Tyler's Undoing (Gloves Off #1)(47)

The announcer congratulated Paxton and lifted his arm. “Ladies and gentleman, I give you tonight’s winner, Paxton . . . The Avenger . . . Emmmeeerrrsssooonnn!”

I clapped and whistled for Paxton as he made his rounds and left the ring, disappearing into the crowd. Out of everyone back home, I missed him the most. When I left, I changed my cell number and basically disappeared. I had to do what I needed to do in order to get away from my family and start fresh.

“All right, are you ready for the final fight of the evening?” the announcer asked, circling around in the ring.

“Yes!” the whole arena replied, everyone’s booming voices made the stands tremble.

“Now that’s what I like to hear. Again, whoever wins this match will go on to Las Vegas next weekend to fight for the Heavyweight title. So first up, let’s hear it for Joshua . . . The Tamer . . . MaaacccEnnntttiiirrreee!”

Joshua walked out in a pair of shimmering gold shorts with his blond hair in cornrows. He used to be the Heavyweight champion, until my brother beat him and took away the title. After that, Matt Reynolds beat my brother and kept the title ever since—until now.

It was Tyler’s turn to win it.

“And finally, I want to introduce you to our last fighter for the evening. Let’s hear it for Tyler . . . The Terror . . . Ruuussshhhiiinnnggg!”

The room crackled in energy as Bad Company by Five Finger Death Punch, played across the loud speakers. My heart thumped wild in my chest the second he walked out of the curtains and down the aisle. I wanted to be down there with him, to have him look at me and smile when he entered the ring. Alas, he had no idea I was there. His father and his agent took up the rear, and they each took turns speaking to Tyler before he gave them a nod and jumped into the ring.

Tyler and Joshua met in the center and bumped gloves before getting into their fighting stance. As always, the arena went deathly silent as we waited on the bell to ring. When it did, the whole crowd exploded as both guys tensed and started toward each other. Tyler swung first and hit Joshua on the right cheek, and then Joshua countered quickly by connecting with Tyler’s jaw. The sound was deafening and made my body hurt, yet the men didn’t seem fazed by it. I had never been in a fist fight before, but I could imagine how horrible it must hurt to get hit with all of that power. They fought relentlessly and never once stopped.

Ding, ding, ding.

Joshua was tired, but Tyler had paced himself quite nicely, conserving his energy. His father seemed extremely pleased with the outcome. After a quick break and some water, it was time for round two.

“Come on, Tyler, I’ll give you the ride of your life if you win,” a woman shouted behind me.

When I looked back, there were about four women, all around my age, holding up signs for Tyler, giggling. The girl who shouted was actually pretty, but she had too much makeup on her heart-shaped face, and her clothes were way too tight for her curvy body. I wanted to tell her to f*ck off, but I reminded myself this was the kind of shit I’d have to deal with, dating a fighter like him. I saw it all of the time with my brother. Women were constantly throwing themselves at him.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Jenny, but he must be seriously dating someone,” one of the girls responded. Immediately, I faced forward and leaned back in my seat so I could listen.

“What do you mean he’s dating someone?”

“Apparently, he’s not letting any more girls into his room after the fights. One of my girlfriends tried to get back there and was told to turn around and leave. The same thing happened to her when she tried to get into Matt Reynolds’ room two years ago . . . and now he’s married.”

“Well, shit. That sucks donkey balls,” Jenny sulked.

Putting a hand over my mouth, I held in my snicker. It was pathetic how some of these women were. Turning around, I sighed and nodded my head. “Yeah, it sucks a big fat one, but I think it is true,” I began. “I’m staying at the same hotel as him and I saw him with another girl. They looked pretty cozy together.”

“Fuck,” Jenny snarled. “That’s no fun.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I turned back around to watch Tyler, grinning from ear to ear. He was still pumped, pummeling Joshua with everything he had. Once Joshua was on the mat and close to tapping out, the bell rang for the end of round two. He almost had him.

Looking at Joshua on the monitors, he had blood pouring down the left side of his face from a cut above his eyebrow and his left eye was almost swollen shut. Tyler, on the other hand, only had a bruise on his right jawline. His father grinned with pride and nodded in approval, which made Tyler smile in return. Steven Rushing was hard on him, but I knew it was because he loved his son and only wanted the best.

Ding, ding, ding. It was the third and final round.

“Come on, Tyler!” I shouted. If only he could hear me.

Smacking his gloves together, he smiled slyly at Joshua and went for the kill. It was as if all of his energy came out all at one time. Sweeping Joshua’s feet out from under him, he fell to the mat and Tyler pounced, wrapping his arm around his neck, holding tight. About two seconds later, Joshua tapped out . . . it was over. Immediately, Tyler let Joshua go and jumped to his feet, circling around the ring with his arms in the air. The crowd went crazy, yelling and chanting his name over and over.

“Tyler! Tyler! Tyler!”

I even shouted it too; I was so happy for him. Getting to my feet, I whistled as loud as I could when the announcer lifted Tyler’s arm and announced him the victor. His next fight was for the title, with my brother. Sooner or later, I had to tell him the truth. He loves me and I love him—it has to be enough.