Chapter Twenty-Eight
Anna
It was Justin’s final fight. I couldn’t believe it was finally here. My nerves were all over the place, worse than any other time before. This was, of course, the most important fight of them all. I didn’t want to think about what might happen if he lost, but it was hard not to. I couldn’t shut my brain off.
I drug Ally out with me again so I could have someone to help me get through it in one piece. I figured at this point she might actually enjoy the fights. She always seemed to have some random guy’s number every time we left.
My parents were watching Margie again. She had been happy to hear that this was going to be her dad’s last fight.
“Yay!” she had screamed loudly. “You’re gonna win it, Daddy. I just know it.”
“Thanks, baby girl,” he said to her and then he put her back down on the ground.
“And if you get hurt, Anna and I will take care of you,” she said proudly.
Justin looked at both of us. “That’s very nice of you both, but I won’t get hurt.”
I wanted to tell him not to get too cocky, but decided to keep the comment to myself, and instead, I said, “Please be careful tonight.”
“I always am,” he said with a wink.
He gave us both hugs goodbye and then left.
It had been three hours since I saw him. I hadn’t even texted him because I wanted to make sure he stayed focused on the fight.
Ally and I found our seats, and when we sat down, I turned to her. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”
“Okay. I’ll save your seat until someone better comes along,” she said with a laugh. I ignored her and maneuvered my way through the crowd.
I walked back down the stands and followed the signs for the bathroom. When I went in, I went into a stall and sat down. I didn’t have to go; I was just trying to stop myself from having a panic attack.
I left the stall after taking a few deep breaths and calming myself down. I would have splashed water on my face if I hadn’t been wearing makeup. So instead, I washed my hands at the sink for a few minutes. The motion was calming, and soon I dried my hands and left the bathroom.
As I was making my way to the stands, I heard a man say, “Well, hello, gorgeous.”
I turned to see who it was. The guy looking at me was a lot older than me. Maybe fifty. He was over-weight, almost balding, and wearing a gold chain around his neck. Just looking at him gave me a bad feeling.
“Yes, I did mean you,” he said and took a step toward me.
I really didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Just his eyes on me made me shiver uncomfortably.
“I have a boyfriend,” I mumbled and moved past him.
As I put more distance between us, I swear I heard him say, “I know.”
I tried to ignore the creepy feeling I had and made my way back to my seat.
I got back just in time, because not thirty seconds later, the announcer called out Tyler’s name, and a bigger portion of the crowd than normal cheered. I wasn’t sure what that meant.
Then the announcer yelled Justin’s name and Ally, and I stood up with the crowd and cheered.
“WOOOO!! JUSTIN!” I yelled.
I watched as Justin walked down the hallway, entered the cage, and then he looked out at the crowd to find me. To my surprise, he left the ring and climbed through the stands to where I was.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said and gave me a kiss.
I was stunned. “Hi.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
“I couldn’t fight without saying this,” he paused. “Anna, I love you. I’ve loved you since I started going to your studio, and my feelings have only grown stronger. I love you.”
Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. My heart was racing. He finally told me he loved me and I was almost too stunned to speak.
“I love you, too,” I said after a few more seconds.
He kissed me again, and I swear the crowd went crazier than it had when he first walked out.
I watched him go back into the octagon and tried to wrap my head around what just happened. I was so confused about how he felt about me, and now he told me he loved me. I was ecstatic and still in disbelief. This whole thing started out as a show for my parents, and now we were in love.
Ally leaned into me. “You need Justin in your life. I’ve always told you that,” she said with a wink.
I laughed. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious though; you two are so perfect for each other. I could tell when we came to that first fight,” she said.
That night seemed like so long ago. I had such a huge crush on Justin, and then I thought I had lost him the following week only to get him back in my life in the best way possible, and now, he had just told me he loved me.
I wished it would have been enough to calm my nerves, but it was hard to relax. I was on pins and needles. This was the final fight. Tonight would decide his fate, and I hoped on everything that he would win so he could move on with his life. So, we could move on with our life together.
I watched Justin bounce around the ring with his opponent. The guy had a cocky look on his face, and I hoped that would be a good thing. I hoped he would let it get the best of him. Let him get amped up and think he was the shit only to have Justin take him out.
“How’s his shoulder?” Ally asked me.
“It’s alright. I massaged it on Saturday night and told him what to do to take care of it. He told me last night that it felt better. I just hope he wasn’t saying that to make me feel better,” I said.
“Yikes. I don’t think he would fight if it was that bad though. Do you?”
She was right. Justin wouldn’t fight with an injured shoulder. It would be too much to go up against. He would be starting out weak. There was no way he could win if he was still hurt.
“No, I don’t think he would either.”
I looked at Justin in the ring, just as Tyler hit him in the face. I cringed and covered my eyes. I couldn’t look. I didn’t want to watch him lose, but I really didn’t want to watch him get hurt again.
“Fuck. Is he okay?” I asked Ally.
“Yes, look,” Ally said and pulled my hands from my face.
I looked at the ring just as Justin hit Tyler in his ribs.
Tyler hit Justin in the face again, and I covered my eyes for the second time.
“I can’t look, Ally. I just can’t watch that. Tell me when something good happens.”
“Justin got the guy. GO JUSTIN!” she yelled.
I moved my hands one more time and watched Justin hit him again.
“YEAH! JUSTIN! GET HIM!” I called out.
Then Tyler got Justin in the face twice, and I cringed. I hated watching this. My anxiety was high, and I couldn’t seem to calm myself down.
The bell rang for their break, and I took a deep breath. I could finally breathe a little bit.
“You have to chill out and just be strong for him,” Ally said.
“It’s hard. I don’t like watching him get hurt,” I said.
“It’s the last fight. If Justin can do it, so can you,” she said. “Tyler’s pretty hot,” she added, and I ignored her. I didn’t want to hear about her attraction to the guy beating up my boyfriend.
I watched as Artie talked to him about something. Justin nodded his head. Then he looked at me in the crowd.
I blew him a kiss. I wanted him to know I was there to support him despite me covering my eyes a lot. I was just glad he couldn’t see it. He blew me a kiss back.
The bell dinged, and they met in the middle again, touched gloves, and Justin hit him right away.
“Damn, Justin,” Ally said.
“He’s gonna win. I just know it,” I said, thinking back to how Margie said the same thing earlier. He was a good fighter, a great fighter; there was no doubt about it.
Tyler hit him, and he almost fell to the ground.
“Justin!” I yelled.
Ally grabbed my arm. “Stop freaking out. He’s okay. Don’t freak out until you know he’s down or actually hurt. He can handle a few hits to the face.”
Ally had a point. He had been doing this for a while, and I needed to trust that he was okay, even if it didn’t look that way to me.
I nodded and clenched my teeth together.
I watched as Justin fell to the ground, and I covered my eyes again.
“Seriously, Anna?”
“Yes. Just tell me when to look.” It made me sick to watch him get hit so much. I just wanted this whole thing to be over. This was the most intense night of my life. I was sure Justin was feeling the same, but from where I sat, I couldn’t really read his facial expressions.
I heard some hits, some cheers, and some boos, and then the bell rang. I peeked through my hands, nervous about what I might see. Justin was taking a drink of water, he had blood on his face, and my stomach turned. But he didn’t look too hurt. I decided to take that as a good sign.
Justin talked with Artie and then looked out into the crowd. At first, I thought he was looking at me, but then I noticed it was someone or something else behind me. I turned around, and a few rows back was the same guy I ran into outside of the bathrooms. My stomach turned.
“Must be Markie,” I said without thinking.
“Who?” Ally asked.
“Um, just some guy Justin knows. He thinks Justin’s going to lose tonight.”
“Why would he think that?”
Markie smiled at me, but it wasn’t a normal smile. It was a creepy one that sent chills down my spine, and that was all the interaction I needed with him to know he was not someone I wanted to associate with.
I turned back around, my stomach now in my throat. “Because he’s a jerk.”
The look on Justin’s face told me he felt the same way I did.
I cupped my hands over my mouth and stood up, “You can do it, Justin! I love you!” I yelled as loud as I could.
He smiled at me and then the bell dinged. I sat back down.
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Ally asked.
“I can yell supportive things all day. I can also watch him hit his opponent. It’s when he gets hit that it bothers me,” I said.
She rolled her eyes at me and then looked back at the cage.
“Come on, Justin!” she yelled.
We watched Justin and Tyler bounce around the cage and suddenly, Justin flipped Tyler onto the ground. I thought for sure he was going to have him and win this thing, but that’s when Tyler got up. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t watch anymore.
I heard the repetitive sounds of a fist hitting something, and I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes.
“Holy shit,” Ally said from beside me, and I couldn’t tell if it was a good “holy shit” or a bad one.
“What? I don’t wanna look,” I said.
“Oh my god,” she said with no explanation.
I opened my eyes and people were now standing in front of me. I could barely make out the ref on the ground of the cage right before he yelled, “KO’ed!”