Fighter(14)

“What?”

He gestured to my nose. “Do I smell?” Lifting an arm, he smelled under his armpit and jerked back, wrinkling his own nose. “Whoa. I don’t blame you, but that’s from being in there.” Tapping the mascot costume, his smile widened even more. “Are you ready for part three, because I’m getting ready to knock this bitch out.”

I nodded, gathering the costume together into a ball of cloth. I tried to squish it as small as I could. “Yeah, just wait till it’s almost over, though. I need time to get this to Haley.”

“Thirty seconds,” the ref called out, making sure Jaxon heard him. “Thirty seconds.”

Jax nodded at him and looked over my shoulder. “How are you going to get it to her?”

This was the third part of the plan. Haley would wear the yellow jacket mascot costume out of the bar, and because we weren’t too original, we were going to use the same ploy as the night before: I’d pull the fire alarm. Jax thought it was genius. My brothers wouldn’t expect the same distraction, and anyway, it was the best idea we had.

Sneaking Jax inside with the mascot costume had been the most brilliant point of our plan. I only hoped Haley could get away from my brother long enough to put it on.

“I’m going to the bathroom as soon as you start.” I looked over to see Haley resting against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. When our eyes met, she nodded and glanced sideways to the bathroom.

I closed my eyes in a slow, meaningful manner. I didn’t want to nod outright, as my brothers would see that as a signal to someone. To cover up my slow blink, I rubbed at my eye and peeked at Dylan. He was standing in front of Haley, with his back to her. He paid her no attention and glared at us.

“Ten seconds,” the ref called.

“You ready?” Jax asked me, standing up.

I nodded. “I’ll go drop it off. Give me time to get in my position.”

“Time! You ready?” The ref moved to the middle of the ring. He held one hand out between the Green Jacket and Jax, his other keeping his whistle in his mouth. As both fighters nodded, he blew the whistle, sending out a shrill sound that was quickly silenced as the crowd roared.

I hopped off my seat and veered through the crowd. I knew my brothers were waiting for any movement from me, and as I went past Dylan, he caught my hand. “Where are you going?” He wasn’t paying attention behind him, and Haley used this to her advantage. Keeping our hands low, I passed the costume to her. She stuffed it in her bag and tapped Dylan on the arm.

He turned to her. “What?”

“I’m going outside. My mom just called me.”

“Okay.” He turned and asked me again, “Where are you going?”

I pointed to the restroom sign. “I gotta pee.”

“Right.”

“I do. Stand guard outside, if you want.” Instead of waiting for him to release my arm, I twisted it up, forcing his hand to let go. It was either that or it would’ve broken.

As soon as his hold was gone, I swept into the bathroom. Then I waited to calm down. My heart raced, and adrenaline pumped through me. The fight, sneaking in, and now knowing we’d be sneaking out? All of it mixed together, and I was ready to burst. Pressing a hand to my chest, I took two deep breaths. My heart rate didn’t slow, but whatever. My cover wasn’t blown, and now it was show time.

I left the bathroom, pausing in the doorway. I needed to wait until Jax saw me. As he did, his mouth curved up, and he ducked to avoid a punch, then brought his left arm up in an uppercut. The Green Jacket fell back two steps, and I started forward. Dylan was there. He reached out to grab me, but I dodged his arm and shoved into the crowd. There were so many people. If I kept my head down, I didn’t think he’d be able to track me, and after a little bit, I looked back and saw I was right. Dylan was trying to find me in one direction, so I veered the other way.

The plan after this was more elementary. Haley needed time to get into the costume. I needed time to find a fire alarm, and Jax would finish the fight. Once I found an alarm, I waited. It didn’t take long.

The Green Jacket was already sluggish. His foot kept dragging on the floor. I was surprised he’d tired out so quickly, but Jax kept moving around, looking like he was at home horsing around with a friend. He glanced at the crowd for a second, but it was a second too long. I cringed, seeing it unfold.

As Jax turned back, the Green Jacket saw his moment. He flung out a fist and caught him across the face. Jax fell into the ropes, and his opponent was on him, raining punches. Jax frowned and held an arm up to block some of the hits. It wasn’t working. The Green Jacket hit him from both sides, and Jax knelt down, cradling his head in his arms to deflect the blows.

I held my breath, but as I continued to watch, I saw the spark of anger appear in Jax’s eyes. His jaw hardened, and a mean glint settled in. My heart picked up its pace. This was the Jax I’d fallen for. No matter how he was pushed down, there came a moment when he was done. Every time that line was drawn, Jax came back fighting.

I knew it was coming, but when Jax stood back up, caught his opponent’s fist in the air, and reared back to deliver a punch, it didn’t matter. The cement wall I’d tried to erect was gone. As he delivered that hit to the Green Jacket, everything I’d been trying to hold back or ignore exploded as well.

I reeled.