“Get him to the mat, get him to the mat,” Jules chanted next to her as if silently willing Clay into action.
Romeo fought back. His knee continually kicked up, trying to jab at Clay’s side, hitting suspiciously near his groin, but Clay held him there in a strange headlock, making her realize this was a very different sport than boxing.
“What is he doing?” Melody asked, wishing she understood more of what was going on.
“Take him down,” Jules snapped in response, making it obvious she had eyes and ears for what was happening in the center of the arena and nothing else. “Get him to the mat.”
Clay getting Romeo to the mat seemed really important to Jules, but it never happened. Romeo managed to maneuver away from Clay, fists flying in that wild fighting style that was terrifying because it was so fast and unpredictable. Melody might know very little about boxing and even less about Mixed Martial Arts, but she surmised one thing from watching the fight unfold. Romeo’s power was in his speed and fearlessness, whereas Clay’s was quiet, controlled, and structured. If Romeo was the hare, Clay was the turtle, taking hits, then pushing Romeo against the cage, obviously trying to wear him down. It just didn’t seem to Melody like the turtle could win against this level of raw anger.
When the round ended, Melody found herself breathing a sigh of relief because it meant Clay was getting a reprieve from the pain.
“That round went to Wellings.” Jules took a deep breath, obviously happy for a break from the tension of watching. “I dunno, Melody. This is, um…”
“Yeah,” Melody agreed, understanding perfectly.
This was agonizing.
The break was brief. Clay sat in his corner, and a man Melody didn’t know was doing something to a large, bleeding cut above his eye. Wyatt and Clay’s coach Tony shouted a bunch of things, waving their arms around as they yelled, and Melody had to admit Clay looked pretty uninterested in whatever they were trying to get across to him.
She watched the close-ups of him on the big screen. Clay seemed more dark and brooding than ever. His chest glistened with sweat, his eyes hooded and intense as he stared ahead while his team yelled orders and the guy treating his eye did something to that cut above his eyebrow that had to be painful.
Clay might be getting his ass kicked, but he didn’t seem to be too concerned about it.
If she were the opponent, that would be unnerving, especially to a man as wildly passionate as Romeo. When the second round started and the two men were facing off in the cage once more, Melody watched Romeo’s face on the big screen. He was more traditionally handsome than Clay, with a smooth, Italian complexion and classic features. He watched Clay with trepidation as he bounced from one foot to the other, looking for the right moment to strike. There was a shiftiness to his presence that told Melody he might be more unnerved by Clay’s stoic nature than he let on.
The second round went much the way of the first, with Romeo punching and kicking like a crazed beast whose very life breath depended upon it. Clay would retaliate by pushing him against the cage, holding him there until he broke away, only to hurt Clay once more. Clay’s hits were minimal, his kicks even less so. He had another cut under his other eye to match the one above his eyebrow.
This was turning out to be, sadly, a one-sided fight.
Melody was starting to be glad she’d come to Las Vegas just so she could hold Clay after it was over, because this was horrible to watch. She wanted to look away, but she felt like she’d be betraying Clay if she did. If he was going to suffer through getting beaten in front of thousands of people in the arena and countless others across the country who were watching it on television, the least she could do was keep her eyes open.
Clay was back in his corner, his face still apathetic as they treated the new cut. Wyatt was yelling; then he was pointing to the crowd. It threw Melody off, her exhaustion working to her disadvantage. She was watching the interaction on the big screen instead of staring at them directly. She didn’t figure out Wyatt was pointing to where she and Jules were sitting until Jules suddenly surged out of her seat, pulling Melody with her.
“She’s here! She’s here watching you get your big ass kicked!” Jules burst to life when she suddenly had twenty seconds to convince him Melody was really there in Las Vegas. She waved one arm, the other one holding Melody’s hand in the air. “You see her! Tell me you see her!”
Melody’s ears were throbbing. She’d had no idea Jules had lungs like that. Despite the pulse of light and sound, Melody was inclined to believe Clay really did hear Jules’s screams. As it was, other people in the crowd were looking at them in stunned amazement, a murmur rushing through the crowd as Jules continued to jump up and down and demand attention in a way only a Conner could.