KILTED DESIRE 3 - New Blood (17 page)

   “Okay, fight,” the words out of Dan’s mouth echoed around the room.

Scot
t moved forward quickly, he was sure Jake would be expecting him to do that after what he’d done to Kyle. Jake moved forward too, crouched over with his hands forward waiting for Scott’s attack. However, Scott stopped in the center of the Octagon and didn’t engage. He knew that was what Jake wanted, and he wasn’t going to play into his hands. Instead, he’d wait for Jake to come to him and when he did, he’d pick him off with punches and kicks. They circled for a few seconds watching each other closely, before Jake lunged forward trying to grab Scott’s legs to take him down. A quick left jab, striking him squarely in the face was his reward for the move. Scott’s hit and run tactics worked perfectly as he quickly moved away after landing his blow.

   Jake was more cautious now and carefully stalked Scott as he moved around. For a split second Jake dropped his guard, and Scott took advantage. He landed a vicious round-house kick to the side of Jake’s head stunning him. The round continued in much the same way, Scott landed several strikes while keeping out of the big man’s grip. When Dan shouted that time was up for the first round, Scott returned to his side of the ring. He took out his mouth-guard and smiled at Tiffany, before taking a drink of water. Scott was happy with the first round. It had gone exactly to plan. He knew his opponent was tired and frustrated. Jake was sitting down and seemed to be breathing heavily. Scott, on the other hand was standing, pacing around. His well-defined upper body was glistening with sweat. Tiffany was enjoying the view of his well-defined chest and abs. The lights shining on his sweaty body enhanced the look of his muscles. Plus his tattoo’s looked really sexy too, she thought. Scott continued to pace up and down, smiling at Tiffany every time he faced her. He was impatient to get going again. Soon, the next round was underway.

   Once again, Scott moved quickly to center, but then stopped and waited for his opponent to come to him. The round followed a very similar pattern to the previous one, with Scott’s hit and run tactic still working perfectly. By the end of it he’d landed several more blows upon his tired opponent, suffering very little damage himself. Jake had caught him with a couple of punches but nothing had landed cleanly. Scott stood and paced around waiting for the final round to begin. Jake again, was sitting down and was blowing hard. Although he was giving away 16 or 17 years in age, Scott knew the younger man’s weight was now counting against him. Chasing Scott around for the previous two rounds and throwing lots of punches that had missed their target, were taking their toll on Jake. Scott had the much superior cardio-vascular fitness and it was showing.

   As the third round started, Scott knew Jake wasn’t going to last much longer. He must have known it himself too, as he instantly came at Scott in a desperation move. He lunged in towards Scott quickly trying to grab his legs and take him down. Using all the energy he had left, he threw himself forward. His quick attack took Scott a little by surprise and Scott was sent tumbling backwards onto his butt. Jake was on the floor too, on his hands and knees. He reached forward trying to get a hold of Scott’s legs, so he could clamber on top of him, and use his superior weight and grappling skills. However, Scott was too fast for him. He shuffled back a little before doing a backwards roll and sprung himself back up to his feet, using his powerful arms and shoulders to generate the movement. He knew Jake was out of energy and would struggle to regain his feet, so quickly moved towards him. Scott jumped on his back pushing him down on to the canvas. He started to rain blows down on the back of his head. Jake tried to cover up and protect himself as well as he could but they both knew the fight was over. Scott could have landed the punches a lot harder, but there was no need. Within a few seconds Dan pulled Scott’s arm away and declared him the winner. Scott stood up and removed his head guard and mouth guard before helping Jake to his feet. He put his arm around his shoulder.

   “Are yer okay?” he asked.

   “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just not in as good a shape as I thought I was,” Jake replied still gasping for air.

   “Take yer time, get a drink. I’ll come talk tae yer in a wee bit,” Scott said as he moved away and made his way over to Tiffany. She stood up as he approached her, and he gave her a hug and kiss.

   “Sorry fer getting yer all sweaty, Tiff.”

   “Oh, you can get me all sweaty anytime,” she replied looking at him with that wicked smile of hers.

   “It’s over now, nae more fights or anything like this until after we’re married. I did enjoy it though.”

   “I know you did, I could tell. I think you should be the one doing the training here!”

   “Och I dinnae have time fer that, I’ll help them oot though, if they want me tae. I’m going tae go and talk tae them all in a wee bit after Jake gets his breath back.”

   A few minutes later as Scott and Tiffany were walking out of the gym, they stopped to talk to the guys.

   “Hey
Scott, you set me up didn’t you? I think you’ve done more than just kickboxing! Haven’t you?” Jake said smiling at Scott and shaking his hand again.

   “Aye, I’ve got experience in a few different fighting styles,” Scott replied.

   “Come on then, tell me.”

   “I have done kickboxing in the past, and Thai-boxing. Plus when I was in the military I was trained in Jeet-Kune-Do, Krav-Maga, Sayoc-Kali and a few others. Also, we did some training in Apache Indian knife fighting. I do have quite a few different skills when it comes tae this kind of thing.”

   “I knew there had to be something. You didn’t seem like just a kick-boxer. I guess I need to learn to do more research before taking a fight on,” Jake said shaking his head.

   “Aye, yer should always try and find oot as much as yer can aboot yer opponent, if possible.”

   “Okay, Scott. So all the guys want to know if you’ll come and help us train? Teach us all a few things!” Jake asked.

   “Yeah Scott, we need you down here. You can teach us so much!” Kyle added.

   “Aye, I told yer I would. I’m just nae going tae have time tae do it very often with my job and the baby on the way. After the wedding we’ll work something oot though.”

   “Thanks Scott,” Kyle said.

   “All of yer have tae remember though, yer cannae succeed in a sport like MMA with just one style. Even yer too Jake, yer going tae have tae expand on what kind of things yer teach.”

   “Yeah, you’re right Scott.
I was relying too heavily on the wrestling. I think that was made pretty evident by what they all just witnessed out there. It turned out to be an example of what not to do, rather than of what to do.”

   “At least you lasted a while, I was done in 10 seconds,” Kyle said, making the others laugh.

   “I thought it was more like eight,” Scott teased.

   “Yeah, I think we all learned a good lesson tonight, we’ve got to put a lot more work in if you guys want to start fighting properly,” Jake added.

   “Tae be honest, I would nae even worry aboot that. Yer have a really nice place here and it can be very successful for you guys that have a share in it. Enjoy it fer what it is. It’s a great place in a great area, and I dinnae mean this as an insult so please dinnae take it that way. But most of yer here now, and probably most of the people who yer get coming here wanting tae train, are guys from mid tae upper class families. They’ve all got guid jobs and they’re here tae get fit and learn a wee bit. If yer get in tae fighting properly, yer could come up against guys who are totally opposite. I’m talking aboot people who have nothing, people who were brought up in poverty. People like that are looking tae get in tae this kind of sport as a way oot. Tae get a better life fer themselves. They’ll have a determination that none of yer here could match. I’m just saying, yer have tae be careful. Yer all relatively new tae this, take yer time and see how it goes. And, if at some time in the future, any of yer are guid enough, and hungry enough tae want tae take it tae the next level, then fine,” Scott said trying not to sound condescending but wanting to get his point across.

   “Okay Scott, I understand,” Kyle said.

   “Me too, don’t worry Scott. You’ve taught us all something tonight and we look forward to having you come help train us,” Dan added.

   “Yeah, that goes for me too, Scott. I’
d love to have you down here working with the guys,” Jake chimed in.

   “Okay,
sounds guid guys. I’ll see most of yer in a few weeks after I get married tae this pretty lass,” he said before kissing Tiffany on the cheek. She blushed.

   “Okay, bye Scott and thanks again,” said Jake.

   “Bye Kyle, I’ll see yer at yer parents next Sunday, and dinnae forget we may need some help soon when we move to the new house. Are yer going tae volunteer yer services?”

   “Of course, bye Scott, s
ee you later Sis.”

Chapter 15

   It was late
Thursday night, in the middle of June, just a couple of days before they were due to head off on the cruise. Moving into the new house had gone smoothly and they were pretty much settled in. There were still a few boxes lying around the floor waiting to be unpacked but on the whole, it had gone well. The sale of Tiffany’s house in Santa Monica had gone through too, just a few days after the move. Once again, everything was working out perfectly. They planned to head up to San Francisco on the Friday evening and stay the night with Katy and Josh, before they had to board the ship on Saturday.

   Tiffany was asleep, Scott wasn’t. He was in bed but was frantically trying to find out some information online. He sat tapping on the laptop as she slept beside him. He was very frustrated.  He’d ordered a special custom-made engagement ring for her from an independent specialist jewelry store in Las Vegas, when he was there on business. The only problem was that it hadn’t been delivered earlier that day, when they’d promised it would be. Scott was busy sending emails to the store trying to find out what was going on. He knew it was too late to get a reply but hopefully someone would contact him first thing in the morning. He was running out of time, they had to leave for San Francisco the following afternoon and he had to have it before they left. He wasn’t happy, and was extremely restless, but nevertheless, he knew there was nothing he could do. So, he tried to put it out of his mind and get some sleep.

   As soon as Scott awoke, he checked the computer, but there was no reply. It was still early though so he decided to have a shower and fix some breakfast before he’d try to call them. Tiffany was still asleep. He didn’t want to wake her. It was just after 8:00 a.m. when Scott made his way downstairs. The store wasn’t supposed to open for another hour, so he fixed breakfast for them both and returned back up to the bedroom. Tiffany was just waking up.

   “Morning Scott, awww you made me breakfast in bed again
,”

   “Morning gorgeous, aye, anything fer yer,” he replied as he put the tray down and
leant over to kiss her.

   “What time do you want to leave today?” she asked.

  “Late afternoon should be fine. Do yer have much still tae do?”

   “Just a few more things to pack, bu
t I’m virtually done. I packed two suits for you and your kilt for the evenings on board.”

   “Do yer have tae dress up every evening?”

   “I don’t think you have to, but most people do, at least a few times anyway. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

   “Okay, I dinnae mind doing it occasionally but I’m really a jeans and T-shirt kinda guy.”

   “I know, but I’m determined to get you in suits more often, you look good in them,” she responded with a smile on her face.

Scott had never been on a cruise before so was a little unsure of what to expect, especially when it came to the evenings on board. He didn’t mind dressing up occasionally but didn’t like to feel like he had to, all of the time. Tiffany had been on many cruises, both with her pare
nts and alone, so she wasn’t worried. Although she hadn’t been on this particular ship before, she imagined it would be quite similar to most of the others that she’d sailed on.

   A little later while she was in the shower, Scott went back downstairs and made his call. It turned out they had made a mistake and failed to get it sent out. They offered their apologies and even reduced the price of the ring, but it wasn’t much use to Scott. He understood that mistakes happened, but this was just really bad timing. There was no other option, he’d have to drive to Vegas and collect it. He knew he could do it in about three and half hours, maybe a little quicker if he really put his foot down, but he’d have to leave straight away. So after quickly going upstairs and explaining to Tiffany that he had to go out for a few hours to do something urgently for work, he left. He didn’t really have anything to do at home, plus she liked to do all the packing anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.