Page 12 of Going the Distance

He finally looked at me. “So, you two are actually serious? Like, you’ll be at family Christmas and put a ring on her finger and the whole nine?”

I nodded. “If she’d let me, I’d marry her tomorrow. We’ve known each other for what? Fifteen or sixteen years? Doesn’t take long to get serious when you have the history we do.”

His jaw was still tight, but he nodded. “Two things. Don’t break her heart or they will never find your body. And if I catch the two of you naked in my house again, then everybody gets chastity belts.”

I laughed. “Well, maybe I should ask her to move in with me then.”

He smiled. “I think she’d like that, just don’t ask me to help move any furniture.” We were far from being back to normal. Things were still fragile and awkward between us. We’d get there though. We were best friends and we both loved Dani. The important thing was supporting her through her big fight.

The announcer came on, calling the next bout. This was it. This was Dani’s big moment. This wasn’t as big of an event as seen on television, but still, the fighters walked out to the ring to the music of their choice with their coach. Nate was walking with Dani, and she was strutting like she owned the place. Every muscle on her body shined with sweat. Her long, gorgeous hair was pulled tight into a series of braids over her scalp, and she had a mouthguard over her teeth.

Josh leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and I did the same. I’d be right where Nate was if I could, but the rules didn’t allow for that. Each fighter’s stats were read out, and the twowomen circled the ring, jumping or moving their feet to keep the blood pumping. I had never been so nervous in my life.

Chapter 17

Dani

I’d met my opponent, Nova, for the first time at the weigh-ins. She was only nineteen, and this was her second career fight. She was tough and had been training for a long time. I separated what I knew of her as a person from what I had to do. Would I go to lunch with her and hang out? Absolutely. Would I kick her ass right now with no remorse? Oh, hell yeah.

I’d done the work, ignored the bullies, and now here I was. All the lights in the place were on me and my opponent. In a sports bra and shorts, there was nowhere to hide. It was teenage Dani’s worst nightmare and grown-up Dani’s greatest triumph. I concentrated on breathing steadily. In through my nose and out through my mouth to avoid losing my lunch all over the floor of the ring.

Blood rushed through my ears so fast that I barely heard the bell ring. But when Nova started to move, so did I. She moved towards me, throwing front jabs, forcing me to back away. The crowd was dark, the lights were bright, and even though I should be totally in my element, I felt lost and uncoordinated. My opponent didn’t have that problem, dancing back to throw a kick at the side of my head. I dodged it by sheer luck. My heart started to pound a little harder. So much had led up to this moment, and I felt like I was fucking it all up. One of her punches landed squarely on my cheek, and I shook my head, ignoring the pain.That was going to be one hell of a shiner tomorrow, but I wouldn’t worry about that now.

“This is your fight, Dani, get out of defense mode.” I heard Nate’s voice from the side of the ring, and I let it connect me to all the training we’d done together. Rather than retreat from her next strike, I danced to the side, striking out with jabs of my own. They didn’t land, but the tempo of the fight had changed. We worked around each other, feeling each other out for the rest of the first round. Each of us landed a few hits.

The second round started, and she immediately took it to the ground. MMA allowed for standing, striking, and jiu-jitsu submissions as well. Striking involved short bursts of power, but fighting for dominance on the ground was exhausting, involving extended periods of straining muscles and restricted breathing. A lot of the audience who had never done jiu-jitsu before found it boring. From the outside, it could look like we were lying around, but that was far from the truth. By the end of the second round, I was exhausted to a level I hadn’t felt before, and my confidence in my ability to win was waning.

The fight was only three rounds. If neither of us had a knockout, technical knockout, or submission win, then the judges got to decide who won based on a variety of factors. I had no idea who would win if we got to that point. The lights were down over the audience and bright over the ring, so I couldn’t see much when I was fighting, but as I sat in the corner between rounds, Nate was rapid-fire pep-talking me and dumping water into my mouth I glanced to the side. Brock and Josh were sitting together a few rows back. This wasn’t a big fancy event. There weren’t celebrities ringside or billionaires enjoying a night out. Seeing my boyfriend and my brother was worth more than a sighting of any movie star. They were both here, supporting me, and they were together.

The third round started, and we circled each other again. She looked as tired as I was but determined, too. She took the fight to the ground again, and half the round ticked by as we struggled for dominance, trying every arm bar, choke out, and knee bar maneuver I knew. We were pretty evenly matched. I gave my training everything I had, and it still might not be enough to beat an opponent almost ten years younger than I was. With thirty seconds left in the match, we were back on our feet. The crowd started to get louder, but still, I heard Nate. “Leave it all in the ring. Final push.”

I was sure her corner was telling her to do the same thing, and we both started swinging. I took a punch to the cheekbone, and pain exploded through my head. I ignored it, even as a few stars clouded my vision. I returned the favor with a kick to the side of her head. The clock ticked down, and we both punched and kicked with abandon. Some landed, and some didn’t. Blood splattered the floor of the ring. I could feel it running from my nose and down the side of my face. At this point, I didn’t even care if I won or not, all I cared about was that I gave this fight every last drop of my strength. I wouldn’t regret a loss. I would regret holding back. The bell was ringing, or maybe I’d just taken too many shots to the head.The referee ran between us just as I landed one last shot to her ribs. Nate was running into the middle of the ring.

That was it. I went three rounds in my first amateur fight. Now, it was up to the judges to decide who won. I pushed past Nate and approached Nova. Her face looked like she had been hit by a frying pan, and I was sure mine looked the same. “You are a hell of a fighter. Good luck.” I extended my hand, and she shook it.

“Good luck, Dani, we put on a hell of a show.”

The decision was in. I walked to the middle of the ring and let the referee take one of my hands. I was shaking, my breathstill coming in short gasps. Nerves, fatigue, adrenaline, all of the above contributed to feeling like I was going to faint.

“After three rounds the judges have made their decision.”

The announcer’s voice barely registered. The degree to which I didn’t care if I won or not was surprising. I’d done it. I’d fucking done it. I’d trained and suffered and sweated and bled and put on a hell of a show. I’d met my goal. I’d faced my fears and put myself in the spotlight, working through the nasty remarks and doing my thing anyway.

Would I ever do this again? Probably. The lows were low, but damn were the highs even higher. I’d faced the obstacles, both mental and physical, to get here. Bullies, boring meals, cardio at five in the morning, and getting punched in the fucking face, but I had done it. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even hear my name being called, so when the referee lifted my hand in victory, I didn’t react. Nova pulled me into a hug, congratulating me, and then Nate, Josh, and Brock were all in the ring.

I ended up on Nate’s shoulders, dripping blood onto his shirt. Josh was on one side, and Brock on the other, cheering and smiling up at me as I’d just won the most prestigious championship in the world rather than a local bout. Brock grabbed my hands and pulled me from Nate’s shoulders and into his arms. I was absolutely disgusting. Covered in blood that may or may not be my own. I was sweating like crazy, but still, he kissed me, holding me to his chest like I was something to be cherished rather than someone who just took and gave an ass-kicking for fifteen minutes straight. “I love you, Dani. You are simply amazing.”

I smiled at him. My teeth hurt despite the mouth guard. My cheek hurt. I knew my legs and ribs would be a patchwork of bruises for the next few weeks. Still, I’d won. In more ways than one.

Epilogue - 1 Month Later

Brock

“This is hard to say.” I blew out a breath. “Things can’t keep going on the way they have been. It just isn’t working anymore.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

Dani appeared by my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Brock, this is adorable and all, but just tell the cat that I’m moving in, and it won’t just be the two of you. Sarg will understand.” She gave the big cat a scratch behind the ears and got back to unpacking her boxes. Sarg’s eyes were drifting shut, and I left him to his nap. It had been a month since Dani’s big fight, and her bruises were finally all healed. It had been hard sitting in the audience and watching her taking hits. Some weird caveman part of me had wanted to jump into the ring and protect her. Although logically, I knew her opponent would have kicked my ass. Skill beats out size, and although I might have the latter, I did not have the former. At least not to the level that Dani and Nova did.

I knelt down to start unpacking a box of Dani’s books. My leg didn’t protest the move. I’d passed my fitness test and been back on active duty for two weeks now. The door opened and Josh walked in carrying a suitcase full of Dani’s clothes. “For someone who only wears sweats, you sure have a lot of shit.”

Dani’s head peaked out around the door of the bedroom. Our bedroom. “A girl needs options.”

He rolled his eyes and headed back down to the truck for another load of boxes.

My first shift back had been a little awkward, and Josh still looked away when Dani and I kissed, but other than that, life was back to normal. A new normal. Where I had my best friend, my job, and the girl I’ve always dreamed about.

One day soon, I’d get down on one knee, not to unpack a box but to put a ring on Dani’s finger. I didn’t know what the future would hold. Would she want to keep fighting? Would we decide to have kids? Buy a house instead of renting an apartment? We would figure it all out together. We were two halves finally brought together. Family that didn’t share blood. Whether our future included a twenty-four-seven grind, vacations on the beach, kids or cats, or none of the above, I didn’t care. Right now, all that mattered was that tonight and every night after, I’d go to sleep with her in my arms and wake up to her face.

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