Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ryan
It had only taken me two weeks of rest to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Two weeks of not being surrounded by a sport that I loved so much had been too much for me. I’d called Nick in for a meeting, and the two of us had discussed a future for me as a trainer. Nick had been hoping that I would come to that decision. He’d already made plans for me in the hopes that I would decide to go this route.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d ever want to be surrounded by fighters again. I thought it was going to be too hard. I remember back when I was fighting, and you were just training, and I thought about what I would’ve done in your position. I clearly remember thinking that I wouldn’t be able to do what you did. I thought I’d be jealous or have too much angst toward the fighters. But I don’t feel that at all. Sure, I’m a little sad about it, but I definitely don’t want it to let me stop being involved in this world that I know so well. If I can’t fight, then I might as well train others to fight.”
“It’s something you can’t understand unless you go through it yourself. Not everyone would have the same reaction that you and I had, but I thought you would be more like me in this regard. We’re just too invested in it. Anyway, I need your help. I’m getting more and more clients coming my way and I just don’t have the time to train all of them. So it would be great to have you on board.”
“I’m actually pretty excited,” I said to Nick.
“I have a job for you.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. I could use a cup of tea.”
I laughed. “Coming right up, partner.”
I made him some tea, and the two of us sat together coming up with a plan for our new business venture together. We decided that we would continue to train at the same place and use their venue, but that we would start up our own company too.
“Got a name for us?” I asked.
“The Tea Trainers?” he said.
I laughed. “Hell no. And keep your voice down. People are going to end up calling us that if they overhear. How about Maxwell and Ramone?”
“Or Ramone and Maxwell?” he said.
“Okay, scratch the names. And scratch the word tea anywhere in the title. How about we sleep on this?”
“Deal. It’s good to have you as a partner, Ryan.”
“Likewise.”
And just like that, I was back in the business of fighting. It felt so good, and I knew that I’d done the right thing. We decided to keep it simple in the beginning, with me just helping out whenever I was needed. But we made plans to meet up the following month to officially set up the business and move forward.
Today was the day of the fight that I had planned with Ron. After I’d made my announcement he’d called his own meeting and called on another fighter to take my place. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d said to me that day, and I knew that I would go and support him no matter how difficult it was going to be for me. Yet, when I woke up that day I felt excited.
“Today is the day,” Blaire said.
“I’m oddly excited,” I said. “This is the first fight that I’m going to watch after my retirement announcement.”
“I’m excited too. The last time that I watched a fight was that time with you and Nick.”
“Oh yeah,” I said as the memory of that night came flooding to the forefront of my mind. “I remember that. I was so happy to see you. I remember Nick telling me that you were not going to be happy with me because I never called you back after Wyoming.”
“Why didn’t you call me back, by the way?” she asked.
“I have no idea. Because I’m an idiot?” I suggested.
“Yes. That must be it,” she said and laughed.
“Well, I’m glad you came in that day. You changed my life, Sunny.”
The moment we arrived for the fight, a reporter came rushing over to see me.
“Ryan Maxwell, I’m surprised to see you here tonight.”
I grinned at the reporter. “You and me both. Turns out I can’t stay away. I’m still going to support the other fighters. It’s way more relaxing to be a spectator,” I said.
“Good to see you here. I’m assuming you’re going to be backing Garrison tonight?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m backing up Ron all the way.”
“You are?” the reporter asked without hiding the surprise in his voice.
I laughed. “I am. This doesn’t mean I like him and it doesn’t mean I think he could’ve beaten me. But I have to admit that he’s a good fighter. He deserves the title.”
“That was nice,” Blaire said as we made our way back to our seats. I’d told her what Ron had said to me after I’d made my announcement, so she knew that I wasn’t angry with him anymore.
“I won’t tell them what a nice guy he really is, but I will support his fights. Anyway, I’m sure he’s got this one.”
“What do you know about Garrison?” she asked.
“I’ve heard he’s good. He’s new to the scene, but he’s already pretty popular. I think it’s going to be a close one, but I’m still saying that Ron will win.”
“PROWL! PROWL! PROWL!” yelled the crowd as Ron made his way into the ring. I found myself chanting along with them.
It was a strange feeling to be in the crowd. I felt a small pang of sadness, but it was quickly replaced by pure excitement and passion for the sport. By the end, I was shouting along with everyone else, and getting just as immersed as a viewer as I would’ve been as a fighter. I hadn’t realized just how much I would enjoy it.
“That was amazing!” I said to Blaire as we walked out.
“Ron was incredible,” she said. “That guy had no chance! Hey, where are we going?”
“Backstage,” I said and laughed as Blaire squealed with joy.
When we arrived backstage, a few people came up to me that I’d known from the industry and everyone seemed happy to see me. I definitely felt like I had a lot of support from these guys.
“Ryan! You made it,” Ron said as he saw me. “And this must be the famous girlfriend?”
I laughed. “This is Blaire.”
“Amazing fight, Ron. Seriously, that was incredible,” Blaire said. She started telling him specifically which moves she had enjoyed the most and Ron seemed shocked by the conversation.
“You sound like you really know what you are talking about. Has Ryan been teaching you?”
I laughed. “Blaire knew about fighting before I met her. She’s a big fan.”
“Seriously?” Ron said. “Uh, you might be the perfect woman.”
“She is,” I said. “And Ron, that really was amazing. “I’m honestly not sure I could’ve taken you. Although, don’t let anyone hear me say that.”
Ron laughed. “I don’t think you realize how good you are. Also, I stole most of those moves from you. I’ve been studying all your old fights.”
“You have?”
“Oh yeah. You’re a legend, man. Also, don’t let anyone hear me say that.”
We laughed and then quickly parted ways before the media saw us talking friendly with one another. As we left, Blaire turned to me.
“He’s not such a bad guy. His teeth don’t even look so yellow to me anymore.”
“Yeah, he’s actually not so bad.”
“I agree with him, you know,” she said.
“About you being the perfect woman? I agree with that too.”
“No! Not that,” she said and blushed. “About you winning if you’d been the one up there fighting with him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know so much. But hey, we’ll never know, so let’s just pretend like I would’ve. Might as well.”
She grinned. “I love you, Knuckles.”
“Still going to call me that even though I’m not fighting? I thought I could shake that nickname.”
“Nope, you’ll always be Knuckles to me. I’m so glad that you weren’t fighting tonight, Ryan. Having you next to me was so much better. I’m relieved that you had a good night.”
“It was great. I can’t believe how worked up I got. In fact, I have a lot of pent up energy right now that I simply need to let go of. What do you think I can do to release it?”
Blaire grinned. “Oh, I think I can help with that.”