“No striking in this drill,” Mack called from the corner.
Reining himself in, Noah focused on working them closer and closer to his team’s side. He was almost close enough to reach out a leg to get tagged when Billy flipped out around him and managed to pin Noah face down, arms around Noah’s neck applying pressure against Noah’s windpipe.
He struggled against the hold, twisting and pushing, but Billy just squeezed harder, and then the other man managed to get a leg over Noah’s thighs, pinning them too.
Noah was done. Fuck. Fuck. He had no choice. He tapped out.
It was possible he’d never felt more angry to lose a match in his life. Because, damnit, he needed a fucking win.
“All right, good round. Noah, Billy, head over to Colby’s cage,” Mack said.
Billy let him go, And Noah shot off the floor. At least sparring would give him a way to focus the aggression flowing inside him, because right now Noah just wanted to break something with his bare hands.
I just want you.
Aw, fucking hell.
Thoughts of Kristina flooded in behind the memory of her voice. How was she doing? Had her workshop at the Art Factory started yet? Was she thinking of Noah? Or had she written him off completely?
I guess we’re done here.
That’s what she’d said right after Noah uttered the filthy lie about not loving her, and it had been twisting like a knife in his gut all week long—a wound of his own making, of course. He got that.
Having not bought his own equipment yet, Noah suited up in some borrowed pads and guards from the club, including protective headgear—something Noah’s doctor had insisted upon. The man had been familiar with fight training as therapy, but he’d still been hesitant about signing off on it for Noah.
In the end, though, it had been Noah’s call—and to his mind, it was better to take the risk that he’d get hurt in the ring than live with the certainty that he’d die from all this pain.
He and Billy climbed into the ring.
Colby gave the signal, and then they were circling, assessing, planning their first strike
s. Billy attacked with a punching combo which Noah easily defended. Noah counterattacked, striking in a series of quick punches, jabs, fades, and hooks. Billy came at him with a leg kick, pivoted out, and got in a backhand. As they fought, Colby called out guidance, and it quickly became clear that while Noah was a stronger boxer, Billy had a stronger kicking game. Something Noah would have to work on, then.
But just then, the deficit only added to Noah’s frustration.
Noah pulled from deep inside and poured on a burst of energy, getting Billy in a clinch against the cage. Punch, punch, punch. Noah went at the guy like he was possessed. The more he fought, the more his anger consumed him, blinded him, took over his mind. He pinned Billy and nailed him with a spinning back elbow.
Billy went down against the cage, but the guy wasn’t to be underestimated, because he got his legs around Noah’s knee and forced him down, too.
Landing half on top of the other man, the fight became all about the ground and pound. They grappled. Clutched. Flipped each other. Hit. Kicked.
Christ, I want Kristina. Punch, punch, punch. Will I ever stop feeling like this? A hard elbow to the ribs. What is the fucking point of all of this without her? Pound, pound, pound.
Noah got his thighs around Billy’s neck and went to town on the man’s unguarded ribs.
“Whoa! Noah! Noah, stop!” Colby called, grabbing his arms. Billy scrambled out from under him, going into a kneeling position a few feet away.
Blinking away the haze of red in his head, Noah looked from one man to the other.
“What the fuck, man?” Billy said, glaring at him. “I tapped out thirty seconds ago.”
“Shit…I…” He shook his head. “I didn’t realize.”
“And you didn’t hear me call it off?” Colby asked, a concerned expression on his face.
Fuck. “No.”
Colby nodded, and took some notes on a clipboard. And then he started to give them some pointers based on what he’d seen of their fighting. Noah could barely hear the words the man spoke. Utter exhaustion flooded through his veins, a heaviness that almost made it impossible to lift off his pads and rise to his feet minutes later when Colby dismissed them.