Jude (A Cocky Cage Fighter Novel Book 2) (20 page)

"
Rest up for tomorrow's fight, Malone. You'll probably get more zzzs than Linc since him and your girl just went into his room and are hitting the sack hard.
"

"Goddamn it!
How could she
?" I fling her fucking phone across the room, shattering the sliding glass door with it and hitting my knees at the same time. Then, like the pussy I am, I hang my head and cry.

Sadie

I stand at the end of the aisle after the last prelim fight on the card ends. Next up is the moment we've all been waiting for, Linc and Jude's title fight. Everyone is on their feet when the lights dim and the announcer gives Jude's intro with all his stats and record.

The first guitar chords of Sick Puppies' song
You're Going Down
revs up the already excited crowd
when the colored spotlights start swirling around the arena. Jude's intro is supposed to be Macklemore’s
Can’t Hold Us,
but he must’ve changed it at the last minute to Jax’s song. It's definitely harsher and angrier, not like Jude at all.

It's another twist of the dagger in my heart when I see him come out of the tunnel. His black
Havoc
hoodie is still up over his head in the usual fighter fashion as he bounces on the balls of his feet to warm up. My dad and Jax walk behind him out of the tunnel, looking stoic in their matching
Havoc
tees. Jude swipes at some of the hands of fans that are held out for him, making them cheer louder as he comes down the aisle and heads for the ref where they will to do his final inspection before clearing him to enter the cage.

Jude reaches back and yanks his hoodie off over his head, handing it to his brother. There's a chorus of gasps and appreciative sounds from the crowd when they see his black griffin spreading over his shoulders for the very first time. My dad's griffin. A part of me always hoped that it represented his connection to me too since the mythical creatures were said to mate for life and all that nonsense. But nope, Jude only cares about fighting for a stupid title.

While I watch him he rotates his neck and holds his arms out to his sides while the ref feels him over for sharp objects or anything that would disqualify him, and then rubs Vaseline over his brow and cheeks. The camera in his face shows just how tight and tense the muscles in his jaw and the rest of his body look, like he's about to explode. He reminds me of Jax before a fight, like he's ready for war.

Cleared to fight, Jude runs up the steps and into the cage, still warming up and stretching his limbs while his intro song plays on. Appropriately the lyrics say it's been a long time coming for fists hitting faces, and faces hitting floors.

Looking out into the crowd, Jude's eyes dart around, stopping when he finds me front and center like always at his fights, only this time I'm in Linc's corner. His eyes look darker, deeper, and the pinprick white dot in the center make him look enraged. I hold his angry stare until the lights dim even lower. 

Linc is the current champion and heavily favored fighter so he enters the cage last. The announcer goes through his stats with more gusto, hyping up the thousands of fans. Fall Out Boy's,
My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark
blasts loudly over the speakers as the spotlights wait at the tunnel for Linc to appear.

When the song starts into the first chorus of "
Light em up,
" red, white and blue pyrotechnic flames blaze high on either side of the tunnel right as Linc steps out between them. The fans roar in approval, and the entire stadium vibrates with excitement.

I smile when I notice he's wearing a green hoodie, one that looks similar to Link's
Legend of Zelda
outfit. He runs by the rows of palms sticking out for him, smacking them, raising his hands in the air as everyone cheers and yells his name. He pauses when he gets to where the rest of his team and I are standing. Taking off his flashy gold title belt that's being challenged by Jude, he hands it to over to his coach and hugs him and the guys on his team.

Linc surprises the shit out of me when he leans forward, picking me up in a hug and kissing my cheek. Jerking his green hoodie off, he tosses it to me with a smile when he swaggers off to the ref’s checkpoint. The cameras are all around us so I try hard to keep my emotions in check and off my face. I don't even glance at Jude again, afraid to see even more of the smoldering fiery rage in his eyes. I know Linc had only done that to inflame him more, and it probably worked. Now I can't help but wonder if Linc's using me to throw Jude off.    

The ref goes into the cage first, standing in front of Jude, holding him back with an arm so Linc can come in. As soon as the song goes off, the ref locks the cage door and gives them the standard rules. Jude turns around and walks away, refusing to touch gloves with Linc in the usual show of good sportsmanship. With the refs’ signal the bell rings and it's on.

Jude lunges at Linc with a jab followed by a huge overhand right, forcing the blonde man backwards against the chain link octagon wall as he blocks and tries to counter. He slams hooks high and low, wherever Linc can’t cover at the moment, a tornado of fury. After almost a minute of sliding along the cage, trying to escape, Linc lashes out with both hands, grabbing Jude’s head and slamming a knee into his liver, backing him up. There's an audible gasp from the crowd at the viciousness at which the men go at each other, as Linc goes on the offensive. This isn't just a regular cage fight like all the ones before it. This one has become personal, and they both look angry and crazed.

Despite beating the shit out of each other's faces, and Jude's repeated attempts to take Linc down, the two men both manage to stay on their feet the entire five minutes of the first round. I’m not sure if I even breathed but once or twice the whole damn time. When the bell rings to signal the end of round one, the referee has to jump in and pry Jude and Linc apart.

In their corners they sit on stools and rehydrate. My dad and Dave towel their guy off and press Q-tips to the open facial cuts to try and stop the bleeding. White towels are stained red when the two coaches wipe the excess blood off the men. Giving them quick pieces of advice they heavily coat the wounds of each fighter with more Vaseline before the break is over. 

Halfway through the second round, Linc gets in a heavy right cross on Jude's chin, which throws him off balance and allows Linc to take him down to the canvas. Jude endures some damaging elbows to his ribs and fists to the side of his face until he maneuvers out of Linc’s hold and gets back to his feet. After that, he hits Linc with some leg kicks, weakening the other man’s stance and causing visible swelling across his calf. Seeing Linc off balance, Jude launches a flying knee to his face, but it's right when the bell signals the end of the round, the ref separating the two and giving them another break.

At the beginning of the third of five rounds you can tell Linc and Jude are both wearing down. Their attacks are still brutal but just slower. When the two get locked up in each other's faces, grappling against the cage, Jude sweeps Linc's leg, taking him down. Just as quickly, Linc scrambles into side control over Jude, trying to pound his bruised ribs and blast the air from his lungs. Back and forth they go on the canvas, wrestling and throwing fists and elbows, fighting for control. It's hard to see what's going on from the floor level but suddenly the crowd gasps, and everyone's on their feet seeing something I can't.

…

Jude

I grind my teeth into my mouthpiece, and use every bit of strength I have left to keep the sonofabitch's arm locked. He almost had me in a chock hold, squeezing my neck so tightly my vision narrowed to a bright tunnel. Sweat and Vaseline saved me, as I was able to wrench my slickened head free. As I dove backwards from his grip I brought his left arm with me. Slamming one of my legs across his neck and the other over his chest, I manage to trap the bastard, hyperextending his elbow with a brutal arm bar. Blood seeps down my face and into my eyes while the muscles in my arms shake. Linc thrashes wildly trying to pull free, but I can feel him weakening from the pain.

"Submit!" I yell at him through my mouth guard and get a gruff, roaring "No!" in response.

"Get out now or I'm calling it!" The ref, who's on his hands and knees beside us, warns the asshole. 

A few seconds later there's a loud pop, followed by Linc's howling curse and the ref pulling me off as he waves his hands, panicked, stopping the fight.

The dumb fucker just let me break his goddamn arm.

What had been deafening sounds from the crowd goes silent as we both lay exhausted, beat half to death and bleeding on the canvas. Linc's coach and team physician are called in to check on him, along with Jax and Coach Briggs.

Fuck! I didn't want to win this way. Did I go too far and get carried away with my rage, or was it his fault for being too fucking stubborn?

"What the hell just happened?" Jax asks.

"Did you tap?" Coach asks me, wiping the blood off my face with a towel while Jax pours water down my throat.

"No. He didn't...tap...his arm...snapped," I tell them through gasps for oxygen in my aching lungs.

"Oh shit!" Jax mutters.

I glance over and see Linc's still on his back as the physician begins to wrap up his left arm.

"You won? You won!" Jax exclaims.

Jax and Coach help me to my feet, and then I drain another bottle of water while watching them work on Linc. I can't stop myself from glancing out into the crowd and finding her.

Sadie's on her feet like everyone else trying to figure out what just happened. Her hand is over her mouth, and she's blinking quickly to probably try and stop her tears. She was pissed at me before, but now she'll never forgive me. I guess we're even, since I'll never forgive her either.

After Linc is able to get back on his feet with his arm wrapped ten times larger than the normal size with ice and ace bandages, the crowd lets out a loud sigh of relief and clap for him. The announcer explains that the fight was stopped after three minutes and fifty seconds in the third round before my arm is raised as the new undisputed IFC Welterweight Champion of the World.

The thousands of fans in the arena scream and cheer for me. Victory has never tasted so bitter or trivial. I didn’t even feel this shitty after all my losses. Maybe because this time, I haven't just lost a fight. It feels like I've lost a part of myself that I’ll never get back.

I've lost Sadie.

…

Sadie

It's obvious from Linc's constant wince that he's in excruciating pain. All because of Jude. Before this fight I would've said that Jude is the gentlest fighter I know, which in its own way is an oxymoron but true, nevertheless. But now...he just permanently injured an opponent. Hurt him so bad it'll be months, if not years before he can fight again.

If Linc is able to
ever
fight again.

All because of me.

"Sadie!" Senn calls over from their team's back table.

"Yeah?"

"Linc wants to know if you're coming with us," he yells.

It's ludicrous that Linc is worrying about me after his horrible injury and loss of his long reigning title. But back to his question, am I going with them?

I look over at my dad and Jude, who are both watching me. I don't want to deal with them, or be trapped in a car for hours listening to their shit either. Then there's Page and Jax who I'm sure I could ride home with, but they'll just make pleas on the two assholes' behalves.

"Sadie?" Linc's deep voice carries through the crowd of people. When I find him his face is still tight with pain when he tilts his chin up as if to say, "Come on."

I hold up one finger indicating I need just a minute and he nods. Damn it, I want my phone back. I push my way through the crowd of people circling the new welterweight champion. Jude's eyes widen when he sees me approaching.

"How could you?" I ask

"Sadie, I didn't-" he starts.

"Never mind. I don't want to hear your bullshit. I just need my phone back," I say.

Jude's dark eyes go from soft and almost apologetic to blazing fury in a heartbeat. I've never seen such a harsh expression on his gorgeous face before. The bleeding cuts and swelling from Linc's brutal hits only make him look more savage when he says, “I broke it after I got the last text, the one about you
fucking
him."

I reel back from the venom in his tone. "What the hell, Jude?"

Linc wouldn't have, would he? Was he just using me to piss Jude off before the fight? Was there
anyone
left who I could trust wasn't screwing with me?

"We can get you another phone," my dad says. I ignore him standing off in my peripheral vision.

"What I did...not telling you was wrong, but I didn't do it to hurt you, unlike what you did to me when you
intentionally
went off and fucked him," Jude snarls.

"But you
did
hurt me!"      

"Sadie, I know you're upset, but this slutty shit you're pulling is uncalled for," my dad says to me.

I stand there listening to them both insult me when I'm the freaking victim here! I'm the person
they
wronged! That does it. It's the final nail in the coffin.

"Yes, I
slept
with him, but you two are to blame for that, not me," I respond as tears run down my cheeks, making my voice shake. "Right now I'd rather be anywhere than looking at either of you, so screw you both! I'm not going back with you. I'll find somewhere to stay until I start school at Duke."