Page 39 of The Wayward Son

“Even better. Just one shot though, for me. I still need to drive home.”

Sawyer retrieved the bottle of tequila and glasses which were actual shot glasses left there by J.T. Then he got two beers from the refrigerator. He poured the two shots and handed one of them and a beer to J.T.

J.T. held his up. “Welcome back. I missed you.”

“Thanks. I think I might be here a while.”

J.T. smiled, then drank his shot. “That’s good news. What does that mean, exactly?”

“I’m supposed to give Keith an answer by the end of the month. There’s been a lot of interest in me since the fight.”

“Do you know what that answer is going to be?”

Sawyer drank some beer. “Um…maybe. I think I’m ready to call it quits.”

J.T. raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I think. I’ve been back and forth on it for the last year. It seemed like such a hard decision. But now, it’s suddenly clear what I need to do. With just a nagging doubt or two.”

J.T. took out his phone. “I need to call Joey.”

“Why?”

“You look like you want to talk this out. And I have a feeling that might involve another shot or two of tequila. I’ll crash here on your couch tonight.”

Sawyer nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

After a second shot of tequila, Sawyer and J.T. moved to the living room. He sat on the couch while J.T. took the chair.

J.T. set his beer on the floor and rested his forearms on his knees. “Okay, so tell me what’s going through your mind.”

“The fight Saturday. Well, look at me. I’m not sure this is what I want to do anymore. It wasn’t fun. It was brutal and…not fun. Despite how I look, I held my own, and I handed Tornado Joe his ass. He was previously undefeated.”

J.T. smiled. “Not anymore.”

“I love to get in the ring. I love to fight. But something changed Saturday night. I don’t want to do it for recognition or money. That takes all the fun out of it. Saturday was about getting noticed, and proving I could go the distance. I accomplished both of those things. But it wasn’t the same. I know I can do it. I just don’t know if I want to.”

J.T. picked up his bottle and took a drink of beer. “Can you stay an amateur?”

“I could. But I’d still have to move somewhere. There’s no one left in the northwest who wants to fight me. If I wanted to stay an amateur and fight for the fun of it, I’d need to move south.”

He leaned back in the chair. “You’ve got to follow your heart, man. If going pro means turning into a boxing machine that everyone wants a piece of, I don’t think that will make you happy.”

Sawyer shook his head. “It won’t. And best-case scenario, I have maybe ten more years of being in my prime.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve made up your mind.”

“I didn’t think I had. But yeah. It does now. Once I stop enjoying it, then what’s the point?”

“I guess the next question is, can you be happy here full time? Are you ready to be a rancher?”

“Well, I am a rancher’s son.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

Sawyer drank some more beer. “Yeah. I can be happy here full time. The last two years it’s gotten harder and harder to be away. Believe it or not, I miss you. And I miss our annoying sister.”

“Well, we miss you too.”

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