As soon as I looked up and saw Tria sitting there at the edge of the cage, her arms wrapped around herself, I could tell right away that something was wrong. I pushed past Yolanda and headed out, beyond the fence that kept the fighters away from the customers during the battle, and over to where she sat, ignoring people’s attempts to get my attention.
“What is it?” I asked over the bar sounds of music and laughter. I moved quickly to her side and looked down at her. Her eyes were red. “What’s the matter?”
“I…you…oh my God,” she gasped. “How badly are you hurt?”
“Me?” I questioned. I reached up and tried to find blood coming from somewhere, but I didn’t think he’d drawn any. I brought my hand down and looked at my fingers just in case, but they were clean. “I’m fine.”
“But he…and you…” She couldn’t seem to get any words out, and I could barely hear her above the noise, so I pulled her back down to the locker room with me and shut the door to the sounds.
“Tria, I’m fine, really.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
I had to laugh.
“Positive—look.” I spun around in a circle with my arms spread out. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“Really?”
I shook my head a little, surprised and maybe even secretly thrilled that she was showing concern for me, and this hadn’t been a bad fight at all. Little wisps of fantasy bobbed around in my head, and they included images of Tria softly kissing bruises and fussing over cuts.
“I don’t have anything to hide here,” I said as I glanced down my body, which was clad in only my trunks. Still high from the fight and realizing that she cared, the next words just came out with a cocky grin but without any real thought behind them. “I can show you the rest if you want to be sure.”
Tria’s eyes went wide, and I watched her throat bob as she swallowed. Her tongue darted out over her lips, and her cheeks flamed red as I realized what I had just said. My own tongue wet my lips, and I considered making a move, consequences be damned.
At that moment, Yolanda burst through the door. She stopped short, eyeing us both briefly before crossing her arms and glaring at me.
“There are about twenty people out there waiting to talk to you,” she said, scolding me. “What’s the holdup?”
She eyed Tria and then looked over to me with a roll of her eyes.
“You two going to be long? You are still working, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I dismissed Yolanda’s comment. “I’ll be out in a second.”
Yolanda threw one last look at Tria before she walked out.
“Look, I—”
“I don’t want to hold you up,” Tria said quickly. “Go on. Talk to your...um…fans or whatever.”
I took a long breath in and then let it out with a huff through my nose.
“Yeah, I should,” I agreed. “I need to shower first.”
“Oh…um…right,” Tria stammered. “I’ll just go back to that table, then.”
“I’ll be out soon.”
I watched her walk out of the locker room, then quickly dropped my trunks and showered. I was feeling unsettled, and I had to spend a minute clearing my mind before I could walk back out to meet anyone.
I was swarmed as soon as I returned to the bar, and I understood immediately why Yolanda was a little insistent on getting me out there. Feet First was more of a madhouse than usual with people from all over the place lined up to talk with me about my techniques, favorite holds, and my opinions on one martial art versus another. I chatted, smiled, and even accepted a couple of drinks before I finally managed to get back to where Tria was sitting. I nodded to Gary, who was relatively close to her and keeping most of the animals at bay, and dropped down in the seat opposite Tria.
“So, what did you think?” I asked. I was hyped up from the fight and the attention, and I knew I was beaming like the village moron, just waiting to hear her opinion.
“It’s not what I thought it would be,” she said quietly.
“What did you think it would be?” I asked. I leaned my elbows on the table to get a little closer so I could hear her.