“Yeah, I noticed how he looked at you,” I said and pulled her into me. Even though we were standing in a crowded room, when I held her like this, it felt like it was just the two of us.
“That wasn’t the first time,” she said. I could tell she was trying not to cringe, but it was all over her face.
“I know, I was talking about during the fight.”
She had a funny look on her face.
“What?”
“When I went to the bathroom before the fight started, he hit on me,” she said.
I turned to go after him. That was crossing the line, and I just couldn’t let him get away with it. Anna held me back.
“Justin, don’t. You won. Everything is over now. You don’t have to deal with him anymore once you get your money.”
She had a point, and I picked her up once more. She wrapped her legs around me, and I kissed her long and hard.
“I love you, Anna,” I said.
“I love you, too, Justin,” she said.
“Say it one more time; I love hearing you say it.”
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” she said.
I put her back down just as Artie came over to us. He gave me a hug with tears brimming in his eyes.
“You did great, Justin. I knew you could do it. Now you need to do what we discussed. End this once and for all. Don’t look back.”
“I won’t. Thank you for believing in me, Artie,” I said.
“You’re welcome, Justin. I hope to still see you around,” he said.
“You will,” I said and made my way back to the changing room with Anna by my side.
I changed, and she waited patiently for me. We slipped out of a back door with Artie; the crowds were just too crazy that night.
“I’ll put the word out tomorrow,” Artie said. “That this was your last fight.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
Anna had given Ally her car keys so she could ride home with me. We said our goodbyes to Artie, and as we reached my car, Tyler came up to me.
“Hey. That was a good fight man. You’ve worked hard. You deserve that win.” He was holding his hand out. We hadn’t really had a chance to shake hands after the fight.
I put my hand in his and shook it. “Thanks, man. You were my toughest one yet.”
“Rumor has it that was the last one?” he asked
“Yeah, I’ve straightened out my priorities, man,” I said.
“If you ever want to come out of retirement, I’d be up for a rematch,” he said.
“How would I stay on top if I did that?”
We laughed and said goodbye, and he left.