Defying the Odds(44)

Like most people in the audience, Melody watched Clay on the big screen and saw him squint to see past the lights and the dark wire of the cage. Melody would have thought it was impossible to actually spy them in the crowd, even with Jules throwing the mother lode of all attention fits. She saw it with her own eyes, the recognition on Clay’s face, the way his lips parted and the first emotion of the night passed over his features as his head whipped around and he glared at Wyatt.



“He saw us.” Jules panted, a sob of relief bursting out of her. “It’s gonna be okay. I think it’s gonna be okay.”



Melody wasn’t so sure. She studied the look of sheer fury directed at Wyatt and was willing to believe Clay was going to beat someone, but she wasn’t so sure it was Romeo Wellings.



Clay looked like he wanted to kill his best friend.



Jules sat, still breathing heavily, and Melody sat with her. She glanced around at the other spectators, seeing everyone staring at them. She felt like a bug under a very big microscope and turned back to look at the cage, watching the seconds tick by until the fight started once more.



Pretending to be invisible didn’t work. The guy next to her, a big hulk of a man with a neck as thick as his head, leaned uncomfortably into Melody’s personal space. He smelled strongly of beer. His gaze ran leeringly over Melody sitting there in her floral print dress and sweater. “You got a little crush on Powerhouse? You think you’re his girl?”



“Back off, buddy,” Jules growled, actually reaching around Melody to shove the man’s shoulder. “Stay in your own goddamn seat.”



“I’m a lot more available than him, you know.” He ignored Jules’s shove as he waggled eyebrows at Melody. “I’m a fighter too.”



“Big fucking deal,” Jules said menacingly, obviously not used to being dismissed. She leaned over Melody once more, light eyes narrowed furiously as she got in the man’s face. “You look at her like that again, and I will end you!”



The guy pulled back, looking stunned at Jules’s viciousness. Then he threw his hands up in a show of surrender. “Chill out, lady.”



“You fucking chill out,” Jules barked as she stood up and waved her arms to usher Melody to the other seat. “Move over. We’re trading seats.”



Melody wasn’t going to argue with that. She took Jules’s seat, glancing nervously around them once more, seeing they were attracting more attention than ever. She was starting to learn an outing with Jules was its own little adventure.



Jules fell down into her new seat, looking as pressed and polished as ever in her fitted black pants suit. She cast dark, menacing glares at her new neighbor, who looked genuinely scared of her.



“I think I wanna take some of those self-defense classes you teach,” Melody said in awe, because that was one of the most impressive things she’d ever seen. If there was a class to give a woman that much self-assurance, she wanted to take it. “How much are they?”



Jules gave her a secret wink and smirk that was very reminiscent of Wyatt. “On the house.”



With all the excitement, Melody missed the shuffle that brought the fighters back to the center of the cage. She looked up at the big screen, seeing Clay’s scowl as he bounced up and down, waiting for the fighting to start. His eyes kept darting sideways, and it looked like he was looking to where they were sitting. Front row, they were pretty darn close to the cage. Melody had to wonder if he’d seen what happened with their neighbor, considering Jules’s tendency to draw attention to herself.



Melody forgot the excitement with Jules when the fighting started. Much like the other two rounds, Romeo jumped at Clay, fists flying. Clay took the first punch and then threw his shoulder into the other guy, his foot hooking around Romeo’s calf, knocking his feet out from under him. The sound of two heavyweights slamming to the mat made an echoing thud across the arena. It happened so fast Melody gasped out loud; one second they were boxing, the next Clay had Romeo flat on mat.



“Yes!” Jules jumped out of her seat, arms raised.



She wasn’t the only one. The whole crowd surged forward at the first sharp jab of Clay’s fist connecting with Romeo’s jaw. Then Clay was beating on Romeo with intent, somehow holding the huge man pinned to the mat as his right fist flew hard and fast, hitting over and over again in a display of raw fighting skill that was remarkable. It was the first point in the fight where Melody covered her eyes, because it was too painful to watch. Clay was pounding on him like a jackhammer, beating at his skull faster and meaner than Romeo ever could. For his part, Romeo’s arms flailed as if trying to deflect the rain of blows long enough to protect his head.