Cracking my knuckles, I tell the guy working the Will Call window, some pimply dude named Chester, “I need two tickets, front row.”

He nods, “Sure thing, Tobias. Who for?” Grabbing a pen, his hand hovers, waiting.

“Sofia and Hannah Cocker.”

He looks up at me, mouth dropping open. “Hannah Cocker, whose mom got hit by a car when she was six? Whose dad rescued her and then–”

“What the fuck you talkin’ about?”

“Blonde? Gorgeous. Big tits?”

Crossing my arms I cock my head. “You’re gonna talk about a woman’s tits right after you say her mom died. Da fuck is wrong with you? Never taught any manners?”

The kid glances to his pen. “Guess that one slipped by my Kindergarten class.”

“Smart ass,” I mutter. “Just make sure they get in.”

He brightens, “Are you serious? She’s coming here?”

Pausing, I level him with a look. “If I find out you scared her off, the cage won’t be my last fight tonight. You got me?”

“Yeah, sure. I won’t do anything…”

He trails off as I head away with no desire to hear the other stupid shit he has to say. Sometimes you feel sorry for a geek like that. Other times you think he gets what he deserves.

I mean for fuck’s sake.

Study some guys and learn how to dress. It ain’t that hard if you’re paying attention. About a million magazines at every man’s disposal.

She does have nice tits, though.

And she is blonde.

Pulling out my phone I Google her on my way to my locker room, passing Vance’s. “Hey Tobias!” he shouts and I hesitate, torn between the compelling information I want to read, and not wanting to punch Vance out before the game.

I lock onto him and snarl, “What?”

“Whoa whoa!” he grins with his way-too-fucking-white teeth shining in the hallway’s fluorescent lighting. “I just want to say good luck out there.”

“Sure ya do. And I don’t need luck.”

His smile broadens. “Really? Because I came here in a limo, and a taxi dropped you off, so I was thinking cash must be pretty tight.”

My hand makes a fist at my side. The other nearly crushes my phone. “My cash is fine, you fuck.”

“Fuck?” he laughs, but I can see the anger start to show. “I’m just being friendly since I owe you that much after the last time we fought and then, well, you know.” He points to my leg, which he broke two years back. We haven’t been in a ring together since. “Healed up okay?”

I sneer at him, “Like it never happened,” and head away with angry strides.

“Oh, it happened,” he calls after me. “And it’s gonna happen again. Watch yourself, Tobias!”

I throw my middle finger behind me and keep walking deeper into the dank hallway past all the people who make this night possible. They don’t pay me any mind, too busy setting up the event.

Vance can go fuck himself.

I haven’t made my peace with everything that happened.

But I finally have the chance to tonight.

No matter what, I know I’m still in a jail of their making.

There’s nothing I can do about that other situation.

But I will take that motherfucker to the ground.

It may not free me if I win, but it’ll feel damn good to wipe that smile off his face.

Not going to let him jack up my stress level.

I’m going to focus on the beautiful woman.

For the first time in two years, it feels like something can distract me from how much I hate that guy. Hannah Cocker’s unattainable beauty.

As soon as I get into my sanctuary I scroll through the search engine results. There are photos of her from age six up. Plenty of news stories on what happened when her father won his first Senate election. All that chaos. But it went down in Georgia. I was a kid so I wasn’t paying attention to the news back then. My mom sure as hell didn’t watch it. None of this is familiar to me. I don’t pay attention to politics because I like to pick battles I can win.

But her dad…

Seems like a poster boy for integrity.

Either that or he’s got the media in his pocket with payoffs.

Doesn’t matter. I’ll never meet him. This family is way out of my league. Look at these people. And Hannah, holy shit, she’s a beautiful girl all the way through her whole life to the woman she is today.

Probably why she was so aloof yesterday.

Got her nose in the air.

Look at this, too. Bunch of good-looking guys with her all the time in these pics. One after the other.

Doesn’t surprise me. She’s gotta have guys falling over each other to get at her. Makes my blood boil thinking of any of these guys touching her. Who are these pretty boys?

Oh, wait a minute.

Same last name. Same last name. Same last name.

Are these all her cousins?

Jeezus, how many are there?

Someone was gettin’ busy. Guess the name Cocker fits.

Amused, I scroll a little more, but freeze on an image of her at a Falcons home game, chewing on her lip. I zoom in so I can see her better and as I do, I feel my blood go quiet. She’s thinking about something, and it’s got nothing to do with the game because everyone around her is happy. Not my Hannah. A hypnotic sadness stares out from gorgeous, translucent, ice-green eyes.

“Tobias!”

Like I forgot where I am, I look up at Andy strolling into my locker room. He glances to my phone but I turn off the screen with a casual air that masks how sucked into that photograph I was.

He thrusts a flask into my hands. “Brought you this for after your win.”

A lopsided smirk appears as I take the gift. “Looks like you kept your promise.”

“Told you I’d come.”

Sniffing the bourbon, my eyebrows rise. “Woodford Reserve?”

“Any other kind?”

“No fucking way.”

He smacks my shoulder and strolls around, sounds of the event launching muffled through the heavy door. “Still haven’t found a new manager?”

“Don’t need one.”

Andy’s brown eyes flicker. “What if it was me?”

“C’mon man, you know I don’t play well with others.”

He sucks on his lips and pulls out a second flask. “This one’s mine. It’s still Woodford. I only give gifts I’d give myself.” He chuckles and takes a swig, then makes an appreciative sound before beginning his pitch. “Look, lemme help you. I’m not good enough to be in the ring, but I can handle money. You hate doing the business stuff. Booking fights, travel plans, hotels, Press— I can do all that little shit you hate doing.”

Walking the flask to my locker, I mutter, “Andy, come on.”

“Tobias, man! We can do a trial run. And the best part is, we’ve known each other for like what, eight years now?”

“Almost nine.”

“You know I’m trustworthy! I won’t fuck you over like Sammy did!”

Rubbing my head with both hands I shake it out and ask, “You wanna help me?”

“Yeah!”

“Leave me alone so I can focus.”

From the corners of my eyes I watch him back out of the humid room, closing the door behind him and not saying another word. I like his style.

Inhaling the sweet whiskey aroma, I smile and replace the lid. “Soon, baby. Soon.” It gets tossed onto the clothes I’m wearing later.

The urge to see Hannah again has me swiping my phone back on. Again my head calms as I stare at her sadness.

I know that feeling.

It’s my whole damn life.