Page 75 of Strelitzias in Spring

And how he waits, begging for blood

“Ye’d think, after all this time, ye’d be sick of this song,” Jedd murmurs. He’s always a pain in the ass, but the emotion behind this being our final pre-fight ritual is hitting both of us hard. While I’m happy as fuck to stop the physical abuse to my body, I’ll miss seeing my coach regularly. Though, if I know Jedd, he will guilt me into coming back to the gym frequently.

“You going to start crying, old man?”

“Oh, feck off, pissant.” Jedd cuts off the end of the wrap, securing it to my hand. Holding up the roll, he shows me that it’s nearly finished. “Ye got any more in that bag?”

“Shit, no. I thought I had enough.”

“Fecker. I’ll swipe from Gage.” Jedd ambles out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. I spoke with Serena again this afternoon and confirmed that she would be in the crowd with my cousin, Ava, and the rest of my family. She seemed calmer about it than she did earlier in the week, but based on the conversations we’ve had over the last couple of weeks, I know that she gets anxious easily.

The door to the room opens, and I look up, expecting to see Jedd striding over to me with a roll of tape in his hand. Instead, Kelly enters the room.

“Kelly, what the fuck are you doing here?” I look at the clock above the door and note the time—Gage should be entering the cage soon, and she has no reason to be in my room when she’s with him.

“I wanted to wish you luck,” she offers with a sultry smile. Six months ago, my cock would have gotten hard at the promise in her voice and what she’s so obviously offering. Now, I feel nothing except pity and disgust.

“Where’s your boyfriend?”

She shakes her head, and I know before she even says the words what’s about to come out of her mouth. “We broke up. I realized I made a mistake, Wolfie.” Her voice takes on a whiny tone, one that grates on every sensibility I have.

Looking to the ceiling, I step back as Kelly approaches, moving as far away from her as fast as I can. “Kelly, go back to Gage.”

“But—”

“No,” I cut her off. “Go back to Gage. There’s nothing left here. Just fucking go.”

“I love you. Please, just let’s try.”

“Kelly,” I lower my voice, gentling it as much as I can despite my irritation. “You left me for another man. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. But me? I’m happy. So please, go back to Gage, or don’t. Be by yourself, find happiness, or find it with someone else. But leave me alone. I’m done.”

“Okay, ye overgrown horse’s arse, let’s feckin’ get this on—oh, Kelly—” Jedd stops short, looking from me to Kelly, then back to me. “Gage is almost up. Shouldn’t ye be over there?”

She grinds her teeth, an angry habit I became familiar with during our relationship, before nodding to Jedd and walking out of the room. We both watch her go, not speaking until she’s cleared the door, and it clicks silently behind her.

“The feck she want?”

“Nothing. Let’s get this wrap on.” Jedd eyes me, suspicion on his face, but he doesn’t say anything. Wrapping my remaining hand with a speed and dexterity that belies his experience. When he finishes and snaps off the remaining piece, I nod, silently thanking him.

“Alright, I won’t give ye any pointers since ye won’t follow them anyway. So, get the job done, McCleery.”

Clapping him on the back, I tug on my black sweatshirt with a large, embossed wolf head and zip it before tossing the hood up. I had the sweatshirt custom-made when I first started fighting, and I’ve worn it for every entrance since. Jedd disappears behind the door for a minute, giving me a semblance of privacy, before he reemerges with three of the other guys on my team. Gage’s fight must be finished already if they’re all back here, except that doesn’t explain why Jedd never left my side.

“Did you watch Gage’s fight?” As a coach, Jedd typically stays with each fighter on the side of the cage, yelling out encouragement, observations, and instructions. It just hit me that he didn’t perform that task with Gage.

“No. Caleb handled it.”

My eyes narrow on my trainer and friend. “Why?”

“Because the fecker is switching gyms, and he’s a gobshite, that’s why.”

“Oh fuck. He’s going to another gym?”

“Feckin’ eejit.” I can’t disagree; Gage is a goddamn fool for leaving Jedd, especially since there have been whispers about more endorsements coming his way based on his performance. To have any real shot, he needs Jedd, not just because of skill but also because of the discipline Jedd mandates of all his fighters. Shaking my head, I expel all outside thoughts: Kelly, Gage, and even Serena, and focus on what matters right now: getting out of the cage with as minimal pain as possible and closing this chapter of my life.

Serena:

“I’m so nervous, I think I’m going to throw up,” Ava shouts, causing an infinite amount of heads to swivel in our direction. We’ve been here for two hours, watching men from all different weight classes pummel each other until the main event.

---