Bull: An MMA Stepbrother Romance (9 page)

FIght

“We rollin’!!!!” boomed the voice of the event coordinator. The guy kept everyone on time and in position and when he started yelling it always got Jake amped up. Jake loved the guy.

He took a deep breath. It was time. The butterflies in his stomach came as much from the adrenaline dump that hit his body as it did from the fear. Fighters didn’t talk about the fear much, but every damn one of them felt it. It wasn’t so much fear of pain, or of getting hit. Hell, he got hit every day in sparring. It was fear of looking bad, when you got right down to it. Fear of letting down everyone that had put their blood, sweat, and tears into you. Your coaches, mentors, family, sparring partners.

Most of all, it was fear of looking like a chump. Lisa wouldn’t be watching tonight. That would amp his fear up to somewhere around 11, but he would have fed off it. No way he would have gone down in front of Lisa.

It was just a matter of minutes before the fear would leave him, though. Once he squared off against Beast in the cage it would all be behind him. There would be no more butterflies, no more fear, just raw, naked aggression.

It had been a brutal eight weeks of fight camp, a hellacious weight cut, and all the sacrifices. He was finally going to get his hands on this motherfucker. He wished he could have gotten to do it in front of Lisa, but that was all his fault. He didn’t deserve her.

His fight team lined up behind him and they began the walkout. His entrance song boomed over the arena speakers. Instant adrenaline hit. Jake remembered his days of bar fights, smokers in parking lots. The underground circuit. He was big time now. Now it was Vegas hotels and arenas for him.

Jake started jogging up the tunnel from the bowels of the hotel toward the arena entrance. As he entered the arena he the sound and energy of the audience crushed him. Hostile territory. The deafening roar of the crowd was not the welcoming kind.

He ran up to the official responsible for last minute fighter checks. A few fans stuck their hands out for a high-five, but most just shouted insults. A couple even threw half-empty cups of beer at him.

It didn’t matter. None of these guys could save Beast from what Jake was about to do to him.

He stopped at the official right near the entrance gate to the cage. He checked his cup. He frisked him. He checked his mouthpiece and inspected his gloves. Finally, he waved him into the cage where Beast waited for him.

Jake couldn’t help himself. He scanned the audience looking for Lisa. He had given all four of his floor seats to his Dad. He looked for him and his new stepmom but couldn’t find them.

Fuck! Why was he thinking of Lisa? He had a fucking fight to get on with.

He stared across the cage at the man he was about to fight. Jake had trained for this moment for eight weeks and now he was ready to lay a beating on this man. Nothing personal. He actually liked what he had seen of Beast as a man, but that guy stood between him and the belt, and that meant he had to go down.  

“Fighting! Out of the red corner. Weighing in at...” the announcer’s voice became an indistinct blur. Normally his trademarked energy and crazy theatrics got Jake pumped up but tonight Jake’s mind kept wandering back to Lisa. This was dangerous. He had to focus. Lose your concentration in tennis and you lose a point.  Lose your concentration in MMA and you might wake up in a hospital.

The next thing Jake knew he was in the center of the cage across from Beast and the ref was running down the rules. The microphone projected his voice over the entire arena. They had already gone over this in the locker room, this bit was for the audience.

“If you want to touch gloves do it now,” the ref said.

Jake put out a glove, but Beast ignored it. Fine, that’s how it’s going to be huh?

“Fight clean, fight hard, fight fair!” the ref said. “Step back to your corners and let’s do this!”

The two fighters went to their corners and the ref instantly threw his hand down. “Fight!” he yelled.

Jake and Beast wasted no time. They both made it quickly to the center of the cage and fists were flying.

Jake connected early with a clean left hook. Beast smiled, a sure sign that he felt that punch. Jake watched his legs closely. Any sign of wobble and he would pounce, but Beast still looked strong. It would take more than that to finish him.

Jake wondered what Lisa would think if she could have seen that punch. Lisa? What the fuck was he doing thinking about Lisa–

Lightning went off in his eyes. The next thing he knew he was looking up at the arena ceiling and Beast was on top of him.

The fog cleared and Jake pieced it together. Beast had dropped him with something..a kick to the head? Yes, it was a left kick to the head. He had to focus, now was not a time to be thinking about Lisa.

Lisa

Chapter 12

Danger

God, he was gorgeous, Lisa thought as she watched Jake squaring off against Beast in the cage. He seemed fearless, in control. He moved like a jungle cat, lithe and quick for such a muscular man. 

In spite of herself Lisa found herself admiring the athletic prowess of the men in the ring. Their mastery of technique, their discipline. It wasn’t just a fist fight. She was starting to see why fight fans considered it the ultimate sport. She found herself cheering as loud as the rest of them.

When Jake landed that first hard punch and wobbled Beast she and Janis had jumped out of their seats. They both screamed his name. For a moment they thought he might have heard them but he hadn’t.

They were sitting right behind the ring girls. That was bad enough. Seeing those beautiful women with their perfect faces and their perfect figures was intimidating. They just oozed confident sexuality. That made them terrifying.

“I’m going to find a way to fuck that Jake Mata!” she overheard the blonde one say. “God he’s so hot.” The noise of the crowd drowned became overwhelming. Lisa couldn’t hear her, but she could see the ring girl still pointing at Jake as she talked to the other ring girl’s ear. It gave Lisa a queasy feeling.

It was all so confusing. In the cage she saw one of the sexiest, most masculine men she had ever met, and she had gotten so close with him. Never in her life had she imagined a man like that would pay attention to her, much less want her. And no sooner had she found him than she had lost him. Tonight she had to fix that before it was too late.

 Then, before she knew it Beast had laid Jake out with a kick to the head that sounded like a 2x4 hitting a wall.

Lisa grabbed Janis’ arm with a death grip.

Jake

Chapter 13

Finished

Jake arched his back off the canvas and threw Beast off of him. They both scrambled to their feet and Jake charged Beast. He wrapped his arms around his legs and powered through him sending him to the canvas. Jake’s power double-leg takedown was one of the best in the business. There was no way in hell this punk was going to stop it.

Jake was on top, in Beast’s guard, raining down punches. Beast was trying to protect his face but had so far been unable to generate any effective offense. Jake had him right where he wanted him.

Jake thought for a split second how he wished Lisa could have been here to share the victory. That split second was all the opening Beast needed.

Jake felt an arm swing over his neck and clamp down under his throat. Beast had managed to throw a guillotine choke on him.

Jake buried his chin into Beast’s side and tried to turn into the choke. If he could get relief on one side of his throat and open up a little room, the blood could flow. Beast might burn out his arms trying to get the choke.

Beast was on his back but had his legs locked around Jake’s waist. It was a tight, closed guard that made it all but impossible for Jake to free his neck. He dug his elbow with all his strength into Beast’s thigh to try to force the man to open his guard a little. It hurt like hell and if he could get Beast to open up for just a second...

The world was closing in on Jake. He was getting the tunnel vision that meant he only had moments of consciousness left.

As the darkness of unconsciousness began to consume him he heard Lisa’s voice scream his name. He felt a surge of adrenaline and dug his elbow harder into Beast’s thigh.

The pain of the elbow on Beast’s inner thigh caused Beast to loosen his legs. Jake used the momentum to pop out and pass Beast’s guard. When he did, the pressure on his neck was immediately relieved. Jake could feel the rush of oxygen into his brain as the dark tunnel retreated and disappeared.

Time to pay for that motherfucker.

Jake slammed his elbow down on Beast’s head, opening up a cut over his eye. Gotcha. He slammed again. And again. Beast was weakening and no longer effectively defending himself. Jake pulled back for another elbow into Beast’s face, but the ref charged and knocked him down.

“Stop Jake! Stop! You won, it’s over,” the ref said as he waved the fight off.

Jake jumped up onto his feet and threw his hands in the air in celebration as the ref attended to Beast. Officials poured into the cage.

Another first round TKO for Jake. He scanned the crowd looking for his dad to share the victory with. 

He finally saw them. His Dad and stepmom were jumping and screaming. Right behind them Janis and Lisa were doing the same. She had come after all.

Adrenaline surged through him. He felt unstoppable.

Lisa

Chapter 14

Adrenaline

“You sure he won’t mind?” Lisa said to Cole as he led them down the hall to Jake’s hotel room. Lisa and Janis had wanted to be the first to congratulate him.

Cole laughed. “Mind? Uh, no. But hey, how about that fight? Your brother is one hell of  a stud. Few people could get out of that choke, or do that to Beast.”

Lisa had winced a little at the word brother. Why did people keep bringing that up?

“I’ll say he’s a stud,” Janis chimed in.

Cole laughed. “Yeah, well, save it for Jake. He likes to hear about how studly he is.”

They came up to a room with Jake’s name on it and Cole knocked.

“Yo, Jake? Got someone here for you,” he said.

“Yeah, tell him to come back later,” Lisa heard Jake say, “I’m going to take a shower.”

Cole turned to the ladies and smiled. “He says come right on in.” 

Lisa looked at Janis and shrugged her shoulders. Why not?

They walked in just as Jake had closed the door to his shower. Steam billowed out from the bathroom and the sound of the rushing water filled the room.

Cole closed the door, leaving them alone.

Janis looked at Lisa. “Girl, he’s naked in that shower. Get in there with him!” 

“What, you mean...now?” Lisa whispered.

“Yes, now. I’ll leave. Get naked girl. Go!” Janis said.

“No, no way, I couldn’t!” Lisa said as she shook her head side to side. 

He was in there soaping up his naked body, tracing every muscle with his hands. The thought made Lisa weak in the knees. Her body wanted nothing more than to join him in there. To use her hands to do the cleaning...and other things. But her mind wasn’t ready.