She nodded. “Just nervous. I’ve only been to a couple of these before. He hates me being here.”
“What?” I shifted her toward me. “Why?”
She wrinkled her nose and stood on her tiptoes to talk near my ear. “He doesn’t think it’s a safe environment for me.”
“Him and your dad, man.” I shook my head. “They both get off on overprotecting you.”
Her mouth tightened, and for a second, I thought she might say something else. But she didn’t. She just turned back toward the ring.
Emerson had been the one to fill me in about the scene in her apartment last weekend, not Lily. She’d just pretended like everything was okay. She’d gone to lunch with us, she’d smiled at our jokes, and yet she’d quietly begun to pull away. I’d sensed it and asked Emerson about what had happened, and he’d told me—reluctantly.
Which was when I’d decided I couldn’t stand back and let them fumble their way through this. We’d just begun this crazy relationship, but I already knew I wanted it to last. I didn’t know if it would last forever or just for a while. All I knew was I wasn’t anywhere near ready to let them go.
So I’d taken the opportunity tonight to come clean to Mr. Matthews and Lily. Next, I’d figure out how to handle Emerson. He was part of the equation too, even if he seemed as ready to bow out as Lily had after that awkwardness with Lily’s dad last weekend.
I got it, I really did. They were both afraid of letting her old man down. Except I was missing part of the puzzle. Her dad was super overprotective because she was his only kid, and because he was a cop, but there had to be more.
Clearly, I hadn’t been let in on the whole story.
Maybe something to do with Lily’s upbringing? Or her mom? I knew Mrs. Matthews had been dead for a long time. Lily had mentioned that shortly after we’d met, and from the way she’d hesitated to tell me much about her home life, I had a feeling there was something about the way her mom had passed that made it difficult for her to speak about it. Even more difficult than usual. I just didn’t know what.
The opening bell rang and Emerson came out swinging. I wasn’t a huge MMA fan, but I knew a couple moves and combinations. One thing I definitely knew within about a minute was that we’d be hitting the club early tonight, because Emerson was wiping the mat with this dude.
He started with a series of short-armed punches to the jaw, just hammering Lubino’s head back again and again until I practically had a sympathy headache. Lubino tried to get some of
his own back, and it just wasn’t happening. Emerson had him against the ropes. When punches to the jaw weren’t enough, he started whaling on his torso, peppering him with blows. Every time Lubino tried to counter with a kick or a jab, Emerson just knocked him back.
The first round was no contest. Emerson won by a landslide.
The guys retreated to their corners and Lily turned to look at me, her face flushed with excitement. “He’s amazing, isn’t he?”
“He sure is.” I kissed her forehead. “What say you we visit him in the locker room after this, make sure he’s ready to come to the club with us?”
“Yeah.” Smiling broadly, she turned back toward the octagon, bouncing a little as the new round was called.
I slid my arms around her waist and tucked my smile against her neck. Perhaps telling her I was in love with her had encouraged her to stop pulling back, or maybe part of it was that I’d told her dad too. Either way, her enthusiasm tonight seemed like a good sign.
Now if we could work on that guy currently dancing around the ring, we might actually get somewhere.
Emerson handled Lubino the same way in the second round as he had in the first. This time, he led off with a kick to the chest, knocking Lubino back against the ropes. He sneaked past his opponent’s core, delivering a painful punch to the ribs that had the crowd gasping and screaming.
From there, it only took a few more uppercuts and a particularly nasty combination that tied up Lubino’s legs and sent him slamming forward onto the mat to have the man tapping out.
I grinned and shouted with the rest of the crowd as Emerson was declared the winner. Lily turned to me and I picked her up, giving her the height advantage to pump her fists and scream her little heart out.
Somehow he heard her over the melee. He glanced her way, surprise giving way to pleasure as she blew him a kiss. His gaze fell to me and we nodded at each other. Our version of blowing a kiss, I guess.
I’d blow him in other ways later, if he’d finally get on board the damn train.
Once Emerson headed back to the locker room and preparations for the next fight began, I set Lily down and bent to whisper in her ear. “Ready for that visit or should we wait a few minutes?”
She grinned. “Let’s go now.”
We made our way through the throng of eager people already jonesing for the next match. We finally pushed through the double doors that sectioned off the fight area and stepped into the hall to get our bearings. It took a few minutes for us to follow the winding hallway to where rap music continued to blare from inside the makeshift locker room.
This place had once been some kind of factory. Back then, the employees who worked long shifts would sometimes take showers on the clock. I’d needed a shower a time or two while doing my job, so I definitely understood.
Lily peered up at me. “Should we knock?”