I needed to add selfless to the list of what I loved about him, because right now, he was putting his whole life on the line for me.
“What sort of girlfriend would I be if I stopped you doing something you loved? A pretty shitty one, I reckon.” I lifted my head up to look him right in his eyes. I needed him to really hear me. “Do I like that you’ll be getting into a fight with some random guy who might beat the shit out of you? No. Will I stop you doing it? Also no.”
He dropped his forehead softly against mine.
“I don’t want to upset you. If this is gonna cause a problem for us or make you want to end this then I’ll walk away from Pat this second. I’ll ring him now.”
“No. Don’t.” I stroked his bristly jaw and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. “This might make me a little… nervous. But it won’t change the way I feel about you. Why would it?”
He screwed his eyes closed as he kept his face close to mine.
“You don’t need the stress. You could find yourself a great guy with a posh office job; a career and a decent pension plan.”
“What? Like Jensen?” I scoffed. “Fuck that. I don’t want a great guy. I have the best sat right in front of me. I want you.”
He opened his eyes to look at me and he smiled, making my heart do a little flip and my stomach go from knotted to fluttering butterflies instantly.
“Even if I end up with a broken nose and cauliflower ears?”
I rubbed my nose against his and put both of my hands on either side of his face.
“I’ll wipe your wounds and kiss them all better.”
I gave him another gentle kiss, and just as I felt like it might go deeper, he pulled away, making me give a little groan.
“Will you be there?” he asked. “I mean, would you come and watch?”
“Of course I would! Did you think I’d sit at home watching T.V. like nothing was happening? How could I, when you’re going through something like that? I might hate it, but I’ll be the first one to stand there and cheer you on. I’ll cheer the fucking place down… Unless you don’t want me there?”
“I want you there,” he said, but I wasn’t sure he truly meant it. He seemed apprehensive.
“Talk to me. You don’t sound convinced.”
“I don’t want you to have any flashbacks. You know, after last time.”
He really was putting me first. Taking my feelings into consideration and second guessing everything.
“I’ll be fine. The last thing I want you to do when you’re supposed to be focusing and studying your opponent is thinking about me and what happened. You need your head in the game. That’s how you’ll win, and you will win. You’ll beat the shit out of whoever it is, and you’ll come home to me. That’s how I’ll get through it. You’re the best, Brandon. You are amazing. Never doubt that. I know it, Pat knows it, and soon everyone else in the boxing world will know it too. I’d never hold you back. I’ll always be holding you up.”
He put his strong arms around me and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back with as much strength as I could muster. Any fears I had needed to be boxed up, locked away, and buried as deep as possible, as far as I was concerned.
“You’re a fucking awesome girlfriend. I bloody love you,” he said and pushed me backwards onto his bed.
I fell back with my hair fanned across his pillow and I laughed. He crawled up over me and the weight of his body on top of mine pushed me into the soft, lumpy mattress.
He started to kiss my neck and squeeze my ass as his hips ground into me. I couldn’t let myself go though. Not with Grannie Grim sitting downstairs.
“Brandon, your nan.” I gasped as he worked his way round to that sweet spot behind my ears.
“What about her?”
“She’s downstairs. We can’t do anything.”
He lifted his head slightly then reached over to his bedside table to grab his alarm clock.
“It’s seven p.m. She goes to bingo on Sundays at seven. Give her a minute and she’ll be out the door. She never misses bingo.”
We both stayed still, listening out for a tell-tale sign that she was leaving, and sure enough, a few seconds later we heard the front door shut.