Page 22 of Further To Fall

It was all kind of a blur. I think I might have had a seizure. Four minutes into the first round, right after I had screamed at Austin to “knock him the fuck out,” he did just that with a beautiful uppercut to the jaw. Meanie went down like a ton of bricks, and I lost my mind. I started jumping up and down, threw myself at Liam and then at Ford, probably hugged some strangers, too. Who knows.

EMTs rushed to help the dazed fighter to his feet, and Mel rubbed a clear ointment over a cut on Austin’s brow. Once the medics looked Meanie over, both fighters were once again ushered into the center of the cage. The ref grabbed each of their hands and raised Austin’s over his head. The crowd drowned out anything the ref had said.

As Austin’s hand reached the sky, our eyes met. My screams silenced, and I just beamed at him. He had worked so hard for this, truly paying for it with his own blood, sweat, and tears. I knew that with winning this fight, he would get the attention of the big suits at the UFL, and his dream of fighting at the top of the international stage would be just around the corner. I was so freaking proud of him.

I felt a nudge at my side and looked over at Liam. “Come on, let’s go backstage before things get too crazy out here. We can grab a drink while we wait for Austin to shower and talk to Mel.”

“Sounds good to me.” My cheeks were hurting from smiling so hard, and my voice was raw, but I couldn’t have been happier.

11

Austin

As Mel stretched tape across my brutalized ribs, my teeth clanged together, and my jaw clenched. The pain was no joke, but I was used to it by now. “Are you sure you don’t need an x-ray, boy?”

I tried to relax my jaw. “I’m sure, old man. They’re just bruised.”

“Watch who you’re callingold. I could still whoop your ass.”

I chuckled under my breath and then winced as the action jarred my ribcage. “I know you could, Mel.”

Just as Mel fixed the final piece of tape to my ribs, the locker room door swung open, and Liam entered. “Congrats, man, that was epic! First round KO! You know the UFL is paying attention now.”

I slapped his hand in a man-shake. “Thanks, man. Where’s Carter?”

“She’s waiting outside with Ford. I wanted to make sure you were decent. Don’t need her innocent eyes being scarred for life after seeing your naked ass. I’ll go grab them.”

I grunted and shook my head. “Wait, was that her cursing up a storm during my fight? I normally can’t hear a thing when I’m in the zone, but I swear I heard her voice telling me to ‘just knock him the fuck out already.’”

Liam had to brace himself on the lockers, he was laughing so hard. I think there were tears in his eyes. “Yes, it was her. Apparently, Carter turns into a hellcat when you’re fighting.”

I gingerly pulled on my t-shirt. “I’ve never heard her curse before.”

Liam wiped at the corner of his eyes. “I know, man. I’ve never seen her do anything like that in all the twenty-two years I’ve known her. I honestly thought she’d want to leave after she saw you get hit the first time, but that just unleashed the beast.”

I bit the side of my cheek to spare my ribs from laughter. “That girl is something else.”

Liam turned around to pull the locker room door open. “That she is. Just be careful with her, okay?” he said over his shoulder.

My brow furrowed, but before I could respond, Carter burst through the cracked door. “Oh my gosh, you were amazing! Congratulations!” She threw her arms around my neck, and I cringed when her body made contact with my ribs. She froze and immediately pulled back. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Her brows were so tightly knit, they looked painful.

I reached out and rubbed the space between her eyes with my thumb. “Calm down, Firecracker. I’m fine, just some tender ribs.”

She knocked my hand away from her face, lifted my shirt, and gasped. “Austin, that looks awful. I think we need to take you to the hospital.”

I pulled her hand away and let my shirt fall back down, “It’s fine, Carter, I promise. They’re just bruised. I know how broken ribs feel, and these aren’t that bad.”

She scowled, and it was so fucking cute I wanted to squeeze her. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

I pulled her to my side, fighting to ignore the bite of pain, and put my arm around her shoulders. “Come on, what I really want to do is go eat a shit ton of In-N-Out.”

Carter’s face brightened, and then she looked dubious. “You? Mr. No Flavor Chicken-n-Veggies wants to go to In-N-Out, kingdom of all things fatty and delicious?”

I ruffled her hair. “Yes, smartass. This is my cheat meal, so let’s do it up big.”

She clapped her hands together. “Yes! Finally, a real meal! Come on, boys, we have cheeseburgers calling our names!”

Ford rubbed his stomach. “You don’t have to tell me twice. Let’s get out of here. Are you done with everything, A?”

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