Chapter Eight
Jet
I awoke the next morning in a fog; a happy fog, but a fog nonetheless. I had been out all night, and had only gotten a few hours of sleep. I was still on a high, however, from the fight last night, and I wasn't sure I would be getting off of cloud nine anytime soon. We had all gone out after the fights and got pretty hammered. That was probably an understatement; we had all been drinking like lushes at the bar. It was that fog that made me still sleepy after waking up―the drunken fog. Maybe I was still drunk; it was hard to say. It had been a great night. Robbie made sure to get some drinks into my system after the attack I took on my ribs during the fight. Dillon had given me a run for my money, and even moving briefly in bed, I felt a sharp pain. I would be sore for at least a week, but I would survive. I would have to take extra care of my ribs for the next little while, so they could heal properly in time for my next fight. I needed to ease up on training in order to let the healing process happen properly.
I rose up from my pillow as slowly as possible, making sure to take care of my rib cage. Wrapping it later would probably be a great idea. Man, was I ever sore. A fight will do that to you, however, in one manner or another. I'm sure Dillon was feeling his own brand of soreness the same morning. I grinned at the thought of him taking that hit, eating my back fist like it was his morning breakfast. He would think twice about coming in close in a fight next time, there was no doubt about that. I was glad that I finished the fight in the first round. He was a strong fighter, and you never knew what could happen in the next round. I sat up and felt the full extent of a headache coming on. I got up quickly to find some painkillers. I went into my bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, riffling through it until I found some Motrin. I popped a couple of pills and headed back to bed. I lay back down until the pills kicked in.
Natalie came to mind just then. I had been shocked to see her there, and sadly, her presence―just knowing that she was there, had thrown me off my game initially. I took a couple of pretty good hits at first, ‘cause she had arrived in my head and I couldn't get her out. Trying to understand why she was there clouded my thoughts. Was she there for me? That was all I could think about initially. Had she heard about my fight, and wanted to come and support me without me even having to ask her? The thought sent my mind in circles, until I got punched enough times to wake me up. It had been stupid; I should have just ignored it and focused on the fight, but I couldn't. Thankfully, I regained my focus and got my head back in the game, or I would have been done for.
I tried to look for her after the fight, and couldn't find her. She had left without congratulating me, and that confused me even more than her presence at the fight. I was starting to wonder if I had imagined the whole thing. Maybe she hadn't been there at all, and I was just losing my marbles. It could be true; I had certainly been obsessed with the girl for quite a while now.
There had been so many girls out last night. Swarms of them, all over the fighters when we went to the bar. I wondered if I would see Natalie and Julie at the bar, but they never showed up. Maybe she had given up drinking altogether. There had been this very pretty octagon girl who had gone out with us last night, and seemed to never leave my side. I was relieved to find I had not taken her home with me; my bed was empty. Craig had lost his fight last night, so he had been swarmed with extra attention from the ladies trying to cheer him up.
I climbed out of bed and headed out of my room in search of food. Kyle was up making breakfast, which seemed like perfect timing to me.
“Hey, man, why don't you cook me some of whatever you have going on there, too?”
Kyle laughed. “Sure, no problem. I guess bacon and eggs are okay now that your fight is done.”
“Right on; sounds awesome.”
I headed to the fridge and opened it to grab something to drink. Milk looked like a good option, but I worried it would curdle in my stomach from all the drinking. I went for a bottle of water instead, and brought it to the kitchen table to drink. I downed half of it, not realizing just how dehydrated I really was. I finished the bottle and went back to get another one.
“A little thirsty there, Jet?” Kyle laughed at the sight of me.
“Yeah, I got hammered last night, man. How do you feel?”
“Not bad, just tired mostly. It was a great fight last night; I'm glad I ended up going.”
“Yeah, it was good seeing you out doing something other than playing video games.”
“Ha ha, real funny.”
“Seriously, man, maybe you need a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, right; don't be blasphemous.”
“Would it be the worst thing in the world? All you do is play video games, man.”
“No thanks. I prefer to have my women at night, and then be gone by morning.”
I snorted. Kyle finished up with the bacon, and put it in a dish with a lid to keep it warm. He put butter in a separate pan and melted it for the eggs. He went to grab the carton of eggs from the fridge, and set them by the stove. Opening the carton, he took a few eggs out and cracked them against the side of the pan. I was still thinking about what he said about girls when the eggs started sizzling.
“Hey, man, did you happen to see Natalie at the fights? I saw her just before I got in the cage, but then I couldn't find her after the fight. She just disappeared.”
Kyle was silent as he continued to cook the eggs, flipping them when they needed to be. He hadn't responded to my question, and I was beginning to get annoyed.
“Kyle? Did you see her?”
“Yeah, I saw her, man. She was there with her whole art class or something. I think they were there to take the pictures of the event.”
That made sense―more sense than her coming to see me, that was for sure. I wondered what kind of shots she got with her camera.
“Did you see her leave?”
“Jet, what's with you and this girl? I don't get it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why the hell do you care if she was there? She's this nothing little art student who you banged a hundred years ago. Move on, already.”
“Are you serious? Did you seriously just say that shit to me?”
“Whoa, relax, Jet. I just don't get what your fixation with her is.”
“I don't have a fixation.”
“Like hell you don't.”
“Explain yourself, Kyle, and please do it quickly.”
Kyle took a minute before responding, probably to allow me to calm down before I lost my temper with him. He placed a bunch of eggs on a plate, tossed a few strips of bacon on it, and handed the plate to me. I didn't touch it. Instead, I waited for him to speak.
“I saw her talking to Brian; they were all buddy-buddy at the drink stand. He was all over her, of course. She's nothing. I don't get where the interest is with her. Why does she have all these guys in heat?”
“I'm not in heat. She's a nice girl; she's different from the rest.”
“A nice girl? Wow, that's new. Since when do you look for girls that are 'nice’?”
“Kyle, what is your problem? Why do you care who I spend time with?”
“I care because she's just going to bring you down. Where are you going with this?”
“I don't know. But I assure you that Brian doesn't stand a chance; he’s hardly a threat to me. I don't know if anything will come of Natalie and me, but I would like to determine that for myself.”
“She must have beer-flavored nipples, man, ‘cause there are hotter girls out there than she is.”
“I don't know about that. Natalie is stunning.”
Kyle stared at me in disbelief. “She's not bad-looking, but do you remember that octagon girl from last night?”
I nodded; I remembered all too well.
“She was smoking hot. She was practically humping you in the locker room before your fight, and then followed you around all night long. If I were you, I would have bent her over somewhere and had my way with her. That's the kind of ass you should be chasing. She would have been a good one to keep around for a few nights.”
“I wasn't interested.”
“You're crazy. Did you see her face when you told her she wasn't coming home with you last night? You broke the girl’s heart, to be sure.”
“She will recover, I'm sure. She was probably on the next fighter after me. I'm a dime a dozen in her world.”
Kyle laughed. “Man, you are a real piece of work.”
“I could snap my fingers, and a hundred girls like that would be by my side. It gets old, man. Don't you find that boring now?”
“No shot; I love it. I have no intention of settling down. I will take an octagon girl home any day.”
I chuckled. “Well, you should have taken her home, then.”
“Yeah, I wish. She only had eyes for you, my main man.”
I started to dig into my breakfast feverishly. I was starving, and I was about done with the conversation with Kyle. He had no clue what he was talking about, and he was the reason girls like Natalie didn't trust guys like me. I was no different; I had spent many years behaving like an idiot, too, and because of that, Natalie may never spend any time with me. I hoped, however, to eventually change her mind.