In all reality, does it really matter how I found him? The fact is, we’re both here, and I’ll finally be able to tell him our short but amazing time together created the most perfect, beautiful, little miracle.
The bell rings, and the fight begins, and Cooper owns up to his name. He goes after the other guy in pure rage. They both go back and forth swinging punches. I wince several times at the hits they’re each getting in. The other guy gets him good in the eye, causing it to bleed, but Cooper doesn’t even seem affected by it. It’s like he’s in a zone.
The fight can’t be more than a couple minutes in when Cooper throws a punch straight to the guy’s chin that knocks the guy to the ground. The referee jumps in front of Cooper to stop him from continuing his attack on the guy who is now motionlessly lying on the ground. The medics run over to the guy to check him out. Holy shit! Cooper must’ve knocked him out cold because the guy still isn’t moving. The crowd goes wild. They’re screaming and chanting his name. The arena is a damn nut house.
The announcer declares Cooper the winner and raises his arm in the air. He doesn’t even crack a smile, but I notice he’s scanning the crowd, and when his eyes meet mine once again, he raises his two fingers to his eyes and points at me. Kayla nudges me, a grin spreading across her face. I’m in such shock I can’t even move or respond. I try to make my head shake up and down, but I have no idea if it’s working.
The other guy finally gets up with the help of the medic and walks out of the fighting ring, leaving Cooper there with his entourage.
I recognize his three friends from the club that night. Time has definitely been good to all of them. Also with them is an older gentleman who looks to be in his late forties, built like Cooper, with the same color hair and eyes. If I had to guess, I would say that has to be his dad or somebody related to him. He doesn’t smile like Cooper’s friends do. While his friends are patting him on the back and shoulder and giving him hugs to congratulate him, the guy just stands there and stares, the look on his face sending chills up my spine.
Once Cooper is done with his interviews, they all head out of the fighting ring back toward the room they came from. He whispers something into Bentley’s ear and Bentley’s head shoots up, looking around until he spots me. He smirks and nods his head. While they all head to the back, Bentley stops right in front of us.
“Well, God damn. If it isn’t the girl who got away.”
His grin gets wider as he looks me up and down, clearly checking me out. Then he turns his head to Kayla and his face morphs from humorous to full-on lust. Kayla never admitted to what happened between them, only that they had sex and moved on, but looking at his expression, I swear he’s reliving it all over again, and I’d bet there was more to them than just a wham-bam-thank you-ma’am.
“And her best friend,” he adds. “Never thought we’d ever see you two again.”
Because I’m still stuck on the girl who got away part, I don’t hear anything Kayla and Bentley are saying. The girl who got away? Could that mean he’s thought about me? It doesn’t make any sense because he’s the one who left that morning without leaving his phone number.
I catch what must be the tail end of the conversation—Kayla telling Bentley we will be there. Be where? Where are we going? Oh! She must be referring to the after party. That would make sense since it’s for the fighters and Cooper is a fighter.
Bentley nods at Kayla, then at me, and then walks away. This is too much to take in. To think, if I wouldn’t have come tonight, I would’ve missed running into Cooper. This whole time we’ve been living in the same city. What are the odds?
Nine
Cooper
Holy. Shit. My world feels like it’s just been turned on its axis. No, more like picked up, shaken every which way, and flipped the hell all over the place. I’ve spent the last five years imagining what Liz would feel like beneath me again, but I never thought it could become a reality.
I just won my fight. I should be focusing on the fact that I’ve ensured myself a spot for the title fight. I’ve worked my ass off to get here. Thinking about this girl is not going to help me get ready for this fight, that’s for damn sure. She would be nothing but a distraction if I let her in. Plus, I’d never be able to devote the time to her that she deserves and where would that leave us? All I have to do is take a look at my drunken, cheating mother to remind myself what women are capable of when they don’t get enough attention. But damn, when I think about Liz and our short time together in Miami, it feels so different, like the connection we shared could possibly mean more.