AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His scared eyes hold mine for a full minute, but eventually, he makes a decision. The right decision. His eyes clear of worry, and instead fill with the power of confidence. His spine locks in straight and his gloved hands rise to cover his face.
There he is.
The referee calls the boys to the center of the ring and grabs a glove in each hand. “I want you to defend yourselves at all times. You know the rules. Make it a clean fight. Tap gloves, then go back to your corners.”
With a loud bump echoing through the almost silent room, the competitors part and Jack turns back to us with the steely confidence I always knew he had.
He’s already won, he just doesn’t know it yet.
I turn to Kit and find her biting her nails nervously. I promise myself to give her a hug and make it all better in no more than ten minutes from now. Twenty, after Jack finishes his shower.
The bell dings at my back, and when I swing my eyes back to the ring, I watch the boys gingerly step forward. Neither of them wants to make first contact. If only they knew the surge of power you feel once you do.
One time is all it takes, and a fighter is hooked for life.
“Jab, Jack!” Jimmy cups his mouth and shouts to be heard over the now noisy crowd. “Jab, leg, leg!”
Some fighters, when in the ring, can hear everything going on around them. Time will slow down and they’re able to listen and think and plan. Other fighters get tunnel vision and hear nothing, they simply throw whatever combo they can and hope they win on points. Both approaches have advantages, but I wantmyfighters to be able to concentrate. To think. To control the round and make shit happen.
I’m fucking ecstatic when Jack throws a jab and lands it on his opponent’s jaw. He’s listening. He’s thinking. He follows it up with a lightning fast kick to the outside thigh that his opponent had no chance of checking. The kid buckles almost instantly, though he drags his leg around as they circle.
Jackcouldhave kept hammering that leg and ended the fight, but being new, I don’t blame him for not knowing to go for the metaphorical kill so soon. We’ll revisit that next week at the gym.
The boys move in and circle, and though the other kid tries to throw his own jabs, Jack parries them easily and returns with rib shots each time they go unguarded.
“Good, Jack! Keep it up. Teep, get your distance, strike!”
Each fight consists of three rounds of three minutes each, so at the end of the first round, the bell dings and Jack stumbles drunkenly toward us with a goofy smile.
“You’re doing so good!” I take his mouthguard and replace it with water. “How do you feel?”
“I feel great! It doesn’t hurt at all!” His adrenaline has him shouting loud enough even the folks in the back will hear him. I laugh and pat his shoulder. Jim and I know he doesn’t feel it now, but he’ll feel it tomorrow when he comes down from the excitement.
“Okay, you’re doing great.” I squirt more water into his mouth. “I want you to concentrate on his legs in this round. Take them out. Finish the fight. Don’t back off unless you have to. Don’t give him time to catch his breath. Got it?”
The boys are called back for round two, so I shove his mouthguard back in as he nods and acknowledges my instructions.
Legs. Legs. Legs. Smash the legs and win.
I look to Kit as Jack spins and resets his stance. I want to see how she’s holding up. I want to look into her beautiful eyes and watch her smile with pride for her little brother, but she does neither. There’s no smile, and there’s no pride.
She looks fucking pissed.
She glares and looks directly into my eyes, though that still doesn’t stop me from looking over my shoulder in case she’s killing someone else with her gaze.
What the hell did I do wrong? What did I miss?
I tilt my head to the side and mouth the words, ‘are you okay?’ but catching herself, she rearranges her features and gives me a small smile; worst liar ever. Aiden and Jon sit on either side of her, as in, Casey was picked up and fucking moved so my brothers could guard my girl.
What the hell is going on?
I want to run to her, I want to demand answers, but the bell snaps me back to Jack as he approaches his opponent.
Kit’s safe. My brothers have her back, so I force my attention back to the fight. I made a promise to Jack, and despite my gut pulling me in two different directions, I don’t intend to break my promise.
Jack follows my instructions perfectly and takes the legs again and again. Each time he hits the exact same spot, the other kid buckles and grunts with pain. Every few kicks, Jack throws a jab and draws his opponent’s attention away from the leg, and then he hammers the leg anew.
He’s a fucking powerhouse. He’s already won by points, I know that for a damn fact, so as long as he doesn’t get knocked out, the fight is his.
