CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Cherry
“Slow your breathing.”
Andre watched as I looked in the mirror, into my own eyes, willing my nerves to settle.
The cheering of the crowd filtered in. The thump of the bass.
I pushed all of that out of my mind.
This was my first pro fight. This was what I’d been living for, for the past year… longer.
My stomach flipped into my throat, threatening to send up what little it held.
I couldn’t believe it’d been nearly four months since I first met Caleb. Time hadn’t moved so fast and so slowly in all of my life.
“There she is, Miss Sweet Cherry Pie.”
I gasped and spun around, knowing that voice anywhere. “Hawk!”
A smile cracked his face. “Told you you’d make it. Always gotta listen to the Hawk, girl.” He shook hands with Andre and looked around. “Where’s Mr. Birchmeir?”
His name alone was enough to raise goose bumps along my skin. Stop it, Cherry. This is no time to get distracted.
“I haven’t seen him yet.” He hadn’t been around the gym much.
I had worked so hard to get here, putting in full days of working out and training. It had been hard to not be reminded of him constantly. Practically everything I used, Caleb had provided. Reminding me of his hands on me, his tongue lighting a fire in my belly that spread out to all of my limbs.
“I need to check a few things. I’ll see you cage side,” Andre said to me as he nodded to Hawk on his way out.
“Mind if I follow along?” Hawk asked Andre, and when he got an affirmative answer, turned back to me. “Knock ‘em silly, my ferocious Cherry Bomb.”
“I’ll do it for you.” And my family. And Caleb. I would do this for him. I would make him proud whether he wanted to be with me or not.
I went into a low stretch, pushing my racing thoughts out with my breath.
A knock sounded on the door, and I sighed.
“You ready?” His voice was low as he opened the door, and a shiver made my muscles tense again as he stepped in and closed it behind him.
“As I’ll ever be,” I whispered, half afraid that, at any moment, reality might shatter like a dream, and I would still be an illegal fighter who got her nose busted regularly for chump change.
“You’re going to kill it out there. I know it.” His strong arm reached out and his fingers traced my cheek.
How I wanted to walk into the middle of those arms, rest my head on the swell of his muscled chest. I didn’t know if I’d have ever made it here without Caleb.
“You have to say that. You have a vested interest in me succeeding.”
“True.” He smiled, and I had to look away. “Did I mention my father was here?”
“What? Are you kidding me?”
He shook his head. “We’ve been spending some time together. He’s interested in seeing how my business venture is going.”
Business venture. That was me.
“Does he know anything about…” Us, I wanted to say.
“No, thankfully. I thought it wise to give him the chance to judge you for your own merits rather than cloud his thoughts with any superfluous facts.”
“Well, I’d hardly consider myself that interesting,” I objected.
“You are. That interesting.” His eyes dropped from my face, over my sports tank, tiny athletic shorts, then came back up, reflecting just how interesting he found me.
“Whatever you say. I couldn’t allow the feelings swelling in my chest to get the upper hand. Going into another deep stretch so I wouldn’t have to look at him, I said, “Now skedaddle so I can get ready to kick some ass.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He gave me a bow before finally exiting, but the air still crackled after he left, allowing for no chance to center myself.
There was a five-minute warning knock at the door.
Then a one-minute knock.
Now, my intro music was playing.
“You can do this. You will do this,” I said to my mirror self.
I jogged out, my specially printed robe with my name on the back swishing as I waved at the cameras. It was so surreal, to be waving one second and watching myself wave on the big screen the next.
The stadium was truly massive. Bigger than any I’d experienced before. It was hard not to let the size of the crowd overwhelm me, but I forced my focus to the ring. Only the ring.
My opponent was waiting there.
She was more experienced than I was, but she only had two legit fights under her belt. They were both wins, so I was very interested in relieving her of her undefeated title.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had fought or even trained with someone in my own weight class, and I was determined to completely dominate her. This was my big jump into the official MMA world, and I wanted to do just what my name implied.
The announcer’s spiel broke into my concentration. “Will Cherry Bomb be able to shake things up when she enters the ring, or will she just be dead on arrival for The Kat to carry home?”
I snorted and tuned the noise out as they discussed everything from my weight to my hair. Gave my opponent all my attention. The world narrowed to just the two of us as her green cat eyes locked with mine.
I could hear my family cheering. Mama, Sage, and Colby had come to Ohio to watch, the two girls deemed too young yet to witness their sister in the ring. If Mama knew Dad took me to fights when I was Clementine’s age, she would have a total fit.
Pride, warm and binding, flowed through me, filling my chest and making me feel like I was invincible.
The seconds passed, and like time had been thrown into fast-forward, I was in the ring, Andre shouting advice to me that I couldn’t hear through the buzzing in my ears.
The next second, Kat and I were standing across from each other while the referee had us bump knuckles.
Back in the corner, I took a deep breath, then—
Riiiiing.
I went on the offensive immediately, throwing punches and connecting with Kat’s gut, her ribs. That wasn’t usually my style, I often liked to sit back and learn from my opponent, let them attack a few times. But I figured I had enough of an advantage to press it.
My opponent was good, managing to block several hits, but every two or three attempts I would get through and knock her backwards.
I doled out kick after kick. To her credit, with each hit she recovered before I could take advantage of my blow and get her down to the mat or in a hold.
The bell rang, already signaling the end of the round.
I retreated to my corner, breathing hard, but in better shape than she was. I had to seal the deal soon, though. I couldn’t afford to draw it out.
Unlike boxing matches, which had a maximum of twelve rounds and an average of six, MMA fights had an incredibly strict maximum of five rounds total. And since I didn’t want this to end in a tie or a points-based win, I needed a memorable knockout or submission to live up to the hype built up around me.
The downside of having fame was that the more people who knew my name, the more people there were to disappoint if I messed up.
But I wasn’t going to mess up. It wasn’t even an option.
This was my story, and I was going to beat it to a pulp with my own two hands.
The bell shrieked. Round two.
I advanced, but Kat came at me with a fire she didn’t display in the first round. Instead of just defending, she threw out blow after blow, interrupting my rhythm. She’d hung back to learn my tactics, like I usually did.
I blocked her roundhouse and used the opportunity to back up several feet. Before she could fully recover, I ran at her as fast as I could given the short distance between us.
But instead of hitting her dead-on, I purposefully slid just past her. She was so surprised by the move that she didn’t know how to retaliate.
Perfect.
I moved so fast I was barely able to see my own limbs. Slid my left foot back between hers, and leaned back, slapping my butt right into the meat at the back of her thigh. At the same time, I brought my arm around — chop — right above her boobs. The combination of opposite forces knocked her off her center of gravity.
Then she was on the mat.
The crowd screamed.
I dropped down on her, to get into a mount.
She sent out a kick that caught me right in the neck. I fell back, choking, nausea burning up my throat. My head bounced off the mat, and for a moment, the arena went foggy.
Plenty of fighters didn’t get over such a blow. It would be understandable if I just stayed down and tried again next time.
I blinked up at the lights as my name drifted through the haze. Lots of voices calling my name.
One in particular called it in my dreams too.