Marco
Four months ago…
“Ladies and gentlemen, in round two by way of a chokehold, the new Light Heavyweight champion, Marco ‘The Maniac’ Michaels!!!!”
The crowds’ screams—which were already loud—go deafening. The belt is put on me and it seems in this moment like my life is almost complete. My dad comes running to me from the corner and envelops me in a hug. With the fight being in Vegas, there was no doubt my dad wouldn’t be ringside with me.
The rest of my team all come over to give me hugs. I know this is only the beginning of my career as a fighter but fuck if this doesn’t feel damn good. With sixteen wins, I am undefeated and now carry the championship belt for my weight class.
After a couple, quick interviews in the octagon, I head to the locker room to get the medical attention I need and take a shower.
“Son, I am so damn proud of you,” my dad says again as my mom rubs alcohol over the few cuts on my face. I always insist—even though she isn’t the medic for the UFC anymore and she’s now running her own sports medicine clinic—that she be my medic at any fight she can attend, and she always agrees.
Hayley and Caleb Michaels are the two people who matter the most to me in this world. They saved my life thirteen years ago from my druggy biological mom. Caleb literally saved my life from drug dealers who were going to kill me, and Hayley took me in and adopted me like I was her own. The two of them are the reason my sister was adopted by Bentley and Kayla, and has lived a life most kids only dream of. I owe them everything and I doubt I will ever be able to pay them back. The fact is, if it wasn’t for them, I would either be dead or still on the streets selling drugs to take care of my mom and sister.
“Fuck yes!” My best friend Logan stalks into the locker-room and comes at me for a hug. “Fuck yes!” He repeats. I met Logan when he started training at the UFC training center in San Diego about three years ago and we became quick friends.
“You too, man! You rocked your fucking fight!”
“Hell yeah! Let’s go! We need to celebrate! And since you’re the champion, I’m driving.”
We both shower and change clothes to go out. My parents join us, along with some of my parents’ friends. Because the fight was in Vegas and not California, only a few other fighters from my training camp are here as well.
We agree on Club Eleven and Logan calls ahead to let them know we are on our way. With the win tonight being on Pay-Per-View, it’s going to be crazy no matter where we go. We jump into Logan’s rental car, a beautiful Porsche 911. Like me, Logan comes from a family who makes a decent living, but where I prefer to save my money, in fear of one day not having it, Logan likes to spend his anywhere and everywhere he can. When you’ve never gone without a meal for days at a time, you can’t understand what it’s like.
I pull my phone out and see a bunch of texts from people congratulating me on my win. I type out a thank you to each one. Then I see one from someone I haven’t spoken to in two years. Bella.
Belles: Congratulations.
It’s only one word but it weighs down my stomach like lead. For a while I used to see her almost daily at the gym, until I figured out her schedule and since then have gone out of my way to work out and train when she isn’t there. Her and Tristan moved here to attend college in San Diego about a year and a half ago, and I thought for sure she would push for us to pick up where we left off but she hasn’t so much as spoken a single word to me, and in return I haven’t tried to talk to her.
The way I left shit over Christmas break was fucked up but that seems to be how it goes with me when it comes to Bella. I met her when I was twelve years old. At the time, she was only six but we quickly became close. While her and Tristan were already friends, Bella and I formed a different kind of friendship. I can’t explain it but she was everything to me.
She never asked questions. She just wanted to fight. She pushed me to my limits and encouraged me. Everything was fan-fucking-tastic until she hit puberty. I don’t know when it happened but I stopped looking at her like one of the guys and saw her for who she was… who she is. A beautiful fucking woman.
The first time I kissed her, I knew I was fucked. I ran like the little bitch I was—well, still am—straight to California. I saw her a year later at a party and if it wasn’t for Mason stopping us, we would have probably fucked right there against the wall.
You would think those two close encounters would be enough for me to stay the hell away from her, but then my dad begged me to join them for Christmas, and there she was looking stunning as always at my door, in her tiny fucking pajamas throwing herself into my arms, and like the dog I am, I thought with the wrong fucking head.
I took her virginity that night. We had sex… no, fuck that, it was more than sex with Bella. We made love a few times that night, but then when I woke up and reality hit me, and once again, I ran. Bella is probably the best person I know. She is selfless and giving and she cares about everyone around her. She is genuine and sweet and so damn smart. Any guy would be lucky to have her. But I can’t be that guy for multiple reasons.
One: I am six years older than her. Sure, now it’s not really a big deal but back then we would have gotten major shit for being together; not legally, because it’s legal where we lived in Nevada, but her parents would have killed me.
Two: Our parents are best friends and work together. What if we gave it a go and then it didn’t work out? And while I am Caleb and Hayley’s kid, I’m still me, which leads me to the next reason.
Three: My bloodline is tainted. My biological mother was a druggie whore. She wasn’t always that way but once she met my biological father she fell down the rabbit hole and never came back up. My biological father is Ricardo Sanchez. He’s not alive anymore but when I hired a private investigator to look him up, I found out he had multiple wives illegally as well as several children. All his wives are druggies just like my mom.
Seeing how much he fucked up each and every one of those women, I made the choice to never settle down. There’s no way I am taking the chance of fucking up another woman, let alone procreating. Fuck that.
So, that is why I had to walk away from Bella. Every day I miss her something fierce. I see her at the gym and want to go to her. I want to hug her and hold her and go back to being best friends again. There’s a hole in my heart where she belongs. But we crossed the line and there’s just no going back from that.
I’m assuming by the fact that I’m still alive, she never told anybody about us. Because if she had, I’m fairly certain her father would have hunted me down and killed me. Tristan and I still talk and hang out. He asked me once what happened with me and Bella, but when I asked him to drop it, he did.
Tristan is a good guy. I thought for a while, him and Bella might end up together but it seems they are just good friends. They share an apartment right off campus, which is situated between the college and the gym. I live on the beach in a kickass condo with my cousin, Mathias.
One good thing that came from my mom—other than my sister Chloe—was her sister, my Aunt Jenn, and her son, Mathias. My dad found them for me and I used the excuse of wanting to get to know them as my reason for leaving for California so suddenly. My aunt had cut all ties with my mom so she had no idea my mom had overdosed all those years ago but once I contacted her, she welcomed Chloe and me with open arms.
“Bro! Snap out of it!” I look at Logan and see we are parked in front of the club, the Valet guy standing there, waiting for me to get out of the car.
“Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“No thinking tonight. Tonight, we celebrate. You drink and I’ll drive. You’ve earned a night of letting loose.”
I look down at my phone at Bella’s text. There’s so many ways I could respond to her text. I could reply with a simple thank you, leaving no room to continue the conversation, or I could tack on a ‘how are you?’ which would mean should would reply.
Knowing it’s best not to lead her on, I go with a simple thank you. Then shove my phone into my front pocket wishing things could be different but knowing they can’t be.
It’s three in the morning and while I have been drinking, I’m not trashed. I have spent most of the night talking with my family and friends, especially those I don’t get to see often. My parents and their friends have just left, and I promised Kayla I would be by in the morning to have brunch with them so I can visit with my sister before I head back to California. I can’t believe my baby sister is thirteen years old.
“You ready to head out?” I ask Logan. He’s been sweet talking some female all night and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m taking a taxi back so he can head out with her.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” He stands from the booth and wobbles a little bit. I haven’t seen him touch an ounce of alcohol all night but…
“You good to drive?” I ask. “We can take a taxi back.”
“No, I’m good. You know they will tow my car if we leave it here overnight.”
“All right.”
We say bye to anybody still here then head to the valet stand to have them bring Logan’s car around. Usually I will stay with my parents when I come to visit, but with Logan and a couple of the other guys from our gym staying at the MGM Grand where the fight was held, I decided to room with them instead.
The valet opens our doors for us and I throw them a tip. Then Logan takes off back to the hotel. My phone dings with a text and when I look to see who it is, I find myself disappointed it’s not Bella.
Janell: Nice win tonight. See you when you get back <insert winky face>
Attached to her text is a photo of her naked, lying in bed.
Me: Thanks.
I don’t bother commenting on the photo. She sends them all the time. She already knows she’s fucking hot, and she knows when I get back I’ll be fucking her. She also knows that’s all we will be doing. Before I put my phone away, another text comes in.
Bella: I miss you
Well, fuck me. I didn’t see that coming. I stare at my phone deciding how to respond. It’s three in the morning. I’m surprised she’s still awake.
Me: Me too.
I hover over the send button. Fuck! That sounds douchey. I hit backspace and type out I miss you too. Just as I am about to hit send, the car jerks to the side. My head shoots up to see what’s going on and suddenly the car is flipping in the air. I hear glass shattering as the car flips several times then my head hits the side… or maybe the ceiling… I’m not sure.
And everything goes black.