I laughed. “Yeah, it was something to see, for sure.”
“Oh my God, how do I keep missing these things? That whole story was better than watching an episode of The Guiding Light.”
“I know. I feel emotionally drained from being a part of it.”
“Well, that's one hell of a story, Natalie. There's clearly a lot of history between Jet and his dad that they will probably have to work out together, or maybe just not be a part of each other’s lives.”
I nodded, feeling sad about the whole thing. Poor Jet. I knew what it was like to have dysfunction in the family, and I also didn't have the best relationship with my dad. It was nothing like Jet's issues, but we had our own issues we had to figure out.
“Anyway, I decided that I would send a message to Jet later tonight, and tell him I want to break contact. I don't even want to be friends anymore.”
“Well, why would you do a thing like that?”
I looked at her, confused. “Isn't it obvious? Look at us?we're a mess, and we can't seem to figure things out properly. I don't want things to continue on like this; we are far too complicated for
two people who are just friends.”
“Well, for one thing, you guys were never just friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, even if you leave out the sex that's happened between you two, you are way more than just friends. He for sure has wanted more from you right from the beginning, but you have just chosen to ignore his wants out of fear. But even leaving that part out, look at the two of you together. Everyone can see it Natalie, that's why no one can figure out why you aren't together with him. I understand you’re scared of getting hurt because of what happened with Tom, but unless you're going to become a nun, you have to learn to trust someone eventually.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. You guys have great chemistry, and you have a blast together, and hello?he's hot. The sex is great ... I can keep going on if you want. I think it's a mistake to have a friends with benefits pact with this guy, but I think it’s an even bigger mistake for you to drop him out of your life completely. I think you want something serious with Jet; you're just too scared to do anything about it.”
I stared at her, shocked, and wondered how right she was about everything. I decided to hold off on my text to Jet, and see how I felt about things in the morning.
Chapter Ten
Jet
It was round two of the conference finals, and the crowd was wild as the bell rang for the second round to commence. I moved forward toward my opponent, Jan, who was trying to take me down. He was a strong fighter, and he had almost mastered me in the first round, until I got him onto the ground in a triangle hold. I almost had him submitted to tap when the bell rang to announce the round had ended. I got up off the ground and went to my corner, pissed off.
“It's okay, Jet. You will get him next round.”
I wasn't breathing heavy at all. My cardio was excellent, but I could not deny that it had been a hard round. I was fighting in the finals, and the guy I was up against was a great fighter, maybe one of the best in our weight class. If I won that fight, I would be heading to the nationals. I could not wait to get there, and I just needed to mow through Jan here to do it.
Someone screamed, “JET!” as we met in the middle of the cage to begin round two. Everyone got up from their seats, as they were dying to see me kill this round.
Jan hit his mark immediately, throwing a kick into my rib cage, and following it with a front kick. The hit was hard, and the breath came right out of me as I staggered back from the front kick. I ate the hit, unable to check it. But I got back in with a few punches to Jan’s face. My body is strong and flexible, and my movements are fluid. The crowd started to boo as I took another hit to my torso. Jan followed that with an uppercut to my chin. As my head flew up, I backed away quickly to recover. He was not going to take me down; I refused to let him. I walked back in, and hit him with a four-punch combination.
I regained my position by hitting Jan with a flying knee, and dropping him.
Jan got back up and came in hard, trying to grab me and keep me in a clinch. He dropped in a few knees as I tried to remove myself from the clinch. I pushed him away from me, and hit him with a jab, and then a right cross. I did it again, and Jan ate both hits.
My corner was screaming at me to just keep going, that I was knocking him down. I needed to get this in, to conquer Jan, and move on to the nationals. This was my dream, and I was going to prove my father wrong. Prove to him that I could do this, be the best, and have the career I always wanted in the MMA.
I went in fast and hard just as he recovered from my one-two shot. I swung high and fast with a kick and clocked him right in the head, and he was down for the count. The medics went in, and the fight was called. The medics stayed with Jan to make sure he was okay, and then he joined me in the middle for the call from the judges.
My hands went high in the air as my name was called, and I had won the fight through TKO. My corner came rushing into the cage to congratulate me, and I had the press in there as well, to interview me. I was going to the nationals. I felt like I was flying high, about to take over the world. I had never wanted anything more in my life, and there I was, the winner.
I slipped into my shirt and headed out of the cage with my team. We went back to the lockers and started collecting our things to leave.
It was party time as my team and I headed out to celebrate my victory with everyone. No one could kill my high at that point, and I knew that the nationals would be mine as well.
We all went to our usual party spot, and I realized then how much I missed Natalie. I should have invited her to the fight, but I never really knew what was going on between us. She kept me constantly confused, and to be honest, a little mystified. I looked around the room, hoping that I would see her, that she would show up with Julie, and sit at her usual spot at the bar. I wanted to see her gloomy and sassy as she pounded back drink after drink. The first time I had seen her at the bar I thought I had fallen in love, and believe me, I don't get that feeling around many girls. But Natalie, yeah, Natalie instilled that sort of thing in me.