A Fighting Chance (6 page)

It had been his first tattoo. The artist had transferred it to his chest, over his heart, and made it permanent.

“Why would you do that?” She slid off the bed before he could stop her, pulling the blanket with her as if it were a shield. “I don’t... God,
Brendan. Why would you even do that?”

Why would he permanently mark his body with such a personal tribute to the woman he’d walked away from? It was a good question. Maybe so every time he looked in the mirror he would think of her and remember how badly he’d fucked up his life. So every day he would ask his reflection again if breaking his own heart had been worth it for Del’s sake without
knowing the answer. It had been a punishment that would hurt him until he went to his grave.

“I loved you so much, Del. I kept that scrap of paper in my wallet but I was afraid it was going to fade or get ripped, so I made it permanent.”

“You loved me enough to tattoo that on your body but not enough to actually stay with me?” Her cheeks and neck were red with temper, and he flinched
away from the hurt and anger in her voice.

“I loved you enough to let you go so you could have the life you deserved.”

“How freaking noble of you.” She jerked the blanket totally free of the bed and walked to the window. “You’re a real hero.”

Brendan didn’t think she knew he could see her reflection in the glass. Her eyes closed as her mouth quivered and he couldn’t stand seeing
her in pain. He slid off the bed and snagged his boxer briefs to pull on before stepping up behind her.

He wrapped his arms around her, blanket and all, and kissed the side of her neck when she didn’t pull away. “I was stupid, Del. I was young and stupid and I thought I was doing the right thing for you. Maybe for both of us in the long run. I was wrong.”

“Yes, you were.”

“I hope
someday you can forgive me. Maybe if you do, I’ll be able to forgive myself.”

She leaned back against him. “I’m trying, but it’s not easy. It was devastating, and now—finding out you made that kind of decision for me without talking to me about it—pisses me off on top of it.”

“You have no idea how much I wish I hadn’t done it.” He kissed the top of her head. “I have to go soon because
my team’s already going to be pissed I skipped out on them, but I don’t want to leave with you upset.”

“Maybe I
do
want to show up tonight and watch you get punched in the face.”

He laughed, swaying slightly as he held her close. “This side of you scares me a little.”

“It’s harder now and that makes me mad.”

He stopped, resting his chin on her shoulder and looking at her reflection.
“What’s harder?”

“Knowing you loved me and threw it away for a stupid reason is harder than just believing you were cheating or just being an asshole. That made more sense to me.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Sorry you’re not an asshole?” She chuckled, leaning her head against his. “I don’t want you to keep apologizing. I know it probably sounds like it’s necessary, but I’m just...
I’m working through it. But you don’t need to apologize every time the past comes up.”

“Am I going to see you again after this weekend?”

She was still for a long moment. “I don’t know. When I asked you in last night, I intended to say goodbye to you and never see you again once I left the hotel.”

He closed his eyes, sorry he’d asked even while he was thankful she didn’t lie or string
him along just to make it easier on herself. “Now I wish I could fake a flu or something so I’d have a reason to skip out on today and spend it with you instead.”

“You can’t do that. And I’m starting to think I want to watch you fight tonight.”

“Really?” That surprised the hell out of him.

“Yeah. Tattoos. Fighting. I want to know more about this new you.”

Because she hoped
to see more of him? “It would mean a lot to me to have you there. But it’s not for everybody, so I understand if you don’t want to.”

She inhaled deeply, then let it out in a slow breath. “I’ll go. But I really don’t want to see him punch you in the face. Try not to let him, okay?”

“That’s always the plan. Bryan likes to grapple more than strike, though. He’ll try to get me on the mat
and choke me into submission.”

“What?” She turned in his arms in a twisting motion that almost lost her the blanket. Sadly, she held it in place with her elbows. “He’s going to choke you?”

“He’ll try.” The horror on her face amused the hell out of him, but he tried not to show it because he didn’t want her to think he was making fun of her. “If I can’t shake him off, I can tap out. It’s
like saying uncle to the ref and he stops the fight.”

“I think I’ll have a cocktail before I go. A big one.”

He lowered his head to kiss her, wishing he didn’t have to leave. “I’ll make sure Janie leaves you a pass with the concierge desk. When you go in, look for my people near the cage. They’ll be wearing merch with my name on it, like the T-shirts those guys in the elevator were wearing.”

“I’ll find them.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to see you after the fight. Depends on a lot of things, I guess. Including how much ice I need.”

She didn’t seem to find that very funny, judging by the look she gave him. “Brittany will probably be arriving at the hotel sometime after the fight, anyway. I know she’ll text me when she gets here, no matter how late it is.”

And then
she’d be wrapped up in her friends, he thought. They were there to celebrate Kate’s upcoming wedding, and as tight as the three of them were, there wasn’t much chance of her being able to sneak away to see him.

“Speaking of texting, you should give me your number. So I can check and see if you’ve changed your mind about never seeing me again once you leave the hotel.”

“Oh, really?” The
corners of her mouth turned up. “I guess it’s hard to give the
I’ll call you
line if you don’t have my number.”

“I
will
call you.”

She walked past him to pick up her cell phone, still managing to hold that damn blanket up with her elbows while she pulled up a new contact page. When she looked at him expectantly, he told her his number, a little surprised he remembered it off the top
of his head.

Thinking he hadn’t heard any notifications for a while, which was surprising considering everybody had to be wondering where he was, he picked up his phone. The screen didn’t light up and he realized it had been a long time since he’d plugged the thing in to charge. And he’d turned the Wi-Fi off because moving in and out of the hotel and casino hot spots was a pain in the ass,
which meant it had been trying to maintain a cellular signal inside the massive building. It had probably died sometime during the night.

“Battery’s dead. I guess you’ll have to write yours down for me and I can put it in later.”

Five minutes later, with her telephone number tucked safely in the pocket of his jeans, Brendan reluctantly kissed her goodbye and did the walk and elevator
ride of shame back to his room.

He plugged in his phone before jumping in the shower and, by the time he was done, it was ready to turn on. As he scrubbed a towel over his hair, he heard the thing start going crazy with text chimes and voice-mail tones. They weren’t very happy with him.

The first thing he did was enter Del’s number into his contacts, and then he tucked the paper into
his wallet just in case. His manager and trainer were sharing a room, so he ignored the notifications for everything he’d missed and tapped Jonathan’s name in his contacts list. His manager would probably put him on speaker, anyway, so his trainer would be able to listen in and give him hell if his manager stopped to take a breath.

Jonathan answered on the second ring. “Where the hell are
you?”

“In my room. Just got out of the shower.”

“You weren’t in your room last night.”

“Nope.”

“You realize you’re getting in the cage with Bryan Lavaud tonight, right?”

“Yup.”

“Tell me you weren’t with a woman,” he heard Eric demand, his voice getting louder when Jonathan hit the speakerphone button. “What did I tell you about having sex the night before a fight?”

“I don’t know. I probably wasn’t listening.”

“Protein and celibacy, kid. And don’t tell me you weren’t listening.”

Since he’d only eaten a chocolate chip cookie for supper because he didn’t want to delay getting to Del, and then he’d spent the night making love to her, his listening skills had definitely been lacking yesterday. “I’m ready for tonight, guys. I’m always ready.”

He heard Jonathan’s sigh, but he knew they couldn’t argue. Brendan kept himself in fighting shape even when he wasn’t in the gym every day to train. That’s why they’d called him when they ended up with an undercard scratch.

“Listen,” he said. “An old friend of mine might show up tonight to watch me fight. Her name’s Adeline Kendrick, though she might use Del. I want her to sit with you, Jonathan.”

“Is she who you spent the night with?” his manager asked.

“All you need to know is that she’s an old friend of mine and she’s important to me so I want her treated with respect.”

“No,” Eric said. “Oh, hell no, Brendan.”

He tossed the wet towel over the back of a chair. If he went into the bathroom to hang it up, he’d lose the signal. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve been training you
since the beginning, kid, so don’t bullshit me. She’s the girl you were so fucked up over when you first joined my gym and you want her in the front row for a big fight?”

“That’s what I said.”

“It’s a bad idea.”

So was asking her to meet him for a coffee and holding her hand in the elevator and spending the night in her bed. He should have left her well enough alone. Instead, he
was going to grab every minute he had with her, because there was a chance they could recapture what they’d had before.

“I already sent a text to Janie to get her a pass. It’s happening.”

“Your head better be in the game,” Jonathan said. “Give the network and the people in the seats a good show.”

“Don’t worry about my focus,” Brendan said. “I could probably use a steak, though.”

“Jesus,” he heard Eric mutter.

Brendan grinned as he hung up the phone, because he wasn’t worried. He knew how to give the local crowd a good show.

Chapter Four

Del couldn’t have felt more out of her element if she’d donned a space suit and launched herself out of orbit. At least she was dressed for the crowd, she thought as she followed the woman named Janie toward the front row of chairs. She’d been able to buy a Brendan Quinn T-shirt from a vendor near the event venue’s entrance, which technically wasn’t shopping without
Kate and Brittany since she hadn’t gone into a store. She’d packed a pair of jeans and her favorite black leather ankle boots, so she didn’t feel as if she stood out from the other fight fans.

Except maybe for her flinching as two guys pummeled each other on an elevated stage surrounded by fencing in the middle of the arena. Brendan had told her not to bother showing up at the advertised
start time. Instead he gave her an approximate time and asked Janie to send her a text giving her a heads-up when it looked like they were about a half hour from his fight. Luckily the fights were being televised so even if they had a run of bouts that ended quickly, they’d space them out to fill the allotted time.

“We can sit here,” Janie said, pointing to a few empty seats. “The others
are with him getting ready, but it won’t be long. Needless to say, Eric will stay with Brendan, but his manager will probably sit with us.”

“You don’t have to stay with me if there’s something else you should be doing.”

“Nope.” Janie gave her what looked like a genuine enough smile. There was a funny knocking sound and her escort looked toward the cage, as Brendan had called it. “Won’t
be long now.”

Del sat back and watched what was going on, not wanting Janie to know she had absolutely no idea what was going on. There was a short delay, during which whoever was on the PA system talked about a commercial break. Then he urged them all to go nuts as the cameras zipped around on tracks suspended from the ceiling so the people at home could see what a great time they were missing
by not being at the casino.

The noise was deafening, but Del had to admit the energy in the place was infectious. She took a sip from the water bottle she’d brought in with her as the two fighters met the announcer in the middle of the cage. He announced scores and then lifted one guy’s hand in to the air. Del assumed that if nobody got knocked out or choked until he said uncle, they went
to the judges, who’d been keeping score of...something. Technique, maybe. And probably who got punched the least.

“Brendan’s next,” Janie said, leaning closer so Del could hear her over the noise. “He and Bryan are the top of the undercard, before they switch over to the pay-per-view fights. There’s going to be a break while they do some commercials and go over the stats and everything, so
if you need anything, now’s the time.”

“I’m good, thanks.” She was thankful she’d eaten earlier because her stomach was utterly tied in knots and she didn’t imagine watching Brendan fight was going to ease the anxiety any.

“Even though he’s got the hometown crowd, Brendan will come out first because he’s the challenger. Bryan’s the favorite to win, not that predictions matter once they’re
in the cage.”

The wait seemed endless. Then lights started flashing and music boomed through the speakers, causing the crowd to go wild. She recognized the Irish rock band from Boston, though she couldn’t remember the name. She knew their music was used for sports events a lot, and the people in this arena certainly responded to it.

They were all on their feet, Del and Janie included.
She couldn’t see him from where they were, but the cameras tracked Brendan’s entrance into the arena, so she was able to watch him on the big screen suspended over the cage.

When they zoomed in on his face, she shivered. He looked so cold and hard. He looked like he had in the hallway the night before, with his hood up to shadow his face and the wires of his earbuds visible. He nodded his
head in time to the music, and she wondered if his earbuds were even connected to anything. There was no way he could hear anything but the song being blasted to the crowd.