things into perspective for me.”
“It was fun. And it was great seeing you again, Blaire. Do you want a lift home?”
I shook my head and pointed to my car. “My car is here. But thank you.”
Ryan looked at Nick as if he were trying to decide whether to say his next words or not, and then eventually turned toward me. “Any chance you’re free tomorrow night? I’d love to take you out for some dinner. Without Nick,” he added.
“Hey!” Nick said. “I’m hurt.” But I could see he was smiling.
I chuckled. “I’d love that.”