Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (42 page)

“Whatever.” She waved me off her shoulder, just as Daniel and Ethan
walked up to the car.

“Maya, can we talk?” Ethan asked.

I looked down at the clock on my phone. “Uh, not at the moment,
we've got to get inside before they close the doors.” I pulled my handbag over
my shoulder.

“But, Maya—”

“After the match, Ethan,” I said, “we can talk all you want, but
right now we have to get inside.”

“Maya—”

I quickly turned as I was walking towards the entrance, holding a
finger up. “After.”

****

Due to the fact that we'd come in late—thanks to Daniel and Ethan—I
was stuck at the bar, watching the ring from afar. I was slightly pissed at
that because I wanted to be at the front, but I guess I'll live. Ethan still
wanted to talk to me too but it was too loud in here that he eventually gave up
and settled on glaring at the crowd that apparently wouldn't 'shut up'.

There were no previous matches on tonight, so it was just Tristan's
match along with this
Preston
guy. It would probably explain why there weren't that many people here either
as there would be on a normal night—that and because people would've left for
summer. It was still a decent crowd though.

Melinda was also distracting herself from looking at Ethan too. I
could tell. The way she was trying to make conversation after conversation with
Stuart behind the counter was the give away. Half of the things she was saying
didn't even have any interest to him. He obviously caught on quick, and played
along just because he knew what it was like to be around a guy you crushed on.

I can't wait until he gets a boyfriend.

“Bets, bets, make your bets. Last call!” The same guy who always
took the bets stopped in front of me. Hat out, grin plastered on his adorable
boyish face. “Maya.”

Something about this confused me. “You still have my money from the
last match.”

This caught him off guard. “Oh right, yes, I remember, Maya. It’s in
here.” He shook the hat which rattled with coins and notes. “I got you and
Melinda covered.”

“Uh huh.” Smirking at his attempt at getting extra money, I watched
as he walked along, getting last minute bets. I didn’t really care about the
money. This guy looked like he could use with a new pair of jeans, so if it was
going towards that then whatever.

“Alright ladies and gentleman, it may have been an unfortunate event
a few weeks ago but here we are again.” I swear I felt eyes on me.

Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll stay in my seat. I won't use my seduction
to detach people from blondes. I get it, sheesh
.

Music started playing and the announcer introduced
Preston
.

A scent hit my nose then and I found myself scanning the crowd. It
was a cross between corn-chips and cologne but there was something within this
scent that really caught my attention. It was lust.

I apparently wasn't the only one who smelt this. Daniel, Melinda and
Ethan were all scanning the crowd for the new-found scent. Neither of us could
come up with anything though, being in a crowd really fucked up things
sometimes, I should know.

There were too much people for either of us to investigate but Ethan
didn't seem at all bothered by the new scent. Maybe it was one of the ones from
last night. I actually felt excited over a new succubus and incubus in the
area. Hopefully I get to meet them.

The crowd started to scream louder and I heard Tristan's name coming
from the announcer’s mouth. And at that moment, it was like no one was there.

Shirtless as always, Tristan entered from across the room, grinning
away as he walked through the make-shift pathway that the crowd created. I saw
him high five people as he walked by, ignoring the fact that most of them were
girls. There was even a small exchange between him and Noah where it involved
their ‘bro-shake’—which consisted of them hitting each others hands three times
before chest bumping. It was half weird, yet half... bromantic.

It was the same entrance every time he fought. He would stop at the
bottom of the stairs, close his eyes and take a few breaths while rolling his
neck, and then he would run up the stairs and into the ring. This time it was
slightly different. He stopped at the stairs, closed his eyes, took deep
breaths, rolled his neck and before he went inside the ring, he leaned his head
back, kissing two fingers before pointing them to the sky.

He was paying tribute to Geoff.

I had to smile at the way he was. The kindness of his heart was
something I adored so much. And just that he was doing this for Geoff was not
only a step for him at getting closure, but a lot of other people would find
inspiration just by that.

Tristan ran his glove-covered hands through his hair a few times,
earning—I was sure—a squeal from a group of girls nearby. Apparently word of
mouth had gone around quick. The story was Tori had stayed in
Hawaii
, not bothering to tell anyone about
it. It was a lie if I said that some people found this sad. I think the only
one who was devastated by it was her hairdresser. Not even her friends were
bothered. Once the word went around that Tristan was on the
market—apparently—it started a frenzy.

Now that annoyed me.

Our eyes connected momentarily and I felt that electrical charge
surge through me when he winked my way. It wasn't obvious but it happened. He
was subtle about it, I noticed. Something about that and the new rumor about
him being single triggered an assumption within me.

Maybe we are still friends with benefits... and complications.

Knowing I wasn't fully allowed, I lifted myself onto the counter of
the bar, wanting to get a full view of everything. I don't know why I didn't
clap along with everyone and cheer as the men in the ring sized each other up.
I was really concerned for Tristan's knuckles. I knew they were still tender. I
just hoped they didn't get in the way of his fight.

The first bell rang, starting off the first round. This was when it
really started.
Preston
and
Tristan were evenly matched—same height and practically the same body shape. It
was really all going to come down to who was faster than the other.

They were quick to get into each others face and exchange right
hooks.
Preston
was the first to
move back and he swung his leg out, narrowly missing Tristan's head. Tristan
used this time to take
Preston
down to the ground, connecting his fist with
Preston
as he attempted to defend each blow.

Melinda was yelling loudly beside me, surely threatening Tristan if
he didn't win. She always thought that if she yelled loud enough, he would win.
Apparently she was the good luck charm.

I looked beside me quickly to Daniel and Ethan, and I noticed they
both were quiet, their eyes watching the fight closely. It looked like they
were studying the moves of the two males, their heads occasionally moving in
the direction of Tristan's hand.

Finding it weird, I moved my eyes back and I had missed a few hits
apparently because it was Tristan on the ground, defending himself from
Preston
's punches. There was blood already
trickling from
Preston
's nose
and I figured Tristan got him good at some point when I wasn't looking.

I hadn't realized it until now, but I was gripping tightly on the
counter top, trying not to fall off the bar while I watched the fight closely.
It was unbelievable at first, watching the whole crowd go crazy as they rooted
on for the one they wanted to win. I used to be one of those people. It's not
until you're outside of the craze that you realize just how frantic it was.

Out of the blue, the crowd changed their tone and half of the room's
cheers had died down. Feeling the adrenaline run through me instantly, I looked
back to the ring to see
Preston
standing and staring down at the ground. The support that my hands were
supposed to give slipped from the counter and I was quickly making my way to
stand on the bar.

Oh God. Oh God.

Tristan was kneeling with his back towards me, and a doctor was
quickly walking inside the ring. Just with that, I was thinking the worse.

He's concussed. OMG, he's going to be covered in blood.
Really, in conclusion, I was over-dramatizing.

The doctor knelt down in front of Tristan, lifting his face to
examine whatever the fuck he had. It better not be bad. I noticed blood on the
mat but it wasn't a lot, and I wasn't exactly sure if it was all Tristan's. The
doctor was talking to Tristan and I could see Tristan nodding. After patting
his cheek, the doctor then nodded his head towards the ref and walked back out
of the ring. That was a good thing. If the doctor called the fight off then I'd
probably think the world had just ended with the way my mind was starting to
think.

The fight was back on and I could finally see what all the fuss was
about. There was fairly long cut running underneath Tristan's left eye. “What
the hell happened?” I asked anyone who was listening.

“The other human boy seems to rely on kicking,” Ethan answered, his
eyes not leaving the ring. “Landed one right under Tristan's eye.”

I returned to my space on the counter and watched as Tristan and
Preston
were back to their right hook
exchanges.

“Tristan realizes that
Preston
is better on his feet, so he needs to bring him to the ground,
hopefully go for a submission hold.”

I arched a brow at Ethan, not knowing where all this came from.
“You're suddenly an expert on MMA now?”

“Nope.” He shrugged. “It's just what I'd do.”

Surely enough, they were both on the ground, and with Preston on top
Tristan wrapped his arm around the back of his head, bringing him closer while
his legs wrapped around his waist. I knew what this hold was. A lot of the guys
that trained with Tristan learned and practiced this a lot. I just never could
say the name right, which is why I can't even remember what it's called.

“Guillotine choke,” Ethan muttered, “good man.”

Noticing my confused look at his knowledge, he shrugged again. “Way
of the Dragon. Bruce Lee. Chuck Norris. 1972. Except in that movie, he killed
him with it.”

“I wasn't even born then,” I muttered. My parent’s probably hadn’t
even reached puberty.

Hearing the bell ring, the crowd roared to life. I switched my gaze
back to Tristan's match and watched him release the hold on
Preston
. He took his mouth guard out and
let the referee lift his hand. He won. Grinning widely, he punched his fist in
the air. There was still blood trailing down the side of his face but it was
easily dismissed just by the fact that he was happy. Next thing I knew, I was
cheering and clapping along with the crowd.

Preston
was still kneeling on the ground,
obviously disappointed that he lost. Tristan then took this time to walk over
to him, holding his hand out in which he accepted. They hugged and
Preston
patted Tristan on the back. I could
see his mouth moving, but as always, I couldn't lip read.

We all know who did though.

“’Yeah, man,” Melinda started, “that was a good fight. Next time
though, less pressure on my balls, yeah?’ Then Tristan would be all like,
'Don't worry, man. Next time you kick me in the face, I won't just make you
submit, I will make you beg for fucking mercy.'” The awkward silence that
followed made her look to me. “Too much?”

“Maybe a little.”

“I seem to go that step too far. Oh well, I'm hungry and I just
scored myself some mon-ay. I'm up for In 'N' Out. Anyone else?”

“I'm down,” Daniel answered, followed by a nod from Ethan.

I was more hesitant over it. “I'm just going to go see what Tristan
wants to do first.”

“Whipped,” Melinda murmured.

“Oh yeah?” I grinned, making sure I was out of Ethan's hearing range
as I whispered, “At least I don't confess my love for a guy I've only known for
a few weeks.”

This shut her up. And after a few sentences on how I committed a low
blow, I laughed and started heading towards the locker rooms.

“Maya, wait—”

I forgot Ethan wanted to talk, but I was actually eager to see
Tristan. “I'll be back. Just give me five minutes, okay? Okay.” I didn't give
him time to finish before I quickly stalked away and entered the crowd.

I walked down a corridor that the fighters walked out of.
Preston
's locker room was the first I walked
past and there were about ten other people in there. Even though he lost the
fight, they still celebrated like he won. It was good to see.

Usually when I arrived at Tristan's locker room, there wouldn’t be
anyone in there because that's how he preferred it. He liked to spend some time
in his own head. It was like he was debriefing with himself, running through
what happened in the fight in his head while he wrapped and unwrapped his hand
repeatedly. It was something I saw a lot when he was in the gym, it was when
you knew he was in a deep thought.