Page 91 of Sacrifice
My sweat streaks the canvas of the ring. My opponent, Victor, is sitting across from me, catching his breath, too. We’ve been training for hours and the one thing I’ve found out is this: my cardio isn’t what I thought it was. I forgot how long five minutes can feel.
Victor groans as he stands and slips between the ropes. He disappears into the locker room. He’s young, mid-twenties. His forte is striking and he’s damn good at it. I’m sure he thought what every striker thinks when they told him he was going in with a wrestler. Regardless, he left the ring having taken more blows than I did.
My entire body aches. Sal’s game plan for this fight is quick and hard—there’s no time to baby my body into peak performance. I gotta get it as good as I can in just a quarter of the time it normally takes to prepare for a fight. It’s not much, but it’s all I got to work with.
Sal comes up beside me and rests his hands on the top rope. “Not bad today, kid. Your body still has muscle memory, thank God.”
“As many years as I did this, it better.”
“I need ya to head to the camp tomorrow.”
I dip my head. Camp is an hour outside of the city, an acre of country that the gym owns. Most training-style camps are held there exclusively. There’s even a small dormitory set up so you don’t have to leave. It’s the perfect place to get in shape. No phones, trails to run, wood to chop, bales of hay to toss. Sal is very old school with his methods, but they work. “Be there around noon. We’ll be there ’til dark at least.” He shakes his head. “I wish we had more time.”
“Me fucking too.”
“Well, you’re the idiot that took this fight.”
My head whips around to face him. “Say what?”
“I have no idea what you’re thinking, Gentry. That shoulder of yours is shit. You know it and I know it. This is a suicide mission and I have to wonder if I’ve not lost my fucking marbles helping you do it.”
I scramble to my feet. “Look, you took this on just like I did.” I glare at him, asking him to challenge me.
“So you’re gonna risk everything? What if something happens to you out there, Gentry? Huh? What then? Have you thought about that?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“And you’re gonna risk it all?”
“I’ll sacrifice everything I am. I’ll do whatever it takes for them.” My body shakes with anger. “Now you can shut the fuck up and help me or not. Just let me know because I’m not gonna spend the next couple of months worrying about it.”
He places one hand on my shoulder. “All right, kid. We won’t discuss it again.”
“Good.”
“Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ll stay focused. Eyes on the prize. Keep your head clear.”
“I will.”
“No, I mean it, Crew. No distractions.”
* * *
CREW
I pullthe shirt over my head and glance down at my bed. The pillows are in place, the bed made. I smile, knowing a few hours before, I had Julia right there. I breathe in deeply, trying to catch a trace of her scent. It’s a unique smell, her body mixed with the vanilla body lotion she wears. It creates an overwhelming sensation of lust, mixed with something I only know as love, and I gotta get the hell out of here or I’ll spend all day here thinking back to last night.
Making my way down the hall and into the kitchen, I stop in the doorway and watch her. She’s on her tiptoes, reaching for something in the top of the cabinet. She’s too cute as she struggles to grasp the box just beyond her reach.
“Want me to get that?” I walk up behind her so that my chest is touching her back. I rise up slowly, aligning our bodies. The box becomes irrelevant, my brain only registering how close she is to me. How good she smells. How amazing she feels.
“Crew,” she breathes, looking at me over her shoulder. “Not here. Ever’s just in the bathtub.”
I laugh and step back. “Not here what? I was just getting you this.” I sidestep her and grab the box off the shelf. She whips it out of my hand and shakes her head.
