Page 56 of Rematch
“Get the fuck out of my way,” I told him. I should’ve just shoved him out the way, but he’s been doing good work for me lately. The least he deserved was a warning before I put him on his ass.
“We have an audience,” he whispered, glancing around.
I followed the directions his eyes had gone. I hadn’t realized the room had fallen almost completely silent. All of the others in the room were staring at us, anticipating both of our next moves.
“Look, I get that you wanna fight him, but you might wanna try to make some money off it,” Wesley continued.
I nodded, understanding his idea. For once, it wasn’t a bad one. “Alright,” I said as Wesley finally stepped aside. “If you want your fair one, you’re gonna have to meet me in the ring.”
“Winner takes the girl,” Carter replied, seemingly agreeing to my terms.
I scoffed. “I was going to take her anyway. What else you got?”
Muscles in Carter’s jaw jumped as he seethed. “Ten-thousand dollars cash. You win, and the money’s all yours. I win, and you leave Audrey alone.”
“The more you mention her, the harder I’m going to beat the shit out of you,” I warned. “My girl stays out of this.”
“Then, what are you putting on the table?”
“Another ten-thousand dollars. Winner takes the twenty grand.” I stepped forward and held out my hand. “Deal?”
He shook it. “Deal.”
Wesley wiped invisible sweat from his forehead. His face lit up as he nudged Tysir. “Looks like we’ve got our main event for the night,” he said.
Tysir’s mouth was curled into a small frown. He watched Carter finally step away from the table and disappear into the crowd. “Are you sure about this?” He asked me.
“Mhm,” I replied. “His ass whooping is well overdue.”
I left Wesley and Tysir to finish registering the rest of the fighters and bets while I headed up to the office to prepare. I wrapped up my knuckles and stretched a little bit. My hands tingled as I warmed up, ready to unleash the chaotic energy I’ve been simmering in over the past few days and eager to finally break Carter’s face.
I couldn’t help but grin once we stepped into the octagon together.
Carter took one look at my face, and the glow of his confidence dimmed. Still, he took his stance on the opposite side of me and held his fists up.
I let him throw the first few punches, dodging them easily. He threw with strength rather than speed. It was easy to predict his punches and find openings in his guard.
With every one I caught, I stepped closer and punched him straight in his face, mostly catching his jaw. I didn’t want to hurt him too bad early on. I wanted to take my sweet time.
The scowl on Carter’s face grew with every punch I landed. He tried to pick up the pace on his punches, but he was still too slow. Frustrated he couldn’t lay a punch on me, he charged towards me, aiming to tackle me.
I skirted out of the way at the last second and let him collide face first into the hard netting of the octagon. Chuckling, I asked, “Is this all you’ve got, Lawson?”
I guess the rage in his eyes when he turned around was supposed to scare me. Instead, it made me eager for what he was going to do next.
Growling, he charged towards me again.
This time, instead of stepping aside, I met him head on with a punch. The blow knocked backwards. Losing his balance, he fell onto his back.
“Come on,” I taunted. “I thought you were gonna give me a run for my-“
Carter cut me off by swiping my legs out from underneath me.
I fell backwards and hit the mat with a harsh thud. Stars twirled behind my eyes for a moment.
Carter tried to seize my dazed moment and get the upper hand, but I wasn’t having that. I kicked him right in his chest as he lunged for me.
As he stumbled backwards, I regained my wits, sat back up and charged at him. Pressing my forearms against his chest, I rammed his back into the chains of the octagon. Pinning him there, I started mercilessly delivering punches. Both of my hands alternated back and forth, hitting him over and over and over again.
