“She’s with Raegan and Hilary somewhere around here. I figured you would want a heads up so you wouldn’t be all surprised.”
“Thanks, man. Oh, and good luck tonight,” I tell him.
“Thank you,” he calls out as he walks to the dressing room.
I spot Garrett up ahead talking to Howard and I walk towards them. “Hey, Austin, I’m glad you came,” Howard greets me.
“Hey, guys.”
The arena is beginning to fill up and suddenly Blaize’s voice booms through the speakers. The line-up gets announced and damn, it’s going to be a good night. I wish Garrett good luck and begin walking over to where everyone is seated. I spot Paige in the crowd surrounded by Hilary and Raegan. She happens to turn and her eyes lock with mine. Her face blushes and I think it’s so damn cute. I make my way to them and give both Raegan and Hilary a hug. I lean down and kiss Paige’s cheek and her face is even more flushed.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” I tell her as I sit beside her.
“I didn’t know either until Raegan asked if I wanted to come along this afternoon.”
“How was your day?”
“It’s better now,” she replies with a smile. I sat with my left arm by her so I can hold her hand if I want to and hell yes, I want to. I pull her hand into mine and we sit back and watch as the action begins to unfold before our eyes.
Lance goes before Garrett. Paige’s small gasps fill my ears and I chuckle. I guess she’s actually concerned for the two men inside the ring. Little does she know, no one else really is. This is all sport for them. They could care less.
For the first time since I’ve been a part of the crew at Lou’s, I witness Lance lose his first fight. I replay it over and over in my head and I can’t seem to figure out what he did wrong. His opponent must have just had that upper edge. The disappointment and anger show in his face and I know now is not the time to go talk to him. He needs to blow off his steam and then he’ll be fine. Hilary excuses herself and goes straight to him. He probably wants to see her more than he wants to see me anyway.
“Did you see how pissed he was?” Raegan leans over to tell me.
“I know. I’ve never seen him lose before.”
“I’ve barely seen him lose. It just doesn’t happen.” She shakes her head in disbelief.
Garrett’s name is announced shortly after and Paige begins to tense up again as yet another fight starts. Unlike Lance, Garrett comes out victorious like usual. Raegan jumps to her feet, yelling in excitement. I do wish I could have seen her fight when she did.
Raegan waves for us to stand and follow her. We all meet outside the dressing room where Garrett has disappeared to. Lance is standing outside the door, still wearing a solemn look on his face.
I let go of Paige’s arm and walk over to him. “Hey, man, you did good out there.”
“Not good enough. I don’t know what the fuck happened. I had it, I swear I thought I did.” He shakes his head like he’s replaying the fight in his head.
“Think about it this way, at least you didn’t lose like a punk. You held your own.”
“You’re right about that. All I know is what happened tonight will not happen again.”
Paige steps up and sheepishly tells him, “I have no clue what I was really watching, but you were very good.”
“Thank you.” Lance smiles at her. “Well, I told Howard I was leaving a few minutes ago but I was waiting to see you guys. We’ll see y’all later.”
We tell him and Hilary bye as they walk off. “Yeah, he’s going to beat himself up all night. I feel bad for Hil.” Raegan laughs. “Thank God Garrett won because he’s pissy when he loses.”
“Something tells me I’d hate to see that.” I laugh.
“Yeah, he’s no fun. I leave him alone and let him be. Within a few minutes he’s normally fine. So, Paige, do you need a ride home or did you want to get a ride with Austin?”
Her eyes lock with mine and I instantly know the little matchmaking charade she’s trying to play. “I can give her a ride home.” I glance over at Paige to see her blushing. “If that’s okay with her.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m ready when you are, I guess. Thank you, Raegan, for inviting me tonight. I actually liked it.”
“It kinda flows through our veins around here. Anytime you want to come, you’re more than welcome. Austin knows when all the fights are and everything.”
“That sounds great.” Paige smiles.