A muscular woman jogged into the cage then shadowboxed around the perimeter.
This wasn’t fucking happening. Did the McNealys really believe he’d fight a woman?
Not a fat chance in hell of that ever happening. He’d call the fight before it even fucking started.
“In the red corner…also from Cheney, Kansas…Ella Watts.”
The name made everything—his mind, his body, his heart—stop as he processed the announcer’s shouted words. There was no way he’d heard the man correctly. But even as he tried to convince himself he’d been mistaken, Kelsey—Ella—entered the cage, blonde hair braided, padded MMA gloves on her hands.
What the hell was she doing?
He turned to a guy standing beside him holding a betting card and snatched it from his hand. The guy immediately balked, but when he registered the thief was a fighter, he held up his hands and mumbled, “Sorry, dude.”
Lance scanned the card, searching for his name. It wasn’t there. In the last event field, ELLA WATTS was typed in bold black letters…and this fucker had bet against her.
When he saw why, his heart caught tight. The odds were stacked against her in every way. This was her first fight—ever—while the woman she was going up against had a record of ten wins to one loss.
Holy fuck. He snapped his head up to stare at her. While they were almost the same height, Ella’s opponent was much more muscular, reminding Lance more of a woman pro wrestler than an MMA fighter. The women’s bantamweight division usually didn’t go over one hundred and thirty-five pounds, but with this woman’s muscle mass she had to be twenty to thirty pounds above that.
Ella was going to get her ass beat, and there was no way he could allow her to go through that again.
He rushed toward the cage, having to weave around the people that had closed in around the ring. Just as he made it ringside, the bell sounded, and the referee backed up a few steps, giving the fight over to the two women. They circled each other.
Lance’s lungs locked as he waited with increasing alarm for Ella to receive her first hit. She’d frozen every time he’d tapped her. She’d done pretty well with Amber, but those still hadn’t been full-out, all-strength-behind-them hits. As far as he knew, Ella hadn’t taken a real punch since Randy had attacked her. Unlike a trainer, her opponent wouldn’t back off.
What the hell would happen if that woman went apeshit on Ella?
Brittany’s arm shot out lightning fast. Ella raised her gloves high enough to deflect the punch then danced back out of reach. The retreat worried him even more. For him, when he had an opponent who retreated, it meant he was hesitant. And if he was hesitant, Lance used that to his advantage.
As her opponent stalked her around the cage, Ella kept her fists raised, but continued to back away, refusing to initiate contact. He fisted his hands, holding his breath. Why had she done this? She wasn’t ready for this. All she’d ever wanted was to learn to defend herself from an assailant.
Now she was in the cage—in his place. Why?
The crowd began to boo, and he wanted to yell at them to shut the fuck up. The crowd’s displeasure would only egg on Brittany to attack.
He couldn’t imagine her taking those hits. Didn’t want to see it. Wanted to save her from it. Would trade places with her in a heartbeat to keep her safe.
A lightning bolt of clarity hit him in that instant. Closing his eyes briefly, he murmured a curse. This had been how she felt as she’d watched him return to the cage over and over again without sufficient healing time. She hadn’t been trying to make him compromise his beliefs as a fighter. All she was doing was trying to protect him from more harm.
Piper had been right. He’d allowed his pride, his inability to accept help, push away a woman who cared for him. He prayed that the table wouldn’t be turned, that she wouldn’t leave that cage resenting him for causing her to relive the most horrifying moment of her life.
If she did, he wouldn’t blame her.
Brittany suddenly exploded at Ella with multiple hits to the torso and head. Crouched over, Ella kept her gloved hands up protect her head as she backed herself into the wire fencing. A vulnerable position for any fighter, but for her it had to be even worse. Punches were landed on her stomach, sides, and shoulders, and all she did was cover herself for protection. The crowd cheered around him. He understood why. She was favored to lose, and that was exactly what was happening right now.
Ella had been his guardian angel from the moment they’d met. It was time for him to return the favor. Though he couldn’t go in there and choke the woman out like Ella almost had Ralph, he could help guide her, give his support. He rushed around the cage until he was right below her.