That’s okay. She may not love this part of my life and she may never want to come to another match, but at least she hasn’t tried to tell me I can’t do it.
That would be a problem.
I grab my new bag and slip out the front to get some of the cool night air and D gives me a knuckle bump when he sees I don’t have a scratch.
“Didn’t even touch ya, huh?” he asks.
“I don’t even remember,” I smirk.
“So either you did really well or he knocked you stupid,” D laughs.
“I’ll let you know when I find out,” I tell him.
Tonight, we’re holding the matches in what I think used to be a TV repair shop. Whatever it used to be, it’s empty now. Well, except for the large crowd of men and women shouting for each other’s blood.
I was a little nervous about the location, being as it’s right in the middle of town, but there’s no one on this block. Everything’s commercial and everything’s been closed for hours.
My phone rings in my duffel bag, which I set down and unzip.
It’s Ash.
“Hey beautiful,” I answer. “I didn’t see you at the fight.”
“Is it over?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I answer. “You wouldn’t believe it, I totally—”
“Are you going to need a ride to the hospital?” she asks. “Or is this going to be something I can swing on my own?”
“I’m almost completely untouched,” I tell her. “I might get a couple of bruises over the next couple of days, but even those should be pretty minimal.”
“You did well, then?” she asks.
“Yep,” I tell her. “I got in there, and—”
“You wanna come over?” she asks. “I can take a look at you, make sure you don’t have any internal bleeding or anything like that.”
“You can do that without equipment?” I ask.
“I can see the signs,” she says. “I never said I’d be able to do anything about it.”
“Well,” I laugh, “that’s a good start anyway. I’ll be over in about half an hour.”
“You can shower here,” she says. “Starbright and her progeny are out collecting mushrooms in some campground outside town and we’ve got the place to ourselves.”
“All right,” I tell her. “I didn’t drive here, so it’ll be a few, but I’ll be over soon.”
“Okay,” she says, her voice finally starting to brighten. “I’ll see you when you get here.”
I hang up and put the phone back in my bag.
Walking back toward the entrance, I ask Big D how I look.
“Walking around in nothing but fight trunks,” he says. “I’d say you look like a damn fool.”
“I wouldn’t frighten the townspeople or anything as long as I put on some normal clothes, though, right?” I ask.