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Which was when Derek lunged. I turned, throwing a hit as hard as I could at his face. Pain flared across my knuckles, but he didn't stop. Austin moved a second later. I felt an impact on my shoulder. That spun me partway, which let Austin crash his fist into my gut.
The air rushed out of my mouth, taking a bit of spit with it, but I wouldn't give up. I was a fucking bull rider. The beasts I rode for fun made these guys look like nothing. I could take it, I just had to keep going, keep moving, and get my ass out of thefucking room!
But I'd never learned how to fight. Real men didn't hit women. That was what I'd been told, often in the most condescending voice possible. My only advantage was that I could use both arms, but a weak hit was still weak. That didn't stop me from trying.
I swung with my left at Austin. My right came next, aimed for Derek. Both missed, but their hits didn't. Pain exploded on my cheek, making sparks erupt in that eye. A fist hit my neck on the opposite side. I knew I was losing, but I couldn't quit now. I couldn't stop.
Instead, I screamed. There were no words with it. I just roared like some insane banshee, praying someone would hear me. I swung. I kicked. I did my best to jig and dance, but the hits kept landing. My ribs. My chest. My chin. I heard my teeth clank together, stunning me for a second.
Then my diaphragm. This time, it didn't just force the air out of me. That hit was hard enough to prevent it from coming back in. My body doubled over and I couldn't stop it. Another fist landed on the back of my head.
My knees buckled.
I barely had time to get my arms up in front of my face before the kicks started. One of them stomped. The other tried to punt me across the room like a soccer ball. My entire world shrank down to moments of pain and the desperate need for air. I could feel dampness in my hair. The point of my hip hurt like it might not work. The places that hurt were quickly starting to outnumber the ones that didn't, and between my fingers, all I could see was Austin rearing back for the hardest kick yet.
Time slowed.
I noticed the orange stitching on his boots. The dirt stain on his jeans stood out. The ridge in his pants proved this was a sick turn-on for him, and I hated him even more for it. The man was getting off on beating the shit out of me, and I couldn't stop it.
But I also saw the man turning the corner, rushing into the room.
This was not the Tanner I knew. This wasn't the man who danced with bulls, teasing them for being unable to touch him. This man, the one headed straight for Austin, reminded me of something much darker and more dangerous.
He threw a punch into the back of Derek's head, then grabbed Austin's arm, whipping him around - straight towards the cinder block wall. Austin barely caught himself, getting his hands up in time to bounce off, and Derek spun to face their new attacker. Tanner's lips just curled into a less than sane smile.
He punched. He kicked. When Derek slammed his fist into the side of Tanner's face, I swore my boyfriend didn't even notice. It was like he'd disconnected from reality, and I finally began to understand what people meant when they said that bullfighters were a little bit crazy.
I also wouldn't let him handle this on his own. Moving hurt, but I'd been through this dozens of times in the arena. Shoving both hands to the floor, I pushed myself up, making my body stop complaining and just obey.
Austin pushed Tanner at the wall. He hit, his head bouncing against the hard surface, but Tanner didn't slow down at all. One foot kicked out, pushing Austin back, and I was there to put a fist into his lower back.
The pain made him cry out. Next came a foot, and I hit the back of his knee by pure accident. It still worked. While Austin dropped a knee to the floor, Derek had to face Tanner alone. A punch was thrown, a duck avoided it. They moved, looking like some kind of uncoordinated kung fu movie, but the grunts and snarls were getting louder.
"Hit him again, Cody!" Tanner ordered.
My eyes jumped back to Austin, and I tried. Much too easily, he caught my arm, stopping the swing. I pushed, hoping to make him let go. Then I pulled, struggling to get my arm free. Austin just held on, using his grip to throw me to the floor before him.
I rolled, catching a glimpse of Tanner holding the back of Derek's head as he punched the man in the nose over and over again. But when Austin roared before his next attack, Tanner dropped the man he was beating senseless and shoved his way between me and Austin.
What came next wasn't pretty. I also wasn't sure exactly how Tanner had learned to fight like this, but he did. Grabbing Austin by the throat, he shoved my attacker back, punched him in the face, and then slammed his head into the wall. When Austin didn't drop, Tanner did it again, this time straight on.
I heard something crack. I watched as Austin's body went limp. I could see the bloodstain left on the cinder blocks. All of that happened as I tried to get back up a second time, but it wasn't working. My world was spinning. A few too many hits to the head had me dazed, but the horror before me continued on like a slideshow.
With Austin unconscious on the floor, Tanner's entire focus was now on Derek. "You don't touch her!" he bellowed. "I will fucking kill you." Each sentence was punctuated with another hit to Derek's face.
The bull rider wasn't fighting back anymore. I wasn't sure he was really conscious, but he wasn't out either. Caught in that middle state where his body knew escape was the best option, Derek's hands tried to slap at Tanner, hitting him no harder than wet toilet paper, and Tanner's punches weren't slowing down.
Then a massive Black man shoved his way into the room, grabbing Tanner around the chest, trapping his arms in the process. Wait, that was Anthony!
"Quit!" Anthony yelled.
Tanner didn't care. He was fighting, and he wasn't about to stop. Tossing his head back, he tried to crack his skull into Anthony's face, but the physiotherapist dodged it. Caught in his bear hug, Tanner was still writhing, fighting to get himself free, but he didn't stand a chance against the much larger man's strength.
"Cody needs you!" Anthony hissed. "Tanner, stop. Breathe, man. Cody's hurt and she needs you. These two are out and I'm on your side."
"What?" Tanner asked, his body finally relaxing. "Cody?"
"Tanner?" I gasped.
