They put us up in the hotel where the fight was being held. I was less than twenty-four hours away from the biggest fight of my life and I couldn’t get her off my mind. Everything about this was fucked.

I took a bite out of the chicken breast my trainer had prepared. We had returned to the room after the weigh-ins to get some rest. It marked the end of a torturous week.

That was they typical schedule when you did one of these Vegas events. Arrive at the location on Wednesday and do your open workouts, Thursday was all about photo ops and meet and greets with the fans, and Friday was a few final interviews before the weigh-in. It was a hell of a lot to ask of a guy who was about to get in the cage and fight for his life. It’s not like we didn’t have more important things to focus on.

Some of the reporters even took notice that I couldn’t seem to get my head right.

“You don’t seem your usual self, Luke. Everything go okay in your training camp?”

“Yep. All good, just can’t wait for the fight.”

“You sure? You didn’t suffer any injuries or anything during your training, did you?”

“I’m as strong as an ox. Faster than I’ve ever been, too. I guess you could say I’m taking on a bit of a Zen approach for this one guys.”

They had laughed. But if they only knew where my head was really at, they might be writing their stories with a different tilt.

One guy asked me if I was worried about the fight. He noted that it was the first time in my career that I would be the underdog going into it.

“No,” I’d said. “Simmons has the belt right now so the odds makers have to list him as the favorite. It doesn’t mean shit though.”

Then I’d looked right into the lens of his camera.

“So if you all want to make your money, hit up the sports book and put everything you have on me. I’m the guy that makes millionaires. Don’t forget it.”

I took another bite of the chicken and greens. It was all I’d be allowed to eat up until the fight, save for some good clean carbohydrates on fight day.

“You feelin’ good, killer?”

It was my old trainer, Jimmy. He always got a kick out of coming along for the big fights. I liked to run my own program for the most part but he’d taken me under his wing when I was a kid. It was good to bring him into the fold the last two weeks or so leading up to a fight to help me fine tune a few things. He had a good eye for footwork and he was low key enough that I didn’t mind his company. He and Nick were the only ones I allowed into my suite during fight week.

“Feeling strong,” I said. “But I think I might go for a run or something, you know, get some fresh air.”

“No problem, kid,” he said. “I’ll make sure the hotel treadmills are open and I’ll get the room cleared out.”

“No,” I said. “I’m headed outside. Gonna jog the strip.”

“Whoa, Luke. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Yeah man, you’ll get fuckin’ mobbed out there,” added Nick.

“On a normal weekend you wouldn’t be able to make it two blocks without the whole world tracking you down. On fight weekend you probably won’t get out of the lobby.”

“Don’t worry about it fellas. I’ll make do.”

“Okay, kid. But stay hydrated. It’s hotter than hell out there.”

I had no intention of going for a run. I was at my breaking point. It was time to call her.

My luck turned for the better when I found the elevator empty. There was a spot down by the conference room that I remembered from last time. There wouldn’t be anyone around.

My hat was tugged down low over my eyes. Normally, I wore jeans and maybe a band t-shirt, but because of the sponsorship deal, they had us dressed up in company gear for the weekend. It was worked into every contract.

Still, I thought I’d be able to get by without too much fanfare.

My good fortune continued when I hit the lobby. The area just outside the elevators was empty. That was unheard of for a hotel on the strip. Especially during the weekend.

I slipped around the corner hopped over a restricted access rope, and slipped through the unlocked door into the dark conference room. I was home free. As far as I could tell no one saw me, and if anyone did they had the good sense not to scream my name.

I took a deep breath and hit send before I could talk myself out of calling.

By the third ring my enthusiasm deflated. She was going to let me go to voicemail.

But then…

“Hello?”

“Uh, hey Bria. It’s me.”

“I know.”

“Yeah, right, so… how have you been?”

“Really? You disappear for almost two weeks and that’s all you have for me?”

“No. You know what I mean. I thought you were done with me.”

The phone was muffled for a second as she adjusted it in her hand. Then there was silence.

“Bria?”

“Do you know what happened after you left? Do you know how bad that made me look in front of my boss?”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I never meant for you to get in trouble. But that asshole… he-”

“I know.” She sounded defeated. “Thank you for stopping him…”

“So what happened?”

“Nothing happed right then. I mean, I took off just like you did, but I heard they had to take Kevin to the hospital.”

“Are you upset about that?”

“No. He deserved it. I think he is trying to press charges, but there were witnesses that saw him come at me first...”

“Fuck ‘em,” I said. “They might be lawyers, but I can hire one that will run circles around them. I’m not worried about that at all.”

“Yeah,” she said, uncomfortably.

“That’s not what I’m talking about, though. What happened with your boss? Was he mad?”

“You could say that.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, he and Kevin’s dad go way back. I’m surprised he let me stick around as long as he did before…”

“He fired you?!”

“Suspended, but yeah, it’s only a matter of time.”

“That’s bullshit! They can’t do that. Don’t worry Bri, we’ll sue them for unfair termination. I’ll make sure they give you back pay and everything. Places like that think they can fuck with people, but they don’t have any clue what I can do to them. Forget about them pressing charges. I’ll get a whole team of lawyers to tear that place apart. They won’t know what hit them.”

“Luke, calm down. It’s okay.”

“I’m so sorry Bria. If that piece of shit wouldn’t have been there, then none of this would have happened. I should have waited to deal with him later. It’s just… when he tried to hit you… I saw red.”

“I know. I said it’s okay. At first I was devastated, but I’ve had the last couple of days to think it over and it might actually turn out to be a good thing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll have to sell my car to pay the bills and that’s gonna suck. But this might be what I needed to get myself going. I already scheduled a day next month to take the bar exam.”

“That’s great. You’ll pass it. I know you will.”

“Thanks, Luke.”

There was another awkward pause.

“Hey, Bria?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s something else I needed to ask you.”

“I’m listening.”

“I want you to fly out here for the fight. Will you do it?”

“It’s tomorrow night, Luke. It’s too late. Besides, I told you, you don’t have to make anything up to me. I’m doing fine.”

“I’m not trying to make anything up to you. I need you here. I haven’t been able to get my head straight since that day at your office. I thought I fucked everything up for good.”

“That’s… Luke, this is last minute. I can’t afford a flight out there on such short notice...”

“I’ll have the promoter send a jet to pick you up. Please, Bria. I can’t win without you.”

“I don’t know…”

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. If I go in there tomorrow night feeling like this I’ll get my ass kicked.”

“I have a hard time believing that.”

“C’mon. It’s not like you have a job to be at tomorrow.”

I could tell she was smiling now.

“That’s a low blow.”

“Does that mean yes?”

“Yes,” she said. “If you really want me.”

“I don’t just want you. I need you. We can make this work. After we get through tomorrow night it will be like a fresh start for both of us. We can still do everything we talked about. Are you in?

“I’m in.”

I spent the next half hour threatening the promoter.

“Don, if you don’t send that jet to pick her up, I won’t fight. It’s as easy as that.”

“Listen god damn it,” he said, “I can’t send the company jet half way across the county just so you can have your little girlfriend here. Your demands are getting out of control and I have to draw the line somewhere.”

“You know you can make this happen. And you will, because it’s not going to be easy to find a replacement challenger for a title fight on less than twenty-four hours’ notice.”

The stress of his job was doing a number on his face. Despite the thousands he no doubt spent on Botox injections, you could still see the deep lines in his forehead.

“You’re a real asshole, you know that Greer? Okay, I’ll take care of it. My assistant will get you the information.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“You damn well better.”

Bria was ecstatic when I called her with the details. The fastest the jet could make it there was in the afternoon. It would be close, but she would make it in time for the fight.

It felt like a million pounds had been lifted off my shoulders. Knowing that my girl would be in my corner meant I could focus all of my attention on the task at hand.

I made it back to the room a little before midnight.

“What the fuck, kid? There you are. We’ve been going crazy looking for you,” said Jimmy.

“Had a little business to take care of coach, that’s all.” I threw a playful jab at his stomach.

“Business? Jesus you could have given us a little warning. Or at least answered you phone. We thought you bailed on the whole thing.”

“Naw, I never thought that, Luke,” yelled Nick from his spot on the couch. “Never doubted you once.”

With a running start, I jumped over the back of the couch and got him in a headlock.

“Nothing to worry about boys,” I yelled as I wrestled with Nick. “We’re good to go!”

“What the hell has gotten into you?” asked Jimmy. “Now you’re starting to look like the fighter we used to know.”

“Like I said, just had to take care of a little business.”

“Well, whatever it was I’m glad you did it. You had us a little concerned with how you were acting this week.”

I looked down at Nick and cocked an eyebrow. He was still struggling to get out of the headlock.

“Not me, Luke. I never worry about you.”

“Good because the only one who has anything to worry about is Simmons. He has no idea what’s about to hit him.”