Dante Harris was running. Running from an abusive past. Running from a messy break up. Running from the life he left in the small city of Round Rock Texas.
Somehow this small town boy has found himself in the busy streets of New York City, and in t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
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...
