“Stop falling forward,” Julian yelled from the side of the ring. “Lean up. Take control. You know better, Lily.

I was grappling with Charlie in the ring at Fight It Out. My best friend currently had my head locked in place, and I was unable to get out of the fucking triangle choke. “Fuck,” I breathed.

“Lily, lean up,” Julian barked again.

“I can’t,” I screamed back.

Charlie almost loosened the hold when Julian ran over and stopped her. “No. Stay put.”

“But—”

“She needs to figure this out if she wants to take home the belt.”

“I hate you right now,” I said with my head pinned between Charlie’s chest and left leg.

“Good,” he said, kneeling beside me. “Now use that anger and get out of the fucking hold.”

Charlie had my head locked in place pretty tightly. I let out a deep sigh, closed my eyes, and released my anger running through my veins. Instead of warning them, I found a way to pull my body up which in turn made Charlie loosen her hold. As I pushed my arm back to give myself space to maneuver out of the hold, Charlie tried to tighten her grip, but I found a way out and jumped back.

Before anyone could cheer after I released myself from the damn hold, I sprang forward and pushed Julian down onto his back. The room erupted in laughter instead of cheers.

“You’re mean.”

“You need to get this right.”

I bent down closer. “Thank you.”

“I love you,” he whispered.

I jumped up to my feet. “I love you more.”

Everyone in earshot gagged and walked away. “Guess you just found a way to clear a room,” he teased.

Charlie was sitting to the side, catching her breath. “When you lifted up, wow, I lost the ability to hold on anymore.”

“Let’s hope Cheyanne hasn’t perfected her hold.” I sat down beside Charlie and reached for her water bottle. “I can’t believe my life is taking a full circle.” My last fight with Dad was the one against Cheyanne, and she won because of the triangle choke submission.

“Well, the upside is you know what to expect with her,” Julian said, reaching for his towel. “The unknown can be worse.”

“One week,” I moaned.

“One week and everything changes.” Charlie rested her head on my shoulder. “I talked to a few organizations about the logistics of putting together a memorial fund.”

“You did? Already?” I knew we needed to find out the answers. A part of me was worried we were putting the cart before the horse. “Should we wait till I officially win a championship fight?”

“Why?” Charlie sounded confused.

“I don’t want you all to run it by yourself, and I don’t know how to put my name on it.” Standing up, I started to head toward the locker room. “I know, I know, I’m overthinking again.”

Julian pinched my ass. “You do love to do that.”

I swatted at his arm. “Fine. I’ll stop overthinking, but you all can’t talk about it with me until after the fight.”

“Deal,” Charlie yelled from the receptionist desk.

“Deal.” Julian grabbed my arm and pulled me against his body. “I have just the thing to help with all that overthinking.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

“Swimming.”

I scowled. “Swimming?” Personally, I would much rather have sex than go swimming.

“Yeah,” Julian said and pushed open the door. “Did you have something else in mind?” He stepped into the men’s locker room.

I snuck my head around the door and noticed two men walking my way completely naked. They quickly covered themselves and moved out of sight. “Yeah, I do Mr. Moore,” I yelled from the doorway. “And the second letter does not start with W.” Then I let the door close and headed into the women’s locker room.

I heard two ladies gasp. Before I could turn around, Julian pushed his body up against me. “And the third letter is not an I?”

“You play dirty,” I said in a hushed tone. My body wanted him, and there was nowhere to go.

“Come here.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me all the way to the back of the gym.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.”

There was a door at the end of the hall. He opened it and led me inside. “Is this a storage room?”

“Maybe.”

He opened another door where a bed and night stand sat in the corner. “What is this? Why is this here?”

“I stayed overnight several nights during the construction process.” He pushed me toward the bed. “I left it just in case anyone needed a place to crash.”

“Or let go of some pent-up rage.”

“See, it serves its purpose perfectly.”

“Julian,” I whispered.

“What is it, Lily?” He tugged my sports bra up over my head.

“Do you really think I can win the fight on Saturday?”

He dropped his hands to the side. “Honest?”

“Is there anything else?”

He pushed me down onto the bed. Leaning down, he looped his fingers around the waistband of my leggings and pulled them down slowly. With each tug, Julian would kiss the freshly exposed skin. Finally, I lay there in the nude. “Lily, baby, I see a Little Punisher emerging.”

“What?” I giggled, reaching for the hem of his shirt to tug it up over his head. “Did you finally decide on a nickname for me?”

“You fight like your dad, Lily. It’s amazing to watch.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Little Punisher, eh?”

“Oh yeah, and I know you will live up to the name just like your dad did.”