Stepbrother Undefeated: An MMA Romance (9 page)

"Should I be?"
 

"Nah, I think your boy's gonna do great, he's Logan Undefeated after all," he said lifting his arm to call over the beverage waiter, "beer for me, and for the lady?" he looked at me.
 

"Mineral water, thanks," I said, she handed me the bottle and I opened it taking a long sip. I had the jitters real bad, "what about this other guy?"

"Orion, he's a big guy, he's won the title two years in a row. Honestly, I don't know what's gonna happen, these are the two best fighters in the country. Your boy's got dedication though, I'll give him that, he's worked hard to get where he is, I think he's gonna put up a good fight no matter what."

"Hm," I replied not sure what to say. Reagan looked like an MMA veteran himself with a shaved head and ginger beard, he had tattoos all over his hands and neck and I assumed under his suit there was a lot more.
 

The host got inside the ring and the crowd went crazy when he began to speak.
 

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome," he said, "tonight we have two of the biggest mixed martial art names in the United States fighting for the national title, a place in the world championship and a grand prize total of one million dollars."
 

The crowd began cheering again, followed by chanting.

"Un-de-feated!" they went, the whole stadium alive with the energy the fans were throwing out.

The lights dimmed and the stadium went quiet again. Neon lights appeared lighting up each entrance to the ring and the ring itself. A heavy metal guitar solo began to blare from the speakers.

"Coming to the ring now is the first fighter of the night, the never before defeated newcomer, Logan Undefeated" the host called.
 

Logan walked out of a cloud of smoke and up the pathway leading to the ring, Charlie his manager, and trainer Jason followed him. He looked insanely hot in his red shorts, and red bound hands, his body was already glistening in a sheen of sweat. The audience chanted his name but he didn't looked phased, he walked out with his head down focusing on the path in front.
 

"We love you Logan!!" I spotted a group of scantily dressed girls yelling, they were holding up a hand made sign that said "Undefeated" with a chorus of hearts around it.
 

I looked around and saw that they weren't the only group of adoring girls. Logan was really popular, his name being chanted sounded more like roaring thunder. I watched Logan climb up into the ring. When he got in position at his corner, he fist-pumped the air to a chorus of cheers from his fans. Logan practised his footwork, putting up a few feigned dodges, just as the music changed.

From the heavy metal guitar solo, the crowd went quiet as the track transitioned into an electronica instrumental of 'The Final Countdown'. I found it comical, but as the light show played to the tune of the music, Orion's fans began chanting his name, just as he appeared at the entrance.

His silhouette made him look more imposing, the light show making his shadow shift in shape. The host called out, "And the challenger... two-time national champion, Julio 'Orion' Romero!"

The electronica soundtrack to Orion's entrance transformed into a dubstep track as the giant of a fighter began making his way towards the ring. I tried to estimate his height -- he was so tall -- as he cockily walked in, punching his fists together, making no note of his fans' screaming and shouting for him.

At first I thought Logan could beat anyone, but now that I saw Orion, I began second-guessing myself. All my fears for Logan's safety reemerged and multiplied, as I caught a glimpse of Orion's intense, brutal death stare.

I glanced over to Logan, who was discussing his game plan with Charlie and Jason. My eyes then tracked over to Orion, who needed no assistance from his team. He just kept that death stare on as he jogged on the spot.

The host introduced the referee, "Aaaaaaand the referee for tonight's epic match... Joe Cracker!" The referee was a short, stocky bald man in his late forties, wearing a black polo with the championship logo emblazoned over it.

He signed a cross before calling the fighters together.

"Fighters!" he called. "Gentlemen, you both know the rules, I want a good clean fight and I don't want anything less... let's get ready to rock and roll. You boys ready?"

Orion was the first to nod, making a slow, calculated swing of his head down.

Logan was his opposite, enthusiastically nodding as he paced on the spot, his wrapped hands at chest level. I watched the camera crew leave the cage, as both contenders took position on separate ends of the ring.

The clock timer began ticking down, signalling each round would be five minutes long. There would be three rounds to determine the national MMA champion.

I looked over to Reagan to catch his mood, wanting desperately to know if he was as confident in Logan Undefeated as his fans appeared to be. Reagan was smiling and cheering and fixing his attention to the cage, so at least that gave me some comfort.

As I glanced to the cage, I couldn't make out the words that Logan and Orion were trading up there over the noise of the music and the host's rapid-fire words, but it looked as if they were both engaging in some pre-match taunting.

When the bell rang, Logan immediately was on the offensive, laying punch after punch at Orion. Orion tried to dodge out of the way but Logan was too fast for him, scoring hit after hit to his upper chest and his face.

At one point, Orion tripped over and went down, opening the way for Logan to direct a brutal-looking kick to his upper arm. Logan's aggression did not stop one bit, as he kept kicking at Orion. The ref had to come in to pull Logan away.

"He's not going to be able to maintain that sort of intensity," Reagan murmured to me. "But starting as strong as he did, I think that'll be a good thing."

The ref exchanged some strong words to Logan as Orion got to his feet. His fans cheered him on, and when Orion signalled to the ref with a nod that he was ready, he didn't look at all particularly injured.

Logan jolted forward with a fist at the ready to strike at Orion again, but this time Orion caught his arm and pulled it behind his back, slamming him down to the floor and letting his other arm wrap around Logan's neck. He had him in a chokehold!

I watched with horror as Logan tried to force his way out of the choke hold in vain, his arms trying to grab at Orion from behind. Logan seemed to struggle, unable to force the momentum in his favour.

"Come on, Logan!" I stood up and shouted, taken by the charged atmosphere of the match.

His eyes appeared to meet mine, and in a single forceful gesture he shrugged Orion off, freeing himself and stepping back. Logan moved forward and Orion flinched before the inevitable strike back, but the timer bell rang, ending the first round.

Both contenders returned to their original positions. Logan conferred with Jason, who was wildly gesticulating, telling him where to lay his hits. I wanted desperately to be there with him.

But it seemed that he was thinking the same thing, because Logan looked over towards me, giving nothing but a brusque nod, although I felt instantly happier knowing that he was thinking about me.

The second round started in a flash, and this time it was Orion who started out strong, coming at Logan hard and fast and without protection. Logan backed away until he was against the perimeter of the cage as Orion used both kicks and punches to come at him.

"He has to watch out for the chokeholds, that's what Orion's famous for," Reagan told me.

"Logan! You can do it!" I shouted, hoping to be louder than the rest of his fans from my ringside seat. There were no hits registering on either fighter at this point, both ducking and dodging from every swing. Logan played a more careful game in the cage, feinting rather than outright attacking. This in turn made Orion slower, more calculated -- he didn't want to press his advantage, choosing instead to dominate most of the space in the ring.

Then Logan shoved Orion in the chest before kneeing him in his lower back. Orion fell down to the floor amid gasps of surprise. The ref immediately dove in, ready to intervene if Logan's temper got the best of him again, but Orion came up as easily as he fell, winking at Logan before performing a flurry of punches that Logan struggled to defend against.

The timer indicated that there were seconds left and as the shouts became more and more frenzied I hoped Logan could resist the rush of punches Orion was flinging at him. But everybody in the entire venue winced audibly as Logan's defences failed against one Orion punch straight to his right cheek.

Logan shoved Orion off him and hung his head as he used the next few seconds to rest, going on the defensive. I saw that the timer was about to hit zero -- Logan's face was bleeding profusely from that punch, and he stumbled forward to meet Orion, who seemed ready to knock Logan out.

Ding ding ding! The bell rang. I immediately exhaled in relief. Although neither fighter had been knocked out in the round, it seemed clear that Orion had won this one.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we appear to be tied," the host spoke, his booming voice echoing in the entire stadium. "The third and final round will determine the national champion! Will it be Logan Undefeated?" -- to cheers from one side -- "or Julio 'Orion' Romero?" My stepbrother's challenger lifted both hands cockily, already claiming his victory.

Over at Logan's side, I saw that both Charlie and Jason were frowning, with Logan refusing to wipe the blood off his face. He looked gnarly and beaten-up... literally. The bell for the start of the final round began and Logan shot up, rushing straight into the fight.

This time, Orion continued his tactic of pushing Logan against the perimeter of the cage. Logan was on the defensive, trying to shove and strike back against Orion, who ducked and body-slammed against Logan. I watched Logan grab onto Orion's legs and then, in a move very reminiscent of the sort of rough-house wrestling I had seen him do in school, he flung Orion off him.

Both fighters were now looking pretty bloody, with Logan red in his face from all the blood from last round's punch, while Orion had streaks of blood all over his thighs. I watched as Logan managed to take hold of the centre of the ring, pivoting to face Orion's jabs at him. Logan kept the distance between them, hoping to recover his breath while deterring Orion with an occasional left hook.

Then just as Orion did it -- he jolted forward, slamming again into Logan and catching him off balance. Logan pressed his back against the cage and lifted his fists to absorb Orion's new flurry of punches.

I knew this was it: Logan was struggling this round, and I began closing my eyes, praying for him. When I opened my eyes, I saw that they were both struggling on the ground, even in their attempt to achieve dominance over each other. Logan slammed his elbows against Orion's sides, rocking against him, while Orion curled up and pushed his palm into Logan's face.

His right cheek!
I screamed as I saw Logan flinch and fling himself back against the cage. Now Orion was laying body hit after body hit into Logan, knocking the wind out of the champion of my heart.

"Come on baby! You can win! Beat him! Come on, Logan!" I shouted at the top of my voice, screaming in support of Logan Undefeated... wanting desperately so he could hold on to his nickname... and win the national title.

Logan's head lifted seemingly at my encouragement, and then with all the effort he could muster, he grabbed Orion by his shoulders, spinning him and then slamming him to the floor. Logan sat on his rival, pinning him down, and then I saw the entire stadium rise up as we watched the ref slide in, calling an end to the round.

"That's the tap-out!" Reagan shouted, grabbing me and hugging me.

The celebration took another moment to fully arrive, as if nobody could believe that the newcomer had won today. The noise of everybody cheering and clapping and shouting began to zone out for me, and I even stopped paying attention to the cage -- in my elation, all I could see was the championship belt being handed over to my grinning stepbrother, looking gorgeous despite the streaming blood from his face, the host lifting his arm in victory to the words, "ladies and gentlemen, the new national MMA champion, the absolutely one-hundred percent undefeated... Logan Undefeated!"

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Logan's face was still covered in blood but he refused to do anything but go back to our hotel room. As we rode back I rested my head on Logan's chest listening to his heart beat, fast and full of adrenaline. He had been named the best fighter in the USA and he was 1 million dollars richer. Life was no longer the same, he'd have sponsors lined up, journalists wanting to know more about his life. I was in disbelief myself, tonight had been incredibly exhilarating. I knew I had to tell Logan the truth tonight, that I was pregnant with his child.

I'd called the hotel ahead of time and had them run a bath so when we arrived the tub was steaming and I insisted Logan get in.
 

"I couldn't have done it without you," Logan said as he soaked his beaten body.

"Nonsense, you're the Undefeated, with or without me babe."

"Only with you, without you I have nothing, you're the only thing I care about Willow, you were on my mind this whole time, for a moment I thought I wasn't going to make it but I looked out at you and I was filled with the strength to go on, I didn't want to let you down."

"Even if you had lost you wouldn't have let me down," I told him being completely truthful.

Each of our phone's were going off in the other room.

"Turn them off, I don't want to talk to anyone, I don't care about anyone, I just want to be here with you," he told me.

I did as he said, leaving the room to switch off the phone's. I went back to the bathroom to find Logan out of the tub.
 

"Easy," I said to him, he looked like he was in pain, "are you hurt?"

"It's not too bad Willow," he said wrapping the towel around him.