No Safeword: Matte - Happily Ever After (Safewords) (28 page)

“I don’t need a four thousand dollar dress. I brought a few that’ll work just fine.”

Dave sighed. “Let me talk to her.”

When the woman got off the phone she told Sam she had some other dresses to show her, and pulled a few out with four to six hundred dollar price tags. Not name brands, but still classy and elegant.

Sam ended up with a beautiful dress that showed her good curves and hid the ones she didn’t like. It also hid her scar, which was the deciding factor.

As she and Ethan dressed, she told him about Dave’s offhand comment about possibly managing her.

“Between Dave and Jerrod, it’s starting to sound like fighting in the women’s division may be a real possibility.”

Ethan looked thoughtful as he said, “You have experience in all the disciplines needed. Your ground game would need some work because most of the bantams are strong on the mat, but I think you’d be fine with the rest. It’s a whole different ball-game than the organized tournaments for a particular fighting style, but you already know that. Are you interested?”

Sam shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe, but I’m not sure I’m up for fight after fight. I certainly don’t want to do it all in one day, but I don’t want to have to fight once every couple of months for years before I get a shot at the title, either.”

Ethan motioned her to turn around, and zipped her dress as he said. “I’m betting Dave will make hay of the media attention around you, too. He’s planning to use it to get me a title fight, how much do you want to bet he finds a way to fast track you, too?”

* * * *

Dave provided tickets for a risqué acrobatics show, and Sam was in awe at the artistry combined with athleticism and grace.

She noted people taking pictures, but hadn’t realized anyone was taking zoomed pictures of Ethan and her until Dave emailed them some links the next morning.

Training slowed to reflex work two days before the fights, and the day before was mostly a rest day.

As a newcomer, Ethan would fight very early in the day, and have to win each bout to advance to the next. If he made it to the evening he’d go up against exceptionally good fighters who’d been lounging around all day, while he’d been in fight after fight.

But, it was his first entry and he had to prove he deserved to be in the evening fights.

Ethan beat each of his first three opponents in less than a minute, but his fourth fight went the distance and came down to a decision. Sam was certain he’d won, but didn’t breathe easy until the referee held his hand up as the announcer called his name.

Dave had a doctor on the payroll, but everyone called him Jameson and treated him like one of the coaches. He and Jerrod went into the cage with the stool, water, and ice between rounds, while Sam talked to them through the fence. Jerrod let her talk when she had something to contribute, and he did the talking when she didn’t.

When Jerrod came out of the cage after she’d had a lot to say, she thanked him for letting her do almost all of the talking. He smiled and shook his head. “Don’t thank me; I’m doing what’s best for my fighter. The two of you are so close, it does him good to hear from you. Also, you know your shit and I don’t mind you telling him what’s what. If I disagree with your strategy, trust me, I’ll speak up.”

The media were around for almost every fight, but she didn’t realize until the following day how unusual it was for a newcomer to have reporters with microphones in their face so much between fights.

When he won the last fight of the day — the one that put him onto the evening roster — his eyes found Sam, and as soon as she stepped into the cage he lifted her and kissed her breathless on live television. Without thinking about it, Sam’s legs wrapped around his waist and she lost herself in the kiss.

She heard the announcer say something about him being a “lover
and
a fighter,” and she dropped her legs straight, but Ethan didn’t let her escape the kiss. When he finally let her up for air she laughed as she hit his arm and said, “You’re such a caveman.”

Little did she know the media would overhear, and Ethan had his fighting nickname.
Ethan “The Caveman” Levi
.

They were bombarded with media and bloggers as they left the cage, and Dave stepped in front of Ethan to say, “The big guy is going backstage with his coaching team, but I think we can let one of his coaches give you five or ten minutes.”

He pulled Sam forward and said, “This is Sam, his wife and one of his coaches. Be nice to her and she’ll answer your questions. Ask stupid questions and she’ll probably leave earlier than I’d like her to, so she can go check on her husband.”

“Is it Sam or Samantha?” A male voice asked as a microphone was stuck a few inches below her mouth.

“I prefer Sam.”

“Can we see where you were shot?”

“Ummm,
no
, and how can that possibly be relevant to my husband fighting?”

“Why did you call him a caveman?”

“Did you
see
him kiss me?”

“Can you really kick his ass, or was that staged?”

“He doesn’t hit or kick me when we spar. Let’s face it, one solid punch from him might crack my skull. Of
course
I look impressive when I can hit and kick and grapple and throw, and all he can do is grapple and defend. It isn’t staged but it’s stacked in my favor.”

“Then why waste his time sparring with you?”

“His coach tells me I’m fast and I help his reflex time.”

“How did the two of you meet?”

“At an amateur bout, where I was coaching his biggest competition.”

“Who won?”

Sam smiled and gave a small laugh. “The man I coached, of course.”

Sam heard Tom’s laugh and turned to see him. She waved him to her and said, “I’d like to introduce you to the current amateur champion. This is Tom Thomason. “

“Were the two of you an item before you met Ethan?”

“No, we’re just friends. He owns the dojo I frequent, and he coached me to my title long ago, so helping him get to his was the least I could do.”

“Is that the Kung Fu title you’re talking about?”

This from the first woman’s voice she’d heard since the interview started. She looked in the direction of the voice until she found her. “Yes.”

“Are you interested in fighting in the new women’s division?”

“Someone asked about my scar, so you know I’m still on the road to recovery. I can’t make any long term decisions until I see how far I bounce back.”

Dave stepped forward and said, “Okay, we need to let her get to her husband now. Thank you all for your time. If you have specific questions about Ethan Levi, feel free to run me down and ask at any time.”

Sam let Tom take her to the rest of the group, and she hugged them all and thanked them for coming. “I need to get backstage. I’ll see you later, after the fights. Hopefully a lot later, but it depends on how far he advances.”

“Just tell him we’re here, and thanks for the tickets.”

By the time Sam made it to Ethan, Jerrod had him stretched out with ice on all of the bruising, and was all business when he saw Sam.

“We have just over two hours until his next fight. I hydrated him and gave him a shake with all the calories and nutrients he needs. It’ll digest fast so he won’t have anything on his stomach during the fight. Jameson’s going to stay here with him while he naps, and you and I are going to go get real food and talk strategy.”

They went to the closest sit-down restaurant, and Jerrod opened his tablet as soon as they were seated. “Dave’s secretary put together fight clips of Ethan’s next opponent, as well as the fighters he’s most likely to be paired with as the evening progresses.”

“But, if he wins it’ll only be four more fights, right?”

“Yes, but these are all bad-asses.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, I got that part. Lemme see what we’re up against.”

They spent a little over an hour eating and going over videos, and when they returned backstage, Jameson told them Ethan would be in the right sleep state to awake in the next five to ten minutes.

Sam and Jerrod practiced quietly until Jameson gave the okay, and she woke Ethan as gently as possible.

When he awoke alert and refreshed she said, “Jameson, looks like I owe you an apology for rolling my eyes at you. You seem to know your shit.”

He smiled back at her but didn’t say anything, so Sam turned her focus back to Ethan.

“Your first opponent has a signature move and no one’s been able to counter it up to this point, but I’ve figured out a way. Jerrod is going to do it on me, and once you understand what I’m doing, he’s going to go through it with you so you can practice countering it.”

The evening bouts were nothing like the daytime fights. Now, cameras rolled backwards in front of the contenders as they entered the arena, and filmed them as the officials checked them over before allowing entrance to the cage. Spotlights followed Ethan, and the crowd was so loud Sam could barely hear herself think.

Ethan won his first bout in twenty-four seconds, thanks to Sam’s trick. The crowd went wild, and when Ethan raised his arms and walked the cage, the cheering was so loud Sam felt the vibrations through her body. It was disconcerting to be in the center of so much attention, so much cheering, and yet Ethan seemed to absorb it and take energy from it.

When they were backstage and preparing for the next opponent, Sam had to tell him, “I don’t see a specific move I can teach you for his next fight. Just try to stay on your feet because he’s brutal on the ground. Get your legs under you and get off the ground, no matter what. You have a much longer reach than him, so pummel him, and
stay on your feet
.”

Ethan was on the ground and in trouble fifteen seconds into the first round. She was standing with Jerrod, and she stepped closer to the fence and yelled for Ethan to “Stand
up
, dammit!”

Ethan yanked his legs under him and pressed up in almost one motion, and Sam saw the choke hold and thought it was all over. Except Ethan pounced backwards and body slammed them both, rolled to the side, and went into fighting stance only to discover he’d knocked his opponent out with the body slam.

Jerrod leaned into Sam’s ear and said, “My goal was for him to make it this far. I honestly didn’t think he had much of a chance of winning this fight. Everything from here on out is gravy.”

Sam glared at him. “Don’t you dare tell Ethan. He thinks you had faith he could go all the way.”

He shook his head. “I told him he had the capability to go all the way. I never told him I had faith he’d do it.”

Sam watched the videos of the next opponent and looked up with a smile. “Jerrod, come here and do this move on me.”

Jerrod watched it a few times, stepped through it, and nodded. The first time he took Sam down, she couldn’t get out of it. The second time, he took her to the mat but she was out of the hold and back up the second she hit the floor. The third time, she twisted on him as he grabbed her and flipped him over her head and slammed him on the ground.

“Oh, shit! I’m sorry! I didn’t know it would work that good. Are you okay?”

Jerrod nodded as he tried to suck air in. She gave him a minute to learn how to breathe again, and offered her hand to help him up.

“How about we just simulate that when we show Ethan?” he asked.

“I’m truly sorry. I didn’t know it would work so good. Ready to show him?”

They stepped into his room and Sam smiled as she saw the peaceful look on her husband’s face with his headphones on, his feet and hands in Epsom salts, and ice across his eyes, around his abdomen, and on the nasty bruise forming on his thigh.

She touched his cheek and pulled his right headphone away from his ear. “Ethan? We have some moves to show you again.”

She let the headphones go back on his ears, and reached for his hand and dried it before reaching for the other. He sat up and took the ice off as Sam kneeled in front of him and dried his feet.

“Dave tells me your next opponent took some nasty punches to the ribs from a leftie, and you’d do good to focus on the area. However, this guy has a move it looks like he uses at least once every fight, and I, well, I kind of tossed Jerrod around more than I intended.”

Jerrod chuckled. “If you can pull it off as well as her, the clip will make the rounds of
all
the talk shows.”

* * * *

Ethan took a beating and wasn’t faring well when his opponent finally pulled the move in the third round. Sam was worried Ethan would be too tired to pull it off, but he somehow managed it with possibly more flare than Sam, and as soon as the poor man landed, Ethan dropped to the ground and pummeled his opponent’s face until the fight was called.

Sam looked up to the huge screens all around the arena and saw replay after replay of Ethan tossing the man around like he was a big rag doll.

On their way back to the staging area Dave pulled her aside and said, “Title fight, here we come.”

“We have an offer?”

Dave shook his head. “The man Ethan fights next has been in talks to fight the current number two. If Ethan beats him, I’ll be able to have similar talks on his behalf.”

“And if he loses?”

“Then we may be looking at two or three more fights after tonight, instead of one more fight to put him in title contention.”

“Okay, but unless you have a miracle up your sleeve, with the beating he just took I don’t know that he’ll have it in him to do justice to this next fight. I’m going to watch videos while ya’ll do your magic with him. Let me know if he asks for me, otherwise I think I’m better in the background during this part.”

She was so tired, and so worried, she thought it best for her to stay out of Ethan’s view until she could rest a little and rally her energy. 

Jerrod nodded. “We’ll take care of him while you do
your
magic.”

Sam didn’t know if Jerrod believed her or not, but she dove into the videos and was happy for the chance to sit and rest with no one around.

Once again, Sam didn’t see a specific move she could teach Ethan to counter. However, she had plenty of advice for a number of moves, she just wasn’t sure he was up to remembering much, if anything. He was in rough shape, and she was worried.

She forced herself to focus, and made a list of the moves she’d noted, making up names for them where necessary, and then grouped them together as best she could.

She sent Dave’s assistant to get Jerrod, and showed him what she had, bringing up video for illustration where necessary. She finished with, “It’s too much to teach him right now, though. I’ll leave it up to you, as I have no idea what will do him the most good and I think we’ll be lucky to get two or three of these into his head enough to be useable.”

Jerrod kissed her cheek, grabbed the paper, and took off into the room with Ethan. Sam was curious, but tired, and she put her right arm on the table and rested her head across it.

“Jerrod asked me to keep an eye on you, make sure you paced yourself so you could last the day.”

Sam sat up and smiled at Jameson. “You’d think I’d have my stamina back by now.”

He shook his head. “Has nothing to do with stamina. Everyone here feels just like you. We’re exhausted, and we’ll only get through the final fight with adrenaline. Yours is running low right now; you’ll be okay when it picks back up.” He handed her a protein bar. “Meanwhile, eat this and drink some sports drink.”

“Thanks.” She accepted the protein bar and talked as she opened it. “I have no idea how Ethan is going to manage yet another fight. This has been a total hell-day for him.”

“The people who fight early in the morning aren’t intended to still be fighting at almost midnight. Most work their way up slowly, so if they’re good enough to last the distance they don’t have to start until later in the day.”

She nodded. “And all of the promoters and decision makers are going to know he’s exhausted, and fighting someone relatively fresh.”

Sam stood and headed towards the inner room. “Thanks, Jameson. I’m going to touch up my makeup and work on my hair.”

* * * *

Jerrod and Jameson pulled out every trick they knew, but when Ethan made the big walk to the center of the arena this time, he looked like the walking wounded.

He hugged Sam last, just before he turned himself over to the officials for the pre-fight check-in, and she told him he’d made it to the final fight, and all he had to do was stay on his feet and last until the end.

“Win, don’t win…probably doesn’t matter much at this point because the world knows he’s fresh and you aren’t. Just go out there and be your normal bad-assed self and refuse to let him take you down. Okay?”

Ethan hugged her, kissed her forehead, and turned towards the officials.

Sam’s heart dropped as the fight progressed, and she wished she hadn’t told him to try to last until the end. Ethan managed his fair share of hits and kicks, and held his own on the ground, but Sam wanted to cry with every strike Ethan took to his face, body, and already bruised thigh.

She assumed the judges would award the win to the other guy, and the announcer took for-freakin-
ever
to get around to proclaiming the winner. When he said it’d been a split decision, her brain almost went sideways.

Ethan wasn’t declared the winner, but Sam couldn’t get over the split decision, which meant one of the three judges had thought Ethan deserved the win. Had it really been so close?

Ethan talked to the commentator in the cage, and partway through the interview motioned for Sam to come to his side. She did, and he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him.

Sam answered a few questions, but she soon realized Ethan had needed someone to help stabilize him.

When the interview was over he continued to lean on her without it being obvious, which was a trick to do while walking. They’d almost made it to their backstage area when a barrage of media encircled them and began shouting questions.

Dave was nowhere in sight, and Jerrod didn’t seem to want to step forward and help, so Sam did the best she could to help him answer, or just answer for him. Ethan managed to hold it together and answer with well thought out responses, but she knew they needed to get him up to their room
soon
.

Dave finally showed up, helped with the questions, and then promised interviews the following week. “If you can’t make it to Chattanooga we can arrange for a video interview at a local affiliate or we can do it via the internet. If you want time with him, we’ll make it happen, but the doc is insisting we get him backstage now.”

Jameson sat him down in the dressing room and had him drink a concoction while they checked him over. Sam handled phone calls from worried friends and family, and finally posted to her Facebook page that Ethan was exhausted from a day of fighting, and she was exhausted from a day of watching him fight, but otherwise, both would be fine after a few days of rest and several good nights’ sleep.

She saw his final opponent in the hallway on the way to their room, and was impressed the man made a point of coming to them and telling Ethan he’d fought a “damned fine” fight, and he looked forward to a rematch when it could be a fairer one.

Sam smiled. “You mean when he isn’t exhausted and beat up to start with?”

“Yes ma’am. You must be his wife, from the YouTube video?”

Sam laughed. “Yes. And thank you for a good fight as well. You get some sleep and rest. Tomorrow morning’s gonna be a bitch.”

Ethan shook his hand again, smiled and said all the right things, and let Sam steer him to their room. As soon as the door closed, Jerrod and Jameson surrounded him and half-carried him to bed.

Jameson handed paramedic shears to Sam. “Just cut his clothes off. We won’t make him sit up and take them off the right way.”

Ethan tried to sit up as he said, “No!” but only made it a few inches and fell back to the bed. “I like these shorts.”

Sam handed the shears back to Jameson. “It’s not like I’ve never taken his clothes off before. I’ll manage.”

Jameson worked on him for an hour, but Ethan slept through most of it. When everyone finally left, Sam changed into pajamas and slid into bed beside him.

* * * *

Ethan awoke a few times during the night, and Sam swapped his gel-packs out for cold ones. She wanted to rub and massage him to help him get back to sleep, but he was banged and bruised pretty much all over.

When she turned her phone on around five the next morning after only a few hours of intermittent sleep, it was full of congratulations, as well as more friends and family wanting to make sure he was okay.

“Have you figured out what you want from room service yet? They have steak and eggs.”

He dropped the room service menu on the bedside table. “That sounds good. Get me two orders, and anything else you think I might want.”

“Okay, I’ll make the call and then I need to return email and texts to let people know you’re okay.”

Ethan looked at the clock and said, “Grams should be up in about an hour. I know dad said he’d talk to her last night and tell her I was okay, but she’ll want to hear my voice.”

Sam stood at the knock on the door and Ethan said, “That was fast for room service.”

“No, Jameson wanted me to text him when you were up and asking for breakfast.”

Jameson examined Ethan again, bone by bone and bruise by bruise, and finished as the food arrived.

“Probably wouldn’t hurt to put stitches in a few places, but they’re right on the verge of being okay with the butterfly bandages. A league doctor will be by around nine this morning to look you over. If he offers stitches, tell him your personal physician advised against it.”