Page 114 of Choke Hold

Nadia nods. “That’s good you get to go early. More time to celebrate afterwards.”

I hold up a hand for her to high-five which she does with a laugh. “That’s what I’m fucking talking about,” I say, feeling an immense amount of pride for my little sister.

Mia chuckles. “And what do you do now, until fight time?”

“We’ll head back to the dressing room and chill for a bit, until we need to warm up and hype up,” I say as I shadow box the air and feint a punch on Nadia, and she swats it away with a roll of her eyes. “I got a sick playlist ready to go for warm up.”

Ty sighs. “Great,” he mutters.

I shoot him a look. “Oh, fuck off. ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ is an amazing fucking hype song, and you know it.”

Nadia and Mia laugh, and I just shake my head as I turn my attention back to them. “I have to teach him everything.”

“We’ll let you get back to the teaching then,” Mia says with another chuckle, but then hesitates, giving me a cautious look.

“What?” I ask.

She lets out a small sigh. “I just… I know how important this is to you, so I want to know you’re ok… because…” she trails off, and I smile at her.

“Because Mom and Dad aren’t here and haven’t said a thing to me about it?” I ask, and Mia nods sadly. But I just keep smiling. “It’s fine, Mia. I knew I wouldn’t hear from them about this. I actually consider the silence a huge win. This is the most supportive they’ve been about MMA so far.” I shrug. “Maybe they’ll come around to it at some point, but I’m fine if they don’t.”

Nadia smiles and Mia reaches out to squeeze my hand.

“Well, we’re happy we can be here,” Mia says. “And I’m so glad we were able to see you before the fight. I can’t wait to watch you both kick ass.”

Nadia looks between me and Ty and gestures to the cage with a sly smile. “Don’t get too fucked up in there.”

Ty chuckles lightly and smiles at her. “Only the other guy.”

“That’s the spirit,” she says with a chuckle as she nudges him with her elbow.

Mia pulls me into another hug, holding tight. “Good luck,” she says, then releases me and moves to Ty, wrapping her arms around him as well. “Love you both, and we’ll see you after.”

Ty’s eyes widen slightly and slide to me, but I just smile at him. He finally gets to experience love from family. And it’s both heartwarming and hilariously awkward at the same time.

Once Mia and Nadia have left, Ty and I head back to the dressing rooms to begin our pre-fight routines. Ty goes into broody, focused mode, sitting in the corner with his hood up, all alone with his thoughts, while I get my headphones on and blast some tunes to get myself hyped up. Everyone is in the zone, doing what they need to do to stay focused and bring their best damn fight into that cage tonight. And I have no doubt that every one of us is going to do just that. Fairburn MMA is the best fucking fight team here.

And as my time creeps closer and I finish my warm-up, I take a moment to listen to the distant cheers from the crowd outside the room as they watch the fight before mine. Each wave of cheers sends a ripple of excitement and anticipation through me, and I let the adrenaline build, ready to let it all out in the cage.

I rub my hands together and let out a breath, turning to meet Ty’s eyes as he watches me from under his hood.

I hold his gaze for a moment, until his eyes slowly fall down my body, landing on my feet.

“I don’t want to take them off,” I say.

He cocks an eyebrow at me. “You have to.”

“I know.” I sigh and reach down to my feet, pulling my magical unicorn socks off. I toss them aside with another sigh, then turn back to Ty. “Ok, gimmie a peek.”

“Why?” he asks.

I tilt my head and give him a look. “We’ve been through this. Just fucking show me.”

He shakes his head with a sigh, pulling his hoodie up and his shorts down, just enough to show me the waistband of his tiger boxers. And my heart does a little flutter.

“Perfection,” I breathe out.

“Luca.”

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