CHAPTER 16
Josh
My go to song before I head out for a fight is Lose Yourself by Eminem. I don’t know what it is but it pumps me the fuck up. I’m huddled in the corner of my dressing room finishing up my preparations with my fight moments away. I’ve prepared all I could for this night and I’m ready to go, to teach Matty what happens when you run your mouth. Failure is not an option this time.
I look over to my coach Stan, who’s glaring at me. I laugh thinking back to yesterday morning.
“Josh what the fuck. You’re late dude.” Jay yells at me.
Jay is on my team of trainers. He may not have the drive to be in the ring, but he sure knows his shit. He has an eye for what I’m doing wrong and what I need to improve on to take down my opponents. It was his suggestion that I pay special attention to blocking coming into this fight. The more I look at the fights Kingsley has been in I’m glad he was right. The dude comes out like a rabid animal trying to get in any shot he can. Leaving his opponents frantic and scattering as they’re trying to figure out what their next move is.
“I’m here now, I’ll stay a half hour later. What’s up your ass bro?”
“Oh, I don’t know? Making sure my brother from the womb doesn’t screw up his big match tomorrow night.”
“Whatever, I’m still going to get the same training in. Stop being a pussy.”
I start undressing so I can change into my work out gear. When I take my shirt off Jay bursts out laughing.
“Dude, Stan’s gonna ream your ass out. I hope it was worth it.”
I have no clue what the hell he’s talking about so I continue about my business. I throw on my shorts and sneakers and throw a tank over my head. As I walk by the mirror I halt and back pedal.
“Christ.” I mumble.
“I tried to tell you dude.” Jay pats me on the shoulder and heads out to the training facility.
I’m not even mad, how can I be? I turn around and look over my shoulder at my reflection. I have four scratch marks on either shoulder. Claw marks from Ashlyn digging her nails into my back when her orgasm took over. Damn, I’m gonna get my ass reamed but I’m wearing this shit like a badge of honor.
When I went into the training area Stan went crazy. He even referred to my little swimmers as my warrior juice. Whatever, I’ll prove him wrong. No way would any red-blooded male in my position have refused. I can’t think about yesterday morning without my dick hardening in my pants. Okay think of something else…mom. Yup and that did it.
As the song comes to an end I take out my ear buds and place them and my phone in my gym bag. I’m ready to go.
I jump up and start stretching out my muscles. Matty isn’t going to know what hit him after tonight. I’m coming for him and I won’t stop until the ref is raising my hand high above my head. I’ve trained for a year and I will not be made a joke of again.
“You ready Josh?” Stan asks.
“Let’s do this.”
We make our way down the hall towards the arena. I can already hear people cheering as the promo video plays on the screen. As I’m walking by Zander’s room his door pops open and he sticks his head out.
“You’ve got this Josh. I’ll be watching from back here, be smart and be fast.” We fist bump and I continue my journey down the hall while I shake out my arms.
A chill runs up my back as I hear the beginning beats of Till I Collapse pump through the speakers. I live for this feeling, the moment before I walk in for a big fight. I’ve missed it. I have my blinders on and I’m ready to beast it out in the ring.
We wait at the door until I’m given the go ahead to make my way down to the octagon. The more the crowd cheers, the more the adrenaline runs through my veins. When I emerge from the door the crowd goes crazy.
Walking down the aisle I’m patted on the back and wished luck from my fans. This is why I do this. For the thrill and for all the people who come out to support me. I don’t know why I thought they wouldn’t have my back when I returned. I need to get in that ring and do right by them.
When I get to the end of the aisle and hang a right I look towards the front row, to where I know my family, and more importantly, Ashlyn will be. They’re jumping around like psychos and I can’t get enough of it. I stop in front of them and fist bump with Kyle. Jack grabs me and pulls me into a hug while he jumps around. Savvy pats me on the arm and wishes me luck, she looks nervous. I wink at her and tell her Zander is in the zone. She smiles and kisses my cheek. When I get to my girl I grab her and kiss the life out of her.
“You ready for this Hellcat?” I whisper in her ear.
“Are you ready for this Rampage?”
A smile creeps up my face and I leave my family behind heading for the cage. When I get to the middle of the ring I bounce around trying to stay loose.
Matty’s song comes on and the crowd starts booing. It takes a lot of restraint to keep the smile that wants to work its way across my face from coming out. Screw it, I let that motherfucker shine. Stan pulls me to my corner as he makes his way to the front. I watch intently as he gets close to Ash. The piece of shit learnt his lesson because he doesn’t stop or even look her way. Smart man. The little talk I had with a few big wigs helped get my point across too.
As he enters and the ref pulls us to the center of the ring everything becomes a blur. I don’t hear the ring side announcer reading off our stats or when he says to have a clean fight. As I stare at Matt Kingsley one word runs through my mind. Kill. There will be blood, but it won’t be mine.
It’s been too long since I’ve had to flip the switch. Once that bell rings it’s time to shut it down and go on a rampage.
Ding Ding Ding Ding
Game time.
*****
Have you ever been so in the moment that you can’t see beyond it? Where anything and everything ceases to exist other than what you’re solely focused on? I keep going over the fight in my head with the same conclusion. It was unreal!
“Congrats Rampage!” Another partygoer shouts at me.
“Thanks man.”
I’m so over this party but I have to stay here for a while. The owner put it on and I don’t want to come off as disrespectful. I shouldn’t even have a party seeing as I wasn’t the main attraction, but after the sheer insaneness that occurred, Zander said he’d gladly share the spotlight. That’s right, Zander is still the Light Heavyweight Champion and he deserves every bit of the recognition he’s receiving tonight. He went pure beast mode and kicked ass.
I walk back over to Ash with a beer for myself and a bottle of water for my girl. She’s a trooper. I can tell she is exhausted out of her mind but she’s sucking it up to be here for me, to support me. When I remember the look on her face and the tears in her eyes after I won, I can’t help but smile.
Son of a bitch, I didn’t think this would last past the first round. We’re about to enter the third and we’re both still raring to go. It’s been pretty even so far and if it goes to a judge’s decision it’ll be way too close for comfort. I refuse to lose by any other way than making him tap or knocking him the fuck out.
The bell rings and I know his move, he’s going to go for my legs. It’s what he’s been trying to do at the start of every round. I duck out at the last second and his body lands on the ground. I jump for him but he’s expecting me. He jumps on top of me striking me in the head with his fist. Then he wraps my neck and pulls me into a guillotine. I manage to roll him off and we struggle for control on the floor. We’re lying on our backs connected by our arms as Kingsley gets up on his knees. I know I need to do something so he doesn’t build momentum, so I push up on my legs moving him backwards, trying to throw him off.
My hand makes its way to his hip as I push, flipping both of us to the side. We separate for a second and he goes for my back. He reaches his arm behind my hips and I drop my weight. His arm ends up beneath me and I capitalize by throwing it in a lock. It’s not ideal because my back is open to him so I need to think fast on how to keep this hold and eliminate my weakness. I jump my body across his blocking his chance to fight me with his legs. It’s at this point I know I’ve got this. No way can he get out of this hold.
But he does. He lifts himself off the ground and rolls us as I keep a hold on his arm. It backfires on him as I succeed my second attempt at a kimura in the perfect position. The crowd goes crazy as they realize I have him in the exact hold that won him our last match. Fucking tap!
“Eat shit.” Matty spits out at me.
“It looks like you’re in a horrible position to be trash talking asshole.” I put even more pressure on his arm and I hear him yell out in pain.
The sound of a bell barely registers in my head before I’m being pulled off of him. I didn’t even see him tap, did it happen? The crowd is going crazy as the ref pulls us to the center of the ring. Matty’s clutching his arm and mine’s raised high above my head.
I won!
After all the hoopla, I exit the ring with seeing one person in mind. I push through crowds of people congratulating me as I see Ash with a sweet smile on her face and tears in her eyes. When I get to her she throws her arms around my neck and buries her head in my chest.
“I’m so freaking proud of you.” She whispers and it’s a wonder I can hear her over all the noise.
“Thank you.” My voice cracks as I get choked up. This isn’t a big fight, but it was a huge milestone for me. My comeback.
“You thirsty?” I ask Ashlyn.
“Parched.” She smiles up at me.
I pull her up from her seat and sit before pulling her onto my lap. I’ll be content staying like this for the rest of the night. Zander and Savvy make their way over to us and sit down.
“God, why are these parties so boring?” Savvy questions as Ash nods her head in agreement.
“Because you’re not drunk.” Zander laughs.
“Guys just think, when the next fight rolls around we’ll have two babies in tow.”
“I’ll look into getting more security.” Zander states what I’m already thinking.