Broken Beautiful Hearts(96)

Round three and four are a blur of round kicks, slashing elbows, and boxing punches, like hooks and crosses.

I rub Dad’s dog tags and wince every time Owen gets hit.

Christian notices. “Don’t be nervous. I think Owen is playing your ex so Reed will underestimate him.”

“That’s not what he’s doing. I’ve seen Owen fight before, and he’s better than this.” Reed lands two flying knees into Owen’s side and I turn away. “He’s distracted because of me.”

“Can you blame the guy? After what Reed did…” Christian can’t even stand to say it.

Tucker knows he’s missing something. But he also seems to sense that I don’t want to talk about it, and he doesn’t ask any questions.

Christian shadowboxes as if he’s in the ring fighting along with Owen. And even Christian winces when Owen takes a slashing elbow to the forehead that draws blood.

Reed follows the elbow with another jab-low kick combo and lands both.

“Your ex really has a thing for low kicks.” Christian wrings his hands in front of him.

“No. This is new. He’s trying to take one of Owen’s legs out. That would give him a huge advantage.”

The bell rings and Lazarus rushes into the cage to try to stop Owen’s forehead from bleeding. Cutter goes easy on him. Her mannerisms are more encouraging than critical.

When Owen comes out of his corner for round five, he doesn’t look good. His head is still bleeding and his eye is starting to swell shut.

For the first few minutes, Owen concentrates on blocking Reed’s attacks. Owen doesn’t look steady on his feet. With each punch, Owen appears more and more dazed—and Reed knows it.

Reed backs up, intentionally moving closer and closer to the cage.

I realize what he’s doing before Owen seems to, which makes no sense. It’s a move Owen should see coming. But he doesn’t, and it feels like I’m watching a car accident in slow motion.

I’m out of my seat. “Owen, get out of the way!”

Reed jumps and pushes off from the cage with his left leg and throws a right hook. His fist hits Owen in the temple and Owen goes down.

The crowd goes wild.

“Did you see that Superman punch off the cage?” someone yells behind us.

“Come on, Owen. Get up,” I whisper like a mantra.

Owen struggles to get back onto his feet, and he barely makes it up. He sways and the ref starts counting. He leans against the chain-link wall of the cage, still dazed. Then the ref does the unthinkable and calls the fight.

*

After the fight, Christian waits by the cage with me. I’m hoping Owen will come out so I can try to explain. I never would’ve wanted him to find out the truth this way. I can’t even think about the fight. Owen lost the championship because of me.

“You okay?” Christian asks.

“No.” For once, I admit how crappy I feel.

“I can’t believe he lost. That’s rough. I mean, at least when we lose, I can usually blame it on somebody else.”

“It’s my fault.” I watch the hallway that leads to the locker room.

“Your ex messed with his head. And his friend sure as hell messed with Cameron’s.” Christian scratches his head. “What the hell was all that about? I mean, don’t get me wrong—I want to wipe the floor with those guys, too. But the last few weeks, Cam’s been going off the rails.”

I watch him, waiting for the pieces to fall into place. But after a moment, it’s clear they haven’t. Maybe it would be easier for everyone if I told him about Cam’s feelings for Grace. Would Christian go ballistic? Or would he understand?

After tonight, I’m not willing to meddle in my cousin’s life to find out. But there’s nothing wrong with dropping a few hints. “Cam seemed really upset when Reed’s friend insulted Grace.”

“That’s what I mean. I’m usually the one who flies off the handle first. Cam looked like he wanted to rip that guy’s throat out. He’s definitely pissed off at me about something. He’s probably just taking it out on everyone else. The other day in practice, he tackled me so hard I thought I’d knocked one of my teeth out.”

“Did you do anything to him? I mean, can you think of a reason he might be so upset?”

Christian frowns and rubs his forehead. “I dunno. Pissing people off is kind of my specialty. He’s all over me about everything. My manners, the way I talk to Grace, my moves on the field. Look.” Christian nods at the hallway across from us. “Somebody’s coming.”

It’s not Reed. The guy isn’t tall enough to be Owen. It’s probably Billy.

I rub Dad’s dog tags between my fingers.

Please, please don’t let Reed come out next.

I’m not ready to face him. I hate him for what he did to Owen, but I also didn’t expect my reaction, the way my pulse sped up when I saw Reed, like I wanted to bolt. It felt like I was back at the bottom of the stairs again. Just seeing Reed triggered panic, as if emotions have their own version of muscle memory.

Lazarus comes out of the locker rooms, wringing his hat between his hands.

The moment I see Owen, my heart sinks.

Cutter has her hand on the back of his neck, and he’s staring at the floor. I can’t see his face, but I know it must look bad. He’s wearing sweats, with his hood pulled up.