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Dante

The fight was over just like that. Sammy stepped in the ring to check on Grayson, but Grayson swatted his hand away. "That's some fucking bullshit." I heard him cuss under his breath as he got out of the ring. While I wanted to comfort Grayson, Sammy's hand rested on my shoulder to stop me.

"He'll be fine. He's gotta go take it up with the punching bags- let him get that anger out first." I gave Sammy a nod. "Plus, we've got bigger fish to fry."

That made me glance back at Sammy. He was pointing to the board that had been updated for the final rounds. If Grayson had won, that meant that he was going to fight Shaun. Because he lost, my name was now in the bracket against Shaun... and Sammy's name was pitted against Malcom's.

-

"Are you ready?" Sammy asked me for the nineteenth time that minute. I gave him a look as he finished rewrapping my hands.

"It's a little too late now, if I'm not." I replied, glancing past him at Shaun who was already standing in the ring. He was shooting daggers through Sammy's back right now, with intensity I was used to him giving anyone who showed me the smallest bit of attention.

"I could always go take care of him for you." Sammy offered, drawing my attention back to this gorgeous man. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"I don't think that's how this works, Sammy."

He rolled his eyes my way, but helped me slide the boxing gloves on. "Most ref's are pretty much blind anyways. I doubt this one will notice." I laughed at that, giving Sammy a playful punch.

"Roster says this is my mess to clean up." I glanced back at Shaun again. Maybe it was my nerves getting the best of me, but he seemed much larger now than he did just seconds ago. Seeing those familiar black shorts on him, brought back not so fond memories

"Don't psych yourself out. Keep that focus." Sammy spoke as I started to pull myself onto the mat. "And Dante?" He added, causing me to glance back. "Fuck that motherfucker all the way up." The look he gave me in that exact moment, made all my nerves cease to exist.

I bent down, feeling beyond the status of bold, to capture Sammy's lips with my own. It was a brief peck, but just what I needed to hoist myself up into the ring.

Shaun's facial expressions said it all when our eyes locked.

He wanted to kill me.

But that was a missed opportunity on his part. I didn't plan on giving him the chance again.

Once the ref initiated the fight, I was in go mode. His fighting style mimicked that of my fathers to the T. I barely managed to block the first hefty blow that came with incredible speed. It made me briefly lose my footing. His second hit was met with a counter attack on my part though, a move I hadn't done in a very long time. One that brought me back many years to a less pleasant memory with my father...

"Keep your footwork light. You need to be able to breakaway at any point, especially if your opponent is taking the offense approach. If I deliver a left cross, put your arm up like this-" my father directed me, raising my arm up to block his slow hit. "You got that?" He asked.

I gave him a nod. I knew he'd hit me if I didn't.

Then he delivered one full force punch, without warning. My arm hadn't been quick enough to block that one. It threw me back on the mat, busting my nose open.

But today was different. I was no longer twelve, for starters.

My arm blocked that hit, before delivering a fierce body hit that threw him back. Shaun grimaced, eyes wide as he attempted to find his footing again. That was when the ref called round one.

Malcom and Sammy both entered the ring seconds later, to check in on us. Sammy handed me a water bottle, as he wiped the sweat off me. On the other side of the ring, Malcom reached over to take a look at the hit I had landed on Shaun, but Shaun practically shoved him back.

"Don't touch me." He seethed at Malcom. Malcom tossed the water back at him, clearly irritated, before climbing back out of the ring.

"You're doing great." Sammy spoke, dabbing the rest of the sweat from my neck. "But don't let your guard down. It looks like he was gearing up for an illegal swipe there." My eyes grew large at that.

I hadn't even noticed.

I gave Sammy a nod. "Don't worry, I won't let that happen."

That was the last thing I said to him, before he stepped back out of the ring.

The ref had barely called for round two, when Shaun charged for me again. This time he was quicker, landing a righteous hit to my right side, exactly were my previous injury was. I doubled over quickly in pain, but Shaun didn't back away. He delivered another cheap shot to my face while I was down. One I couldn't block in time. That was when the referee intervened, yanking him back.

My vision blurred for a moment, causing stars to form... but I quickly blinked them away. Sammy's voice came through from somewhere behind me, shouting above the noice of the crowd, to hang in there. That got me to my feet again.

When Shaun came for me again, I managed to block, then deliver a counter combo of my own. He blocked the more powerful hits, but it was left hook that caught him. I expected him to fumble back, however he surprised me.

He pulled the same moved Malcom had, by swiftly recovering to deliver another hit. This one was at my side again, causing me to fall back onto the mat. My vision had started to get hazy again.

There was one voice piercing through it though. The voice of my father.

"Are you paying attention?" My father asked, whacking me hard on the back of my head when he noticed I was playing with an ant on one of the gym mats. "I won't tell you twice, boy. You better tighten up." He threw another punch my way, forcing me to block it. It was part of this combo we'd been working on all week. I waited for the right cross- left hook- right cross, but instead of the right cross, he hit me with an uppercut.

That threw me back on the mat hard.

"You might know the moves, but you will never know the fighter like they know themselves." He spoke, taking a step towards me. "They won't always fight fair, and a day will come when you understand that. A good fighter isn't always one who predicts everything, it's one who anticipates anything."

I blinked back the tears from the pain, as I slowly stood to my feet again. It felt like Shaun may have cracked a rib or two, but I couldn't showcase that pain.

Shaun didn't hesitate as he came for me again. This time, I let him. He delivered a hard blow to my face, that I was only able to partially block, then he landed a massive blow to my ribs. The pain was excruciating... but necessary.

Him aiming for my exposed side, left an opening for me. As I buckled from that last hit, my fist came up with the last ounce of strength I had. I landed a powerful uppercut, throwing him back onto the mat.

I half expected him to get up again, like a cockroach that didn't want to die.

But he didn't.

And the ref called the match.

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