Whiplash: A Sports Romance (71 page)

We reach the back of the building and Tobias knocks loudly on the black door.

Almost immediately, the door opens and we’re greeted by a familiar face.

“Toby!” Amy shouts, her smile stretching from ear-to-ear. Her voice is barely audible over the shouting crowd gathered behind her. A thunderous roar cries out once they see Tobias standing in the doorway and they quickly start chanting his name. Amy’s eyes fall on me. “And Claire— lovely as always.” I smile back at her, but Amy quickly loses her grin when she notices Tobias’ unamused face. “I heard about Mary, Tobias,” she says with an even, firm tone. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I,” he replies.

She steps to the side with a sympathetic nod to let the two of us inside while Tobias reaches into his pocket and silently slaps money into Amy’s small hands.

She gives it a quick count. “They’re waiting for you in the back.” She points to the other side of the room and I look around at the crowd. It’s easily five times the size of what gathers late at night back home. The room is packed to the brim, the majority of them stuffed around the large and professional-looking octagon at the center of the room, eagerly awaiting the blood and carnage they’ve been promised. This arena obvious has a much larger budget than the one back home.

Amy takes a step closer to Tobias and lowers her voice for only his ears. “The Dames have also asked me to pass onto you that we expect a
professional
fight tonight. The ring is no place to settle old grudges.”

“I got it,” he mutters.

Amy folds the money and stuffs it inside the glass jar stashed under her arm. “Once Pike makes his fashionably late entrance, we’ll get started,” she says with a smile.

“Come on,” Tobias says to me, pulling me along with him.

“Oh!” Amy steps in front of us, standing firm in Tobias’ large shadow. “No groupies allowed in the locker room. St. Louis’ rule, not mine.”

I drop Tobias’ hand. “I’ll be fine out here,” I say. “Go.”

He hesitates. “You sure?”

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Amy offers. “Trust me, there’s only
one
fight happening in this room tonight. She’ll be
fine
.” A knock strikes the door and she turns on her thick-heeled boots to answer it.

“Go,” I tell him again. “I’ll see you after.”

He pulls me back in. “Be careful,” he whispers in my ear.

“I should be telling you that,” I say.

His lips twitch once before he tilts my face up to kiss me. There’s fear in my eyes, but he stares back at me with strength and confidence. “I love you, Claire,” he says.

My heart swells, sending warmth throughout my entire body. “I—”

“Don’t,” he interrupts. “Tell me after.”

I nod and kiss him one more time before he pulls away and walks into the crowd. I watch him go, regretting every step he takes that I don’t stop him.

“Well, isn’t that
sweet
?”

I don’t turn around. I fill my lungs with air and open my mouth to scream for Tobias, but I feel the cold hand wrap around my neck and the sharpness of a blade dig into my side.

“Shh, shh,” Rick whispers into my ear. “None of that now.” He puts pressure on me to lead me away from Amy. I look over at her, but she’s far too preoccupied with the new arrivals at the door to notice my struggle. “Don’t say a word, Claire. This way…”

I plant my feet into the floor, but he jabs at me a little harder with his knife and we step even deeper into the unsuspecting crowd. “Let me go, Rick,” I tell him.

“Not a chance,” he says, pushing me further towards the center. “Stop.” He squeezes the back of my neck and I slow to a halt about ten feet away from the cage. “This view should do us just fine.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“You know exactly why I’m here, Claire.”

“You’re too late.” I crane my neck to look at him. “I’m not going back with you.”

“We’ll see,” he smirks, searching my face with amusement.

The crowd screams behind us and we turn to see Pike and his people coming through the black door.

“Ahh, good,” Rick says. “This will all be over soon.” His eyes fall on mine. “The suspense was
killing me
.”

“Let me go right now, or—”

“You’ll
what
?” he asks.

“He’ll kill you,” I finish.

He rolls his eyes and grins. “Nice threat,” he jokes.

“It’s not a threat,” I say, shaking my head. “You have no idea what he’s been through—”

“I know all about little cousin Mary’s death, Claire,” he says. “No one cares about some dead girl out in hillbilly country that couldn’t hold her booze.”

“He does. He’s out for blood, Rick.”

“So am I…” He smirks at me again. “No one takes what’s mine and gets away with it.”

“You’re delusional.”

He chuckles. “That’s a big word for you. What else did you learn out here? Square dancing?”

“You—”

“Shh!” He presses his nails into the back of my neck to silence me. “The fight is starting!”

I look to the arena and watch as Lillian Tombs climbs inside. With her arms raised above her head, she waves and beckons to all of us. “Hello, St. Louis! Welcome to the final hour of this year’s Midwest Alpha tournament!” She tries to wrangle in the crowd, but they pulse with an insatiable hunger.

“Ladies — Ladies…” Lillian cries out. “Gentlemen! We’re not animals here!” The people laugh and scream. “Okay, maybe a little…” She jokes with the audience, playing with them, until finally bringing a finger to her thick, red lips. The voices cease. She controls them with a subtle charisma and they eat out of the palm of her hand. “Tonight… is the fight we’ve
all
been dreaming about since their names first touched mortal ears:
The Punisher
and
The Untouchable
!”

The crowd splits on either side of the arena, allowing for the fighters to take their walks towards the stage. They scream their names over and over again, rocking the room with a rumbling bass. I catch sight of Tobias at the other side and Rick’s fingers cut into my neck a little deeper.

Tobias climbs into the arena, his thick muscles flexing with anticipation. His eyes, dark and cold, land on Pike at the other side of the ring and don’t look away from him. They won’t either, I know they won’t. They won’t search for me. They won’t see Rick’s hand around my throat or the knife he has shoved against my back. I’m a distraction and it’s the last thing Tobias will risk right now.

I hear Rick audibly scoff as he looks Tobias up and down. Even under these circumstances, I can’t pull my eyes away from his form, fit and perfect beneath his tight black, shorts. I lick my lips as my body recalls the experience of his bed mere hours before.

“I hear an athlete performs better after getting laid,” Rick seethes in my ear. “How long after I left did you wait before giving it up, huh?”

“Go to hell,” I spit.

“Him first.”

Lillian holds up her hands at the center of the ring, once again in a futile attempt to silence the pulsating crowd. Finally, the silence starts to shift in her favor and she points her left hand towards Tobias.

“In this corner, I give you
Tobias the Untouchable
!”

The crowd erupts with chanting voices, calling out his name again. Rick twists the knife against my skin and I wince from the sudden pain.

“And in this corner…” Lillian points to her right. “The defending Alpha and my personal favorite. The one and only…
Pike the Punisher
!”

Hands clap and boots stomp as Pike raises his hands to delight his fans. Once again, Tobias stands still, refusing to play games of showmanship. Still, the crowd battles it out, equally chanting both names with excitement.

Lillian retreats from the arena and reaches for her whistle.

Pike bounces fast on his toes. His entire body twists back and forth, loose as rubber, while Tobias stands as firm as stone. I look at him, my heart a swelling battleground of love and terror. He raises his thick fists and lets them hover in front of his smooth cheeks.

Protect your face.

The whistle sings and the final fight begins.

There’s a long moment of suspense as Pike and Tobias linger in their corners, each refusing to attack one another. Tobias never throws the first punch and Pike knows it. He shifts back and forth, teasing Tobias, baiting him with his own silly flair.

“Come on!” Pike shouts.

Tobias doesn’t budge. Only his eyes move, flicking around with Pike’s quick movements.

Finally, impatience gets the best of Pike and he finally lunges with his bare fists held high. Tobias’ body tightens, his muscles flexing with anticipation of the first blow.

I cringe as Pike’s fist strikes Tobias’ ribs, but I force my eyes open. Tobias grabs Pike’s wrist from the air and yanks him forward, pulling him off balance. With lightning speed, he lands a quick uppercut against Pike’s chin. Pike stumbles backward and shakes it off as blood dribbles down his mouth.

Tobias charges forward and sweeps low, knocking Pike down to his knees. He reaches down and takes hold of Pike’s thick neck, squeezing him tight. Panic shines in Pike’s eyes before he forces them closed to shield himself from Tobias’ coming fist. It connects with his eyes and Tobias delivers a pattern of punches repeatedly to his face.

The rage builds in his eyes, the same rage I saw in the barn when he spoke of killing him. I bite my cheek as another tear falls down my face. Tobias promised me he’d spare him. He said it twice, but I didn’t factor in the adrenaline.

I step forward, but Rick snatches me back.
“Tobias!”
I scream, but I can barely even hear it myself as they crowd begs for blood.

Suddenly, Tobias stops, his fist raised. He takes a breath, frozen in his stance, staring deeper into the eyes of the man that killed his little sister, then finally drops him to the floor.

Pike flips over onto his hands and knees to crawl away from Tobias into the corner nearest to us. He spits his own blood and teeth out of his mouth, but shows no other signs of backing down or tapping out.

I look at Tobias’ face and smile with relief, but I still have to remind myself to breathe.

“I wouldn’t celebrate too early if I were you, Claire,” Rick says into my ear.

“You already tried to beat him,” I fire back. “It’s over.”

“You actually think he’s
better
than me?”

“He
is
better than you, Rick.”

“You’re wrong, Claire. Look at him.” My eyes look for Tobias and I watch him pace about the ring, waiting for Pike to get back up. “You’re scared of
me
? What do you think
he’s
capable of doing to you?”

“He’d never touch me.”

“Or so he says,” he growls in my ear. “You can call me a lot of things — a liar isn’t one of them. Be honest with yourself, Claire. You feel no safer with him than you did with me.”

“That’s not true. It doesn’t matter anyway. You couldn’t beat him then and you
really
won’t beat him after he finds out about this. You failed.”

“Oh, yes.
I
did… but I get the feeling
he
won’t.”

I turn back to the stage and look into Pike’s bloodthirsty face. His lips turn up, teasing a deep secret that no one else can see. I look back at Rick and he smiles at me, baring his teeth with sweet amusement. “What did you do, Rick?” I whimper as another tear rolls down my cheek.

“That’s the thing about small towns, Claire. Everyone is awfully
chatty
, especially the dorky checkout girl at the market. It wasn’t too difficult to find out how
Tobias the Untouchable
spends his nights.” He yanks me back and looks down at me with black eyes. “I told you I wasn’t leaving this dump without you. If getting him out of the picture is what it takes, then…” His eyes fall back to the cage.

I follow his gaze and panic grips my chest as Pike pulls a metal shiv from his shorts and hides it inside his thick palm.

“You know, Claire,” Rick continues. “If I were a better man, I’d tell you to look away, but… I
really
want you to watch this.” He holds my neck tighter, forcing me to keep my eyes forward.

“No!”
I scream. I jump forward, but Rick pulls me closer to him and wraps his arm around my throat. He pushes his knife further into my side, scratching deep enough to draw my blood.

Pike stands up, spins on his heels, and lunges for Tobias.

Tobias is ready for him and easily knocks him back against the cage. But still, Pike smiles wide and rushes Tobias, this time wrapping his arm about his neck to draw him in. He pulls the shiv back and plunges it into Tobias’ side.