Chapter 175

Pushing past Dylan, I ran down the metal stairs and pushed my way through the crowd, desperate to get to Logan before the fight began. My sudden appearance and rush seemed to catch the men in the crowd off-guard and when stepped out of my way before likely even realizing who I was or what I was doing.

There! I could see Logan through the crowd. He hadn’t seen me yet. His eyes were closed, and he threw a few punches into the air while bouncing on his feet, like he was warming up.

“Excuse me!” I said, pushing through the last of the people separating me from my husband. When I finally made it through, I cried out, “Logan!”

His face immediately crumpled in confusion. Lifting his head, he glanced around, searching.

“Logan!” I called again, and he looked at me, just as I ran up beside him. “You can’t do this,” I said, heaving, out of breath.

“Hazel? What are you doing here?” he asked me.

There was no time to explain about that, not when he was next to step into the ring.

“You can’t do this,” I said again, stronger. “Logan please. Whatever you are thinking –”

He placed his gloved hands on my shoulders. “Hazel. I’m doing this. Nothing you say can convince me.”

“But, Logan –”

“I’m serious, Hazel –”

“You could get hurt,” I said.

As he looked at me, his eyes took on that faraway glaze. He was here with my physically, but his mind was a thousand miles away.

“Logan,” I said, hoping to call him back.

“I don’t care,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I don’t care if I get hurt,” he clarified.

My heart cracked into pieces. “You can’t mean that.”

Logan returned to me, but his face only hardened, even as his eyes focused.

“Say you don’t mean that,” I pushed.

He kept his mouth shut.

“Logan…”

From the stage, the announcer called, “Welcome our next contender, Maximum!”

Logan glanced up. Was that his fake name?

“I have to go,” he said and ushered me to the side.

“I care!” I called after him as he walked away from me, toward the ring. “I care, Logan!”

He didn’t look back.

I started after him, not sure what else I could do. If I threw myself into the ring, would it stop this fight?

But too quickly, Dylan was there beside me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and held me back.

“Let me go!” I cried. “We have to stop him!”

“You’ll only get hurt,” Dylan said.

“But Logan –”

“Made his bed,” Dylan said. His jaw clenched. “Now he has to sleep in it.”

Logan knew how to throw a punch, both having learned in class as well as in practice, rearranging a few individual’s faces – those very much worthy of the rearrangement.

He’d never been in a ring like this, but he’d watched enough games and trained enough outside the ring to know what went on inside of it.

With confidence, he climbed into the ring, ready to take out his aggression and aggravation on a consenting opponent.

The person who climbed into the ring opposite him was not what he suspected.

“Maximum will be facing our returning champion! Rhino!” the announcer called out.

The crowd erupted, cheering wildly.

Rhino, now standing opposite Logan in the ring, was easily 7 feet tall. He seemed more gut than muscle, but with arms like tree trunks, likely there was strength in those fists of his.

Logan was tall and muscular, but he wasn’t that tall or that heavy. Did this league not care about weight classes?

This was his fault, he reasoned. Instead of properly researching amateur boxing leagues and their practices, he jumped into the first one that accepted him without asking too many questions.

Now, because of his purposeful oversight, he was in the ring with Rhino.

“Touch gloves,” the referee said, stepping forward.

No time to back out now. Logan was not a coward or a quitter. He agreed to this, for better or worse, and he would see it through.

Logan lifted his fist and touched his glove to Rhino’s.

“Sorry, mate,” Rhino said, voice gruff.

“For what?” Logan asked.

Rhino seemed actually apologetic. “For what I’m about to do to you.”

“Separate covers,” the referee said.

Logan’s heart raced as he did as ordered, returning to his corner. He had no coach present, while Rhino had a coach and a trainer both.

God, Logan was about to get his lights knocked out. He was certain of it.

Why did Hazel have to be here to see it?

“Ready!” the referee called.

Rhino and Logan faced each other.

Outside the four rope walls that was to be his world for the next few minutes, a bell rang.

Logan lifted his gloves and took position.

The crowd roared, but Logan blocked them out, concentrating on the fight. From what little he had heard, he knew the crowd was against him. Rhino was their champion, their favorite.

Logan would have to take him down quickly.

Rhino moved slowly, and his stance had many openings. How was he a champion?

Taking advantage of one of the openings, Logan ducked forward and hit Rhino twice in the side.

Rhino didn’t even wince. Instead, he swung his own arm around and clocked Logan on the chin.

Logan stumbled back. Shit. It was like hitting a brick wall and then getting hit by a sledgehammer.

Rhino wasn’t a champion because of finesse, Logan realized. The guy was just built like a tank. He outlasted his opponents.

With that in mind, Logan danced around in the ring, creating his own fake openings for Rhino to take, and miss. Then Logan would come in close and hit a couple of quick punches before ducking out again.

For a while, Rhino didn’t seem fazed.

The crowd grew more and more rowdy.

“Get him Rhino!” someone shouted.

Louder, someone screamed, “Break his legs!”

Logan didn’t read the fine print. He hoped to God that leg breaking wasn’t legal in this ring.

After two minutes of back and forth, the bell rang and Rhino and Logan separated for a moment, before returning to round two.

After nine rounds, both Rhino and Logan were showing signs of wear. Rhino was getting tired. Logan had taken four hits to the face. He was pretty sure his nose was busted. There was definitely blood in his mouth. But he wasn’t giving up.

He came here to prove something to himself, and until he knocked out this monster, he wasn’t going to back down.

The bell rang for round ten, and Logan sprung forward. Throwing caution to the wind, he ducked in close to punch Rhino in the chin. Rhino’s returning blow was sluggish and missed Logan entirely.

Logan struck again and again. His own bones were growing weary. His vision was getting fuzzy around the edges.

But he wouldn’t give up.

Everyone in this room thought he would fail. He should show them all.

Even Hazel.

Even himself.

Rhino gave one wide strike like a wrecking ball, slow but dangerous. Logan dodged it and countered with his own blows, landing three, one after another after another.

Rhino stumbled back. He blinked. Then he dropped.

His trainer jumped forward. “He’s out. It’s done!”

The referee called it, then lifted my arm.

The crowd was confused. There was a lot of noise, but Logan could scarcely hear it over the ringing in his ears.

When the referee released him, he knew he had to quickly clear the ring for the next fight. Slipping through the ropes, his foot caught and he stumbled.

Dylan caught and righted him. Was Logan hallucinating?

Hazel immediately touched his chest, his shoulder. She cupped his face and inspected it. Her beautiful eyes were wide with worry.

“Logan…” She said his name like an angel.

“I did it,” he said, or tried to say.

Then he fell into the dark and collapsed.