Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
“Baby, you can do anything you want.” I lean in and kiss her cheek.
I stand and approach Underhill and the fight official who will sign the tape after my hands are wrapped. I hold my hands out palms-down. So much energy’s coursing through me my legs won’t stop moving, but I try to contain it and hold still while each knuckle and joint is carefully wrapped. Molly moves a few feet away and aims her phone at me. I throw her a cocky wink and she flashes a quick thumbs-up. Remy stands next to her, watching everything like a fuckin’ hawk.
The hands take a while. Molly has time to do a 360 walk around me, filming every angle.
When the hands are done and signed, Underhill pulls out his black-and-purple focus pads. “Let’s warm up.”
He barks numbers for the combinations of punches, and I throw. He doesn’t push into my punches as much as he did during training, this is just to get the blood flowing.
“Good, good. Keep moving. One, two, three. Right.”
We repeat the sequence a few times.
“All right,” Underhill says. “Break.”
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge in the corner and take a few quick sips.
I pace the four corners of the mat laid in the center of the locker room, then up and down the middle.
The flat-screen television on the wall has a live feed from the fights out in the arena right now. Eraser’s standing in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest, watching the men’s featherweight match.
“Who’s good?” I ask, stopping next to him.
“Both of them, really.”
“Hey,” I tap his arm, “after this, are you and Ella gonna take some time and do like a second honeymoon or something while you’re here?”
“Yeah.” A wide grin stretches across his face. “I booked a helicopter ride over the Strip to surprise her.”
“She’s going to love that.”
“I know.” His whole face scrunches up into a pleased with himself smile.
I clap him on the back and resume pacing, stopping in front of Remy. “What’d you think?” I hold up my hands and pretend to throw some jabs.
He stares at me for a few seconds. “I’m really fuckin’ proud of you. That’s what I think, brother.”
It’ll go to his head if I let him know how much that means to me. “I’m happy you’re here with me.”
“Me too.”
“This is the kinda shit we talked about in high school.” Before my life took a few detours and Remy’s did too.
“Ruling the fight world? Yeah, I remember,” he says. “You’re doing it.”
I lean in, not wanting to be overheard. “I’m here. I’m ready to go.” I throw my fists a few times. “I can collect my bag, no matter what. After I get in the ring, everything’s gravy.”
“You best believe I put some money on you to win,” he says.
“You did?”
He stares at me like I’m crazy. “Fuck yeah.”
People bet on me at The Castle all the time. It’s nothing new. Just a different location. Bigger stakes. Large pool of gamblers.
No big deal.
We work through a few moves together. I pull him into a standing choke but don’t apply pressure. Remy twists away and comes at me with a side kick grazing my leg.
Underhill supervises us and eyes Remy like a bull he wants to take to market.
“Magic is big.” Remy runs his hand from the center of his chest to his shoulders. “Heavy. He’ll be tough to take down. But I think once you do, you’ve got him.”
“That’s my plan.”
He shrugs and gives me a sheepish look. “I know you have a plan.”
“I always appreciate the advice.” I slap his arm so he knows I’m not annoyed and return to the bench with Molly.
She’s busy flipping through the pictures she took. I tap one of me with my head down, watching as my hands get taped. “You can post that to my Insta if you want.”
“Yeah?” She pulls my phone out of her purse and hands it to me.
“You know the code.” I have nothing to hide from her.
“But you’re sitting right here.”
I flash my taped hands at her.
She sends the photo to my phone and then loads it to Instagram. “How should I caption it?”
“No tricks tonight. Just fists of steel?” I suggest.
She squints. “I’ll work on it.”
Laughing, I watch her hands swiping over my phone, especially her bare ring fingers. “Hey, you have that selfie of us from the room?”
She flicks to the photo gallery and shows it to me.
“Post that too.”
Her thumb hesitates over the image. “But tonight’s about you.”
“And I want you to post both pics.”
She posts the pictures, then shuts off the screen and tucks my phone away.
“Would you rather hang with Shelby ringside?” I ask.
“I’m right where I want to be.” She tugs on the sleeve of her oversized purple hoodie that’s covering that smoking hot silver dress. “Thank you for this. I would’ve been freezing without it.”