Bull: An MMA Stepbrother Romance (7 page)

But before that he had to finish this fucking weight cut. Cutting weight was the worst part of the fight business and it was the part the fans knew the least about. Fans knew it took serious stones to go into a ring and face down another man that was hell bent on hurting you. What they didn’t know is most fighters would fight twice in a row if it meant they didn’t have to cut weight.

Cutting weight was the process of losing water weight on fight week. I was what you did to make the necessary weight limit. In Jake’s case, that meant 205. Light heavyweight. Moneyweight. This was where the action was. ‘Light heavy’ was full of big, strong men that could knock you out with one punch. They were also light enough on their feet to dance circles around you if they wanted. They were fit enough to grapple five hard rounds and still have more in the tank. When it came to the fight game, it was the pinnacle of athletic performance. Jake was proud to fight at that weight. They were the scariest beasts in the business.

Against the monsters at 205 you couldn’t afford to take chances. But sometimes a hard weight cut was just that – a scary chance. Jake walked around at 235. After a good fight camp, he might be down to 225, 220 if he was careful with his diet. The other fifteen pounds had to come out of him as water during fight week. He sweat it out, pissed it out, or puked it out. Hell, he had even given blood to get it out. 

The havoc wreaked on his body was obvious. He looked pale, gaunt. That tends to happen when you’re puking from dehydration or passing out in the sauna. Not a good look. Many fighters broke during the cut. They would try, but they couldn’t make the weight and wound up giving part of their fight purse to their opponent. If it was really bad, they got rushed to a hospital and got an IV. Get some fluids back into their body before they died. Some men never left the hospital alive.

The last day of the cut, weigh in day, Jake would be so weak he would stumble to the scales. Still, he had to put on a show for the audience. Look tough. He had to flex for the photographers once the scales showed he made weight. Then he would have to face off against his opponent, a man just as dehydrated and short-fused as he was. He would put his fist up, and strike a pose that said he was about to murder him. He would actually want to just lay down in the fetal position and suck a few bottles of Pedialyte. Try to return to some semblance of human.

“Hang in there, Jake,” Cole said. “You’re almost there.”

Having Cole with him through the toughest parts of the cut was...well, he couldn’t do it without Cole. Impossible. Cole was a rock for him when his body started turning against him. On tough cuts, he would hallucinate. Sometimes he would get so dehydrated that his body would take matters into its own hands. Mental strength wasn’t even the issue. If his body needed water badly enough it would find a way to get it. It was something primal, deep in the lizard brain. It was survival.

“Thanks, brother,” Jake said, emotional and weak. “You know how much it means to have you here with me.” He stuck out a fist and Cole gave it a gentle bump with his own.

“Always,” Cole said.

“Dude, take my mind off this shit. Talk to me about something, anything,” Jake said.

“How about that fine-ass sister of yours,” Cole teased.

Jake laughed. “Stop calling her my sister.”

“That’s what she is. Sorry bro, she’s off limits. I saw how you were checking her out,” Cole said, laughing. “She’s family now. Guess she’s all mine.” 

“Like hell she is,” Jake said, a little life coming into his voice.

“Ahhhh, so that’s how it is.” Cole was smiling ear to ear.

“Listen, she’s not my sister. My dad married her mom. That’s the end of it.”

“Nah, man. That means she’s your sister. That’s gross now.”

“Fuck you, Cole,” Jake said, but his smile gave away his good mood. “You know,” he said, “I almost hit that.”

“What, Lisa?” Cole said, cocking an eyebrow. “When?”

“At the gym. Yeah, dude, it was fucking...ah, hell. Never mind. I shouldn’t be talking about it. But it was good. I thought she hated me at first. Then...well, I started thinking we might have something. And then I had to go and fuck it up. Ah, fuck it, never mind.”

“Dude, it’s about fucking time you thought about something other than fighting. That’s good. Just put that shit behind you until after the fight. Feel me cuz? Beast is no fucking joke! But once you kick his ass then you can show your sis why they really call you The Bull!”

The two men had a good laugh. It would be one of the last laughs Jake would get until after weigh-ins on Friday night, and that was 48 hours out. Two full days of a living hell on earth as Jake pushed his body to the limit to hit that magic 205. Shit, it was only 206! He had almost forgotten about the one pound allowance they gave on non-title fights. Every pound mattered at this point.

Either way he knew he would lose all sense of humor, all politeness to get there. The next 48 hours was about surviving the terrible dehydration of this cut. Manners didn’t fucking matter.

He also knew it was unlikely he would ever get to show her the real reason for his nickname. She hadn’t returned any of his texts and it was looking like she never would. A pang of regret shot through him. Idiot.

“Seriously, though,” Cole said. “Get through Beast and you’re the number one contender, bro, they may give you a shot at that title. You’re ranked fifth. Let’s see, Silva is ranked fourth but that knee injury will have him out for another six months at least. McIntosh is third, but he’s fighting number two in a month so they’re out. Of course, Cariaso is ranked number one and is fighting the champ in two weeks. Depending on how that shakes out the winner might want a quick turnaround. You would be the logical choice.”

Jake smiled at the thought. Jake “The Bull” Mata, Light Heavyweight Champion. He imagined himself hoisting the belt over his head. He could hear the stadium erupting, cheering his name. In his fantasy, Lisa was right there with him, looking at innocent and proper as ever.

It was a beautiful fantasy, but first he had to deal with Beast. He tucked the daydream away for another time.

Jake found himself imagining Beast attacking Lisa. In every scenario, Jake rushed in and gave the man the beating of his life. The thoughts gave him an adrenaline dump and he could feel his heart pound faster. Jake took the images and wrapped them around his mind.

Yes. You’re going down motherfucker.

Come Saturday night Beast was in for a rude fucking awakening.

Jake looked at the clock. Cole’s distractions had helped. It was almost time to get out of the tub.

Lisa

Chapter 9

Shame

Lisa picked up her phone for the thirtieth time that morning, but still didn’t have the guts to turn it on. She knew what was waiting for her. When she bolted the first place that came to her mind to hide was her dad’s house. He was still single and still kept a room for her. It was full of her trophies and awards from high school, but those belonged to another life.

She put the phone down again and curled back up in bed, and pulled the covers up tight. As if the pain of the memory was not enough, every time she thought back to that moment she got a sinking feeling in her gut.

For some reason, it never stopped her replaying it in her head. It was on a constant loop, like a bad jingle you just couldn’t stop humming. For the last three days she had thought of that night over and over. As soon as she saw herself bolting through the front door of the gym she rewound to the beginning. To those first few amazing moments when he had touched her face as he removed her glasses. He had run his fingers through her hair as he released her hair from her bun.

Then she was feeling his arm brush her nipples. Then she was on the ground with his arm between her legs and once again using it to try to rub away the heat. Using it to put friction right where she needed it most.

Her body still responded to the memory. Insult to injury. After replaying it so many times, she still could feel that burn. The wetness still formed. Her body still wanted it.

It was just like it had been with her ex-boyfriend Roger. No, it was worse. Not only was she the only one cumming, they weren't even having sex! How could she ever hope to please a man? How could she even dream of satisfying a man like Jake?

No matter how she sliced it, it was embarrassing. He was now her stepbrother, and so far out of her league that it was comical to think she could ever have a chance with him. She saw herself walking into the gym in her tight black spandex outfit. How pathetic. Such an innocent, stupid girl. She actually thought she looked good, as if a man like that would even take notice. A man like Jake had fifty women that could be professional models. What use did he have for some stupid child that made herself cum during grappling practice?

 The thought caused a dull ache in her heart and she curled up even tighter in the bed. Her lip began to quiver and she wondered for a moment if she would even be able to cry now. After so many tears, so much hard sobbing, she had finally dried up. A  cold, dull ache of despair and shame had replaced the tears. Were her tears now ready to make another appearance?

She fought them back, not wanting to start another crying jag. It was too exhausting.

She picked up her phone again. Her finger hovered over the power button. Then she saw them in her mind, all the texts from her mom, from Janis...from Jake. 

Jake’s would be the worst. “Lisa, what the hell was that about?” Maybe he would take the patronizing pity approach. “Lisa, don’t worry, it happens to everyone.”

She knew damn well it didn’t.

Worst of all, the one reaction she could not bear to here, would be the “I’m your brother. That was disgusting.”

It was disgusting. She felt the shame, but having him say it...she couldn’t stand to read it.  

She put the phone down on the nightstand.

Again Jake was running his fingers through her hair. Again she was humping his muscular arm into ecstasy. She adjusted her position as the burn between her legs ignited again.

There was a soft knock at the door.

“Go away,” she moaned.

“Hon, there’s someone here to see you,” her dad said as he cracked the door.

She pulled the covers over her head, “I don’t want to see anyone.”

Her dad walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. 

“You told,” Lisa said. Who???

“Hon, listen–”

“You promised you wouldn’t.”

“Sweetie, it’s been three days. You have school. You’ve not been eating. Your mom is worried sick. I mean, you know it’s bad when she calls me. I had to, babe.”

“Dad...” 

She wanted to fight, to get mad, but she couldn’t muster the energy. The last few days had been so exhausting, they had left her without the will to argue. Deep down, knew he was right, something had to give. She couldn’t live like this.

“Who is it?”

“Janis. She’s the only one I’ve told,” he said. “Will you talk to her? Please?”  

He wasn’t going to budge. 

“Fine.”

“Good. Good. That’s good, hon,” he said as he patted her leg through the covers. “I’ll send her in.”

He left and Lisa took a deep breath. She was glad it was only Janis. Janis would understand. Lisa had made a fool of herself in front of her enough times to know she could roll with another one.

“Hey, girl,” Janis said as she peeked around the door. 

Lisa pulled the covers off her head and sat up in the bed.

“Oh, you poor thing. You’ve been crying your eyes out haven’t you,” Janis said as she came up to her and gave her a big hug.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Lisa said.

“What happened?” Janis said. “One minute you’re going to meet with Jake, the next minute you’ve disappeared. You had a lot of people worried. If you hadn’t sent me that one text message I’m pretty sure your mom would have called the cops. Got a search party going.”

“Sorry,” Lisa said.

“Sorry? That’s all the fight you have? Damn, it’s worse than I thought,” Janis said. “He broke your heart didn’t he?”

Lisa shook her head and sunk back down onto the bed.

“No. Not like that,” Lisa said.

Janis took a deep breath. “Did he...rape you?”

Lisa shot her a look and chuckled, “No, pretty fucking far from it. More like I raped him.”

That one took Janis back a bit. “Whuuuuu....come again?” she said.

Lisa just shook her head and buried her face in her pillow.

“Girl, you can’t drop a bomb like that on me and then just clam up. You raped him? What the hell does that even mean?”

Lisa kept her face buried in her pillow, it was too embarrassing. 

“Leese, talk to me.”

Lisa shook her head. 

“Fine, I’m calling Jake. I need to know how I can rape him,” Janis said as she made a big production of getting her phone out.

“No!” Lisa said as she reached out and grabbed Janis’ phone. “Okay, fine, I’ll tell you.”

It was Lisa’s turn for a deep breath.

“I...I don’t even know how it happened. I mean...one moment he’s got his fingers in my hair. He's taking out my hair clip. The next moment we’re on the mat and he’s...showing me things. I...I got carried away. I forgot where I was and, he was telling me to, like, try harder and stuff, you know, like strain harder and...”