“Not really. Everyone has their own style. I’m not the fastest and I’m certainly not the strongest. My strength is an ability to take a punch and pretend my opponent is the person I hate the most in the world.”
As Joy studied me, I noticed her relaxing. “You focus your anger on the person you’re fighting?”
“You’ll be surprised how much energy pure rage will give you.”
Axel poked his head into the room and gestured towards Joy. “It’s time.”
Smiling at me, she disappeared out of the door. The silence of the locker room allowed me to think about Bailey. About how much I’d wanted her, yet how I couldn’t overcome my self-disgust when she touched me.
The reality was I never fucked a girl with my shirt off. Even when they wanted to see the tattoo, I showed them from afar. Up close, they’d see the old scars. Pity was the best case scenario. The worst was the chick that noticed the scars in the locker room and said they turned her on.
Irritated after thinking about those past girls, I decided to watch Joy fight a tall skinny girl with huge hands. I apparently missed a few solid hits because both girls were bleeding. Joy backed away from the taller girl and dodged her punch before running to the other side of the cage.
The crowd didn’t much care about the skills of the female fighters. They enjoyed watching pretty girls running around in skimpy clothes. While Joy got a laugh from the crowd every time she ran away, the skinny girl grew more frustrated and frenzied. For a while, nothing happened and the crowd lost their fire.
Joy only needed one good hit to win. She didn’t even knock out her opponent. By the time the punch came, Skinny Girl was worn down and ready to stop fighting.
Winning her first match, Joy saw me and smiled. I returned her grin. Women like Joy never intimidated me. Bailey did because I needed her. The others could shit on me and I didn’t really care. Take them or leave them, my life went on.
Not with Bailey though. She was special, yet I couldn’t let her close.
My father took a normal kid and turned him into trash. Dragon wanted more, demanded it really, but I was just Nick with Bailey. Poor white trash with small dreams and a scarred back only barely better than the horror show in my head, I didn’t deserve her.
The guy who stood before me smiled awkwardly and asked for me to take it easy on him. Don’t hurt me too bad, Dragon, he said. The moment he said the words, I knew he would cheat. Bite, spit, and go for my balls. His plan was written all over his face.
Instead of facing this dweeb, I imagined my father before me. Dad knew how to lie and hide the monster inside him. He also knew how to fight like a man. The only thing he ever taught me was to take and throw a punch.
Within two minutes, I left the dweeb sprawled on the ground. A short dull fight for the crowd, but I didn’t care. I needed to leave the noise of the Thunderdome and ride on my Harley. Completely free, I owed no one. If I drove fast enough, I might even be free of myself.
Chapter Thirteen ~ Bailey
After two days without seeing Nick, I was depressed. Finally when we could go out, I needed to bail on our date when my recent lethargy turned out to be the first symptom of a cold. Calling Nick to tell him I was sick and couldn’t go out to dinner, I swore he sounded relieved. I hung up and cried for long enough to get so stuffed up that I could barely breathe.
Mom brought me a few boxes of tissues and a bag full of cold medicine. After she made me soup and tucked me in bed, I dozed off to her humming Alan Jackson.
I woke later to knocking at the door. Peering out the curtain, I found Nick wearing another tee too small for his current chest size. He looked yummy and I felt crummy. Checking myself in the mirror, I panicked at him seeing me all red-nosed and bleary-eyed.
Ignoring his knock didn’t make him leave, though it did draw the attention of the dogs. The idea of them eating my dream guy finally overruled my vanity and I opened the door.
“I’m sick,” I said, peeking out. “I don’t want you to catch it.”
“Hello, Bailey,” Nick replied, ignoring my crabbiness. “I missed you.”
My chest soared at the sound of those three little words. “I missed you too.”
“I’ve come to take care of you.”
“I’m sick,” I said again like a dope.
“I have no work,” he murmured, pressing softly on the door. “All caught up on my studies. Nothing to do, but think about you over here sick and needing attention.”
“You’ll get sick.”
Nick responded by kissing me softly. Before I could complain, he deepened the kiss while nudging me back into the apartment. Once the door was closed and locked, he smiled and our lips parted.
“Were you sleeping?”
“Yes. I’m all gross, Nick.”
“Look at your pink nose,” he said, caressing the chapped tip. “Do you want to rest more?”
“You’re going to sit around while I sleep?”
“I could take a nap too. I even promise not to feel you up while you’re out.”
“You want to share the bed?”
Nick finally stopped smiling. “Do you not want me to?”