I turned to see Alex looking at me with a caring expression that, for some odd reason, didn’t match what I saw in his dark brown eyes. I’ve been breathing shallowly this whole time, trying to breathe through the pain of my bruised ribs. I simply nodded and gave him a weak smile.
We both turned our attention to the fight in front of us. The Butcher came out with fists flying, and Mason just protected himself.
Alex started yelling, “Don’t play with this clown. Your girl needs you Reap. Put this fucker to sleep, so you can take her home.”
I stared at him with my mouth agape. I couldn’t believe Alex just called me “his girl.” What was even crazier is that Mason listened. I watched Mason dip to the left and come up with an uppercut to his opponent’s jaw. The man back-peddled slightly, and that’s when Mason went to work. He came with a barrage of punches to the face and the abdomen. Then he did a one-eighty turn in the air and kicked the man square in the jaw. The Butcher flew in the cage. Then, as the man righted himself against the cage, Mason met him with a knee to the face. The Butcher went down with a thud, and the crowd erupted.
Mason stood back as the ref counted. As the ref got to ten, he raised Mason’s arm. That ignited the crowd again. Out of the years I’ve been a part of this sport, I’ve never seen a fighter like Mason. And I’ve never felt the way I feel right now for any man ever.
I stood slowly as Mason pulled off his gloves, exited the cage, and came toward me. He wrapped my hand around his and walked slowly with me, as he headed to the locker room. When we got to the room, he guided me to a chair. He watched as I sat down, trying not to wince.
I watched as he let Lou cut his tape off and tell him how well he did. Lou told him how proud he was of him, and Mason nodded his thanks. Lou told him to hit the showers.
Then he looked over at me and said simply, “I’ll be five minutes. Then we can go.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond. He just walked in the showers. I saw Train walk into the room, and I tensed up. Train looked over at me and looked like he wanted to say something to me, but Alex and Lou were there.
“You best keep walking,” Alex told him.
“Look, I just want to say to her…,” Train began, but Alex held his hand up to stop him.
“Man, I don’t know the full story about what happened. But it’s clear your fucking brother put his hands on her. Now to be honest, you’re lucky Reap isn’t in here, or you’d be breathing out of a tube right now. There’s nothing you need to say to her that matters.”
Train looked at me, and I shook my head and turned from him. I didn’t see him, but I heard him leave. Mason came out right after with just a towel. He pulled out his sweat pants and sweatshirt, and packed the rest of his stuff in his bag.
He looked over at Lou and said, as he quickly got dressed, “I need a few days.”
“Take what you need,” Lou told him.
Then Lou kissed my cheek and walked out.
“You ready?” Alex asked Mason.
Mason nodded and reached for my hand. I gave it to him, and he pulled me to my feet slowly. I couldn’t look him in his eyes for fear that I would come undone. The walk to his car was uneventful. He got congratulations from anyone that was still around the gym. He nodded his thanks and fist-pumped a few, but he never said any words.
He didn’t say much in the car either as he drove us to his place. He helped me out, since it was painful as hell to bend to get in the car to begin with. I guess pure adrenaline numbed me when I was dropped off. He watched me intently, and I still couldn’t hold his gaze. When we finally got in his apartment, he guided me to his room.
“Let me draw you a bath so you can relax, okay?” he said simply and went in the bathroom.
I heard the bath water running, and he came back out.
“I need to decompress a little, okay? I’ll be downstairs if you need me. Do you need help getting undressed or into the tub?”
I shook my head.
“No, I’m okay.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
He sighed and just stared at me for a moment.
“Well, I’ll just be downstairs. Call me if you need me.”
He turned and left the room. I wanted to stop him and just ask him to hold me. I wanted him to take away all the fear and hurt I was feeling. But I couldn’t ask him that. I wanted to explain to him why I didn’t call him in the first place, but I knew he wouldn’t understand. I felt like I betrayed him a little, which is why I let him walk out of the room.
I slowly removed my clothes and lowered myself in the hot water. I soaked for a while, trying to figure out what to do about Mason and me. I knew without a doubt I was in love with him. But I also knew he didn’t live in Philly. I knew he wasn’t ready for a relationship and may never be. And I knew he was going to break my heart. But I didn’t care about any of those things. All I wanted to do was to be with him. I would take whatever I could get from him. I just hoped he still wanted me.