Rico rolls over, as Brian starts to count, and shakes his head to clear it. He opens his eyes and finds Elsie in the crowd.
“Mamita, come with me tonight after the bout, and I’ll let you take care of me,” Rico says with a wink.
“Not in your wildest fucking dreams, Jose’,” Elsie snaps at him.
Rico’s laugh is sickeningly loud.
“Get the fuck up so I can finish kicking your ass,” John growls at him.
No fucking piece of shit scumbag talks to my woman like that, the words roar in John’s mind.
Rico takes that moment of distraction and rolls, bounces, and kicks John’s legs out from underneath him. John crumbles to the floor with a loud thud. Rico’s on him instantly, straddling his chest, pounding his fists into John’s face.
“OH SHIT!” goes the crowd in a loud chorus.
Brian is hovering over them, watching to see if he has to call the fight.
“JOHN, GET UP!” Elsie screams.
John’s hand comes up and pounds Rico in the same side of the head where he got him the first time. Rico’s pummeling stalls and John seizes the moment to shift. John’s got Rico pinned underneath him, and his fist is fixed just above his face.
“If I hit you again, I’m going to kill you,” John whispers so quietly only Rico and Brian can hear him.
“Well, Tonto, I’m too pretty to die just yet, and there are still too many beautiful women I’ve yet to taste,” he says sarcastically, turning his face to Elsie.
“Do you fucking give,” John grits out angrily, through clenched teeth.
“Today, Tonto, I give you the match. Tomorrow is another story,” Rico answers him, smiling and winking at his opponent.
John hesitates, punching him one time before getting up.
“Fuck it, I don’t give a shit about forfeiting the match, he fucking deserved it. It was so fucking worth it,” he growls and walks out of the cage.
Brian reaches down and offers Rico a hand up.
“You ok, Bro?” Brian asks him as he hoists him up.
“Yeah, man, I’ve had my ass kicked by bigger and badder dudes than him,” Rico jokes. “How do you think I got the sterling personality I have?” he asks, smiling his cocky grin at him.
“Hah, if you say so, man,” Brian laughs at him good-naturedly.
Nothing seems to frazzle Brian’s laidback easygoing nature. He treats everyone the same, regardless if they’re an asshole or a saint. Brian walks Rico to the shower room, both men making small talk and avoiding the elephant in the room.
Elsie, Janie and Elizabeth are riveted to their spots.
“Somebody want to tell me what just happened in there?” Elsie asks, a little in shock.
“I wish I could girlfriend, but it beats the hell out of me,” Janie answers, shaking her head slowly.
“It looks like somebody asked for an ass-kicking, and they got it,” Marco answers, walking up behind Elizabeth and sliding his arms around her waist.
“Yeah, but why?” Elsie asks turning to look at Marco, genuinely confused. “Why would anyone act like the biggest A #1 dickhead?”
“That, my dear Elsie, is the million dollar question,” Marco answers, equally confused.
John walks out of the shower room moments after Rico and Brian walk in. His hair is wet and his clothes are sticking to his still moist body. It looks like he was in such a hurry that he didn’t even dry off.
“Coming with me, Angel?” John asks Elsie gruffly as he walks up to the group.
Residual tense energy is still lingering on him.
“Yeah,” she answers him a little meekly, not really knowing which direction to go with him.
She feels really off-balance unsure if tender John is around or if battle John will be in residence all night. But, if she had to be honest, battle warrior John is the sexiest son of a bitch Elsie has ever seen. That man could grab her by the hair, drag her wherever he wanted to, and fuck her mindless, fierce, and brutal. A smile she can’t control lifts the corner of her mouth and John sees it. Warmth fills him, taming the beast inside of him.
“Come on then, Angel, let’s get out of here. I want to go get some ice cream,” John says, smiling at her as he wraps his arm around her neck and walks her towards the front door.
“You guys coming?” he yells over his shoulder. “We’ll meet you at Kilwins.”
“Yeah, Bro, meet you there,” Brian shouts from across the room.
“See you guys there,” Marco answers for him and Elizabeth. Then turning to Elizabeth, Marco tells her quietly, “We can get some to bring home.”
Scott stops Janie at the front desk.
“I’ve got to stay here, Sexy, but can I get a rain check for some ice cream, or whatever you want?” Scott asks Janie, smiling at her provocatively.
“For you, Big Fella, definitely,” Janie smiles at him, then walks away knowing Scott’s watching her ass as she goes.
Rico exits the shower room and stops to survey the room. Everyone has gone back to their own activities, forgetting, or putting aside, what just happened. He smiles. First order of business achieved, take down the biggest guy, Rico thinks to himself. He’s got the swollen jaw to prove it.
Bambi walks up to him, sashaying her hips seductively.
“Do you need someone to take care of you?” she asks in her sickly sweet singsong voice.
“Baby, you can do whatever you want to me, your wish is my command,” Rico says, snaking his arm around her bare, fake tan, waist.
“Ok then, come with me, let Pet make you feel all better,” she purrs.
“I think you’re magical, Pet, I feel better all ready,” Rico says. He buries his face in her neck, as they walk through the gym and out the front door.
Second order of business under way, get intimate with the locals, Rico smiles wickedly. Sometimes I really love what I do.
CHAPTER 12 “Walking through the fire, please don’t let me go. Take me to the river, I need you
