Page 36 of Falling for the Forbidden Fighter
He meets my eyes, and I smile.
“I don’t suppose I could convince you to throw in the towel?” I say.
Louis spits blood into the bucket. “Not a chance.”
“Then get out there and knock his ass out.”
The bell drives him from my arms.
Both men have slowed down now, almost as if they’d agreed to catch their breath. A few jabs here and there. They clench, and the crowd boos.
“Shit,” my dad sighs. “If they keep up like this, Ruiz wins by decision. I didn’t think Louis was this tired…”
Everyone is watching their faces, their arms.
Not me. I’m watching Louis’s legs.
Every step he takes is firm, rooted. The muscles flex, still ready to work, while everything else looks exhausted.
“He’s not tired,” I say quietly. “He’s playing him.”
Just as the crowd starts to boo another clench, Louis explodes out of it, firing on all cylinders and backing Ruiz into the corner. I can hear the hiss of his breath from here, followed each time by the heavy impact against Ruiz’s body and face.
I feel the arena get on its feet.
He’s landing punch after punch, faster than my heart can beat.
Ruiz is defenseless, completely overwhelmed by this sudden burst of power and speed.
Two to the body.
Another strong uppercut.
Hooks back to back, making Ruiz stumble and nearly drop.
But the bell saves him, and Louis is forced back by the ref. I watch Ruiz stumble back to the stool. He’s so dazed I’m surprised he’s standing. Another ten seconds and that might have been it.
Dad roars, cursing and throwing his hands up to the crowd’s delight. It’s not him who kneels in front of Louis, it’s Ricky.
My brother is alive, fired up as if he’s the one out there delivering the pain.
“That’s what I’m talking about! He’s done. You have him!”
He grabs Louis by the back of the neck.
There’s nothing for me to do but squeeze a cold tower over Louis’s head. Dad looks at me and shrugs, smiling and letting Ricky handle it from here.
“I was wrong, Louis,” Ricky says. Even now, his eye is still a little warped from Louis’s right hook three weeks ago. “You hear me? I was dead fucking wrong. You’re not a chump. You’re not a loser. You’ve gotit.You’ve got it like I never did. And you’re gonna win. Remember the first round? How you came out too strong? I want that again, right now. I want you to be out of this stool before the bell. I want you to close the distance and throw punches until he’s on the mat. You hear me?! I better not see him get a chance to extend his fucking arm to make use of that reach. This doesn’t go to a decision. IT. ENDS. HERE! Two rounds! Two rounds to put him on the mat. Fight like it’s the last time!”
Louis roars something through his mouth guard that none of us understands. He’s standing there, waiting for his opponent before the bell rings.
The fight doesn’t go to a decision.
Louis doesn’t end it in two rounds.
He ends it in one.
Ruiz submits to a storm of blows that look like they’ll never end. For he faced a man who would never fight again, never put those gloves on and sacrifice his body for the purse.
