I stand to the side with Marcus, and Cobi is standing at the bottom of the stairs. Becca is posing with her fists up, facing Jordan Maxwell. Flashes from the cameras are blinding and I don’t miss some of the wolf whistles directed their way.
How she deals with it, I’m not sure, because I would bust a twat’s face for doing that to me if I were a woman.
I focus back on the two women. Jordan is taller than Becca, and I don’t miss the way she’s running her mouth at Becca, but my girl’s not even reacting. “Good girl,” I whisper quietly.
“Nothing can shake her, she’s like a statue,” Marcus leans in and says in my ear. “Is it wrong that I’m a little turned on right now?”
I scan the crowd, looking for anyone that doesn’t belong here, and then glance at him. “Idiot.” We may joke, but I see his eyes are always moving—both of us taking Becca’s safety seriously.
Once the weigh in is over I watch Rob lead her toward a group of reporters. I stay back, but Cobi comes over to us, and I watch as he does a quick scan of the crowd—see, we’re always watching.
It’s another half hour before we’re able to head back to our suite. Becca walks silently to her room, shutting the door behind her. I’m not sure what is going on with her right now.
I follow her and stop outside of her room. I knock on the door, and I hear her softly call out, “Come in.”
Pushing open the door, I find her sitting in the middle of the bed. She looks up at me and smiles. “Hey, what’s up?”
“You okay? You’re quiet.” I step further into the room.
“Sorry, I guess I should’ve told you that I get quiet before a fight. I like to just relax and clear my head.” She grabs the remote and turns the TV on. “Do you want to watch TV with me?”
I like the idea of spending time with her, I like being around her. I can’t deny that I’m attracted to her, but I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my job of keeping her safe. Of course, maybe I just need to say fuck it, and see where this goes. “Definitely. You find something to watch, I’m going to talk to the boys. I’ll be back.”
My two mates are sitting in the living room, drinking beers. “How’s she doing?” Marcus asks.
“Good, she’s just relaxing.” I take a seat across from him. “She says she gets quiet before a fight and just likes to clear her head.”
He nods. “We’re going to order room service; do you guys want something?”
I order both Becca and me chicken with fresh veggies. “Just come get us when it gets here.”
After grabbing two bottles of water, I head into Becca’s room, and find she’s got something paused. “What did you find?” I ask as I climb onto the bed and lean back against the bazillion pillows. She’s in the same position.
“Cobra Kai.” She gives me a cheeky grin and then presses play.
I cross my arms over my chest, pretending to be disgruntled, and then turn back to the TV. Her soft giggle makes me smile.
We finish season one and I shake my head because Becca is sleeping peacefully beside me. She is close enough that the warm puffs of her breath hits my arm. Marcus is stretched out on the chaise lounge and Cobi is lying across the end of the bed.
I turn it off. “That was better than I thought it would be.” It was cheesy, but in the best way.
“Hell yeah. I can’t wait to watch the other two seasons,” Cobi says as he hops up. “I’m going to go call and check on Sarah. See you in the morning.”
He is so gone for that girl but she’s kept him at arm’s length. The poor thing had been married to a monster who beat her and terrorized Jackson’s wife before they were married. Let us not forget that the motherfucker had stabbed Harley in the gut.
The guy is, thankfully, locked up, and it’ll be a very long time before he’s a free man. Now Harley is pregnant with her and Jack’s first child together.
Marcus tells me goodnight and disappears into the hall, leaving me alone in Becca’s room. I walk around to her side of the bed and pull the comforter up and over her.
I shut off the bedside light and as I walk away a hand wraps around my forearm, stopping me from going further. I turn around and Becca is sitting up in her bed. “Thank you for hanging out with me tonight.”
It does something to my insides to watch her look up at me with messy hair that’s around her shoulders and her eyes are heavy-lidded with sleep. I want to reach out and brush her hair back, but instead I give her a smile. “Of course. Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”
I head to my bedroom and strip out of my clothes. I’m gonna hop into the shower, jerk off, and then pass out.
The arena is filled with electric energy that has all of us pumped. Becca is in her gear, her hair is in braids, and she’s got headphones on. She sits by herself with her eyes closed.
I’m so impressed by her focus and dedication. All day today she’s been chill. When we got down here to her locker room, she was starting to get antsy, so I stretched her out and then we warmed up with some ducking and weaving.
They come in and tell us it’s time and the place explodes with hyped up energy. We’re all in black track pants with white stripes down the sides, and our shirts all have Becca “The Beast” McNeal on the back.
Gio takes off her headphones since her hands are already wrapped and he takes a minute to talk quietly to her. We all stand by the door, and when she comes toward us, I can see the fire blazing in her eye.
We step into the hallway and the crowd is screaming and cheering. They announce Becca, and then Venom by Eminem starts pumping through the speakers. Gio leads the way out of the hallway, and we all surround Becca as we make our way toward the ring.
My adrenalin kicks in at the deafening cheers. I scan the crowd and know that Marcus and Cobi are doing the same. We climb into the octagon once we reach it, waiting for the official announcement.
I’m in such a zone that I don’t hear anything but my heartbeat.
When it’s time for the fight, we step out and stand on our side. Gio stays with her until the last possible minute and once he joins us, Rob, her manager, comes over. My eyes go back to Becca, who is shaking out her limbs.
Jordan appears to be taunting Becca, but my girl doesn’t let it phase her. The crowd erupts into a frenzy the moment the fight begins and she lives up to her nickname, “The Beast.” She goes right at Jordan, dodging the other girl’s punch and hits her with a cross, connecting with the other fighter’s jaw.
Her head flies back and Becca kicks out her leg, taking the other woman down. They grapple on the mat until Becca uses her whole body to flip them, wraps herself around Jordan, and does an armbar.
We rush up to the octagon. “You’ve got her, hold tight,” I shout. I really doubt she can hear me.
The lot of us shout, the crowd is going wild, and then the best thing happens—Jordan taps out—the ref grabs Becca’s arm, throwing it up in the air as she jumps up. I also don’t miss her extending a hand to Jordan, who takes it, and I watch them share words.
They break apart and I’m moving, jumping into the octagon before anyone else.
I grab her, hoisting her up in the air as she raises her arms straight up. The rest of the team joins us, and I set her down so they can all congratulate her. I don’t miss the tears running down her face as Gio hugs her.
The officials step onto the mat and officially call the results of the fight. Again, they lift Becca’s arm in the air, and she grabs Jordan’s, thrusting it up in the air for a picture. I take a quick look around and find both Marcus and Cobi are still watching the crowd.
Luckily, we arranged for extra security tonight and they’re keeping people away. As soon as Becca’s done being interviewed, we lead her back to her locker room. The minute we step inside, we freeze.