FIGHT

Chapter 27

I can't bring myself to look away as Eli takes the advantage of Holden being down. Eli repeatedly slams his glove over and over into Holden's face and I can feel myself getting sick to my stomach as the red blood begins to stain the slightly padded floor in between the ropes.

The bell that sounds overhead is my savior.

Eli is awarded the winner of round two, but I can't think of anything apart from just getting to Holden and taking care of him.

As fast as I can, I rush to the corner of the ring with a water bottle and several wet towels to wipe the blood off of Holden. He takes the water from me, gulping down a large swig as I run the towel around his face, tingeing the white fabric red. Holden winces when the towel makes contact with the cut on his face, but otherwise shows no other reaction to the obvious bruising beginning on his temple.

I don't want him to go back in there.

"Holden," I whisper, "you don't have to go back in there."

Despite the loud noise reverberating around the entire venue, I know he hears me. Holden throws on his signature smirk, only a little warped from the cut on his face. I'm sure he's in more pain than he's letting on.

Across the ring, Eli looks pretty beaten, too. My only worry is that I know Eli can persevere after being beaten down again and again. Holden didn't grow up in a household like that and he's used to winning without really having to try.

"I'm okay, T. Don't worry about me, okay?"

I shake my head, "I'm always going to worry about you. That's the whole point of being a girlfriend."

My words cause a small smile to play around his lips, bringing him back into reality instead of stuck in the second round of the fight.

"So Josh had to be his coach then, right?"

My eyes flit to glance at Holden's coach who is only sitting with his phone in his hands. I turn back to Holden, nodding. "Nobody else learns that kick. I only know it because I pay too much attention to detail."

The warning bell rings, signaling that the fighters have a minute left with their teams. "H, his right side is weak. Since most people are right-handed, he only ever gets hit on the left."

A vision passes through my head of when my brother and I were little. I was maybe five years old and he agreed to play outside with me. Eli wanted to show me he could climb a tree, but he fell and broke his leg. His shin splinted completely and I remember crying because I thought he was going to die. That's when he was still my big brother.

"His right shin. It's strange to go for, but he can only withstand so much pain there, got it?"

Holden nods, taking another sip of water before puckering his lips to me. Without hesitation, I match my lips with his, ignoring the slight trembling I feel in the kiss. Holden can do this, I know he can. He just has to work for it.

By the look on Elijah's face as Holden stepped back into the ring, the kiss was seen. Though the ref calls for the round to start, Eli can't tear his eyes away from me long enough to focus on the fight. It's simple, really. Holden's not even trying and Elijah puts up little defense.

I didn't even have to watch any of the hits Holden threw; they were irrelevant. The second Eli saw me with him, Holden had round three in the bag.

So he wins.

Both men retreat to their corners and I'm getting ready to celebrate before the rest of Holden's team comes to ice him down, returning his body temperature back to normal. Alex points out a trend he's noticed in Eli's boxing, telling him to pay attention to that for the next round.