Tough Girl

Chapter two

We got out of the car once I found parking and made our way towards the entrance. I shook my head at her when Amy decided to go with heels. I handed the security our tickets and headed inside where the crowd was already buzzing with excitement.

I started looking for our seats with Amy following me when I suddenly heard her yelp. I turned around to find that she lost her shoe. Before she could think of picking it up, a guy beat her to it and held it out to her. She slipped her foot back into the heel while smiling at the stranger.

"Thanks." Talk about Cinderella and Prince Charming.

She then hurried over to where I was standing, waiting for her to stop flirting.

"Did you see how cute he was?" She asked once she reached me.

"You are joking, right? You already have a guy you are seeing— you can't possibly be screwing both of them." To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“Who says I can’t?” She retorted, throwing her hair over her shoulder and waving at the guy when he gazed this way.

“I'm pretty sure he thinks you are some kind of stripper with those heels of yours," I said sarcastically.

"They are not stripper heels." She argued.

"Aren't you the one who told me that you like wearing them when your legs are in the air or wrapped around a man's naked waist?" I stated.

She beamed. "Oh, honey it just makes the scene so much more erotic."

"And then you still want to tell me they are not stripper heels?" I gave her a knowing look.

She rolled her eyes at my question.

"Talking about heels, I thought we agreed that you were going to wear something sexy tonight?"

"Define sexy?” Just because heels make a woman’s butt more round and perkier—I felt no need to have a man’s eyes on my butt. I like having them look me in the eye.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You spend way too much money on stupidly overpriced sneakers than clothes."

"Yeah, because sneakers won't break my heart,”

“It's still unfair how good you look in skin-tight jeans and sneakers,” She scoffed.

We got interrupted by the announcer who started welcoming the spectators and working through the program. Ryder Cane and Josh Bryant’s fight was the main event and Ryder’s title fight was the last event of the day.

There were three fights before the main event and each of them consisted of five minutes. The main event can last up to twenty-nine minutes with five rounds or until Ryder or his opponent don’t take each other out before then.

“Do they always draw such big crowds?" Amy asked, glancing through the sea of people and watching them get riled up when the first event kicked off.

“Crowds usually get this big when there is a title fight or if a fan-favourite is fighting,” I explained.

“So, is my guess right when I say everyone is here for Ryder?” She asked.

“Your guess is good as mine,” Ryder made waves after he claimed the title fight three years ago and there were still fans of the guy he knocked out, hating on him. For the last three years, while he was kicking ass, I went to pastry school, got my diploma and used my savings from UFC to open my patisserie.

The crowd started getting warmed up when Ryder's fight finally reached its peak. Ryder's opponent was the first to make his way through the crowd and over to the octagon. He was tall and big as Ryder, and for a fleeting moment, I was worried.

His name was Josh Bryant, and his fans called him Crazy Joe due to his quick and fast knockouts. Ryder was more known for his martial arts. His favourite move was grounding his opponents and getting them into submission holds.

The lights suddenly dimmed and upbeat music started to play. The crowd roared with excitement when Ryder made his appearance with his trainer. I couldn't remove my eyes from him the moment he came into view and headed for the octagon.

I concealed an exciting shriek from blasting from my lungs when he did a little hop in front of the cage before entering.

“Damn, he is a striking man,” Amy exclaimed quite loudly but her remark mingled with the cheering crowd.

The referee called them and explained the rules before calling to fight. Ryder's punches were forbearing, swift, and accurate. He waited patiently for his opponent, Bryant's got in a few punches but Ryder moved fast and got Bryant by surprise as he knocked him off his feet. The crowd was on their feet when Ryder moved in and got on top of Bryant. Before Bryant could think to cover up, Ryder took him in a lock with no way out.

Bryant was arrogant as he didn't tap out immediately and it would cause Ryder to dislocate his arm. The crowd yelled for the guy to tap out and when the guy finally gave in, the crowd was up and cheering. Ryder was up in an instant and cheered with the crowd, his trainer overwhelmed him with a high five and gave him a tap on the back.

"Now I can finally understand why they call him the undisputed champion," Amy noted. “He’s the whole package, handsome, undefeated champion and good at proving a point,”

I shook my head at her silliness but then realized she wasn't paying attention to me. She was focusing on prince charming who was making his way over to us.

"Do you girls feel like joining us for a round of drinks?" The nameless prince charming asked.

"Only if you are buying." Amy wasn’t even playing hard to get.

"I'm Juan." Her nameless hero finally introduced himself.

"I'm Amy and this is Alex." He barely acknowledged me while his friend was devouring me with his eyes.

“There is a nightclub across from here,” Juan suggested.

"Lead the way," Amy confidently answered, ignoring my glare or protest. Feeling like the third wheel when I got pulled into her bad choices.

“I am going home,” I didn’t feel comfortable with wonder man and his LeFou.

“We barely go out anymore,” Amy insisted with a pout like I would change my mind.

“Yeah, I wonder why,” I muttered—not wanting her to overhear.

Amy excused us and pulled me to the side for a minute. “What’s going on? Wasn’t this supposed to be our girl’s night out?”

“We were until you turned into Cinderella and all you saw was Prince Charming and his wannabee friend,” I scoffed. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable with going out with guys we barely know. I can’t converse easily with the opposite s*x because all I can talk about is sports and bikes.

“It’s rude to reject people’s kindness,” She pressed.

Kindness is when a stranger offers you a ride or pays your bill.

I failed to control rolling my eyes. “The only reason you want to join him for drinks is that you are hoping that he will sleep with you,”

She stumbled a few times over her words when she noted she couldn’t disagree. “When last were you out on a date with a man who isn’t your brother?”

“When are you going to accept, that I am happy just the way things are for me?” I don’t have to go to a bar to find happiness or get drunk to lose control. I also don’t need a man to make me feel good about myself. I’ve had a man I truly loved and he misused my trust and love.

She gave a sigh of her own. “Nobody is happy with loneliness,”

“It gives me satisfaction to go to bed without a trampled heart,” I took a step away from her. Ready to get out of here.

“My phone will be on when you need me,” I informed her and then got out of there.