One Step At a Time

Chapter 9: Mystery Girl

I hear the crowd roaring with excitement, the announcers voice muffled in the background.

My fist connects one last time with his face, before he passes out. The referee runs over to our side, kneeling down beside Shaw as him and the rest of the crowd count.

1...

I wait, ready to fight back if he wakes back up.

5...

I look down, his body its completely bruised up, and blood dribbling out of his nose and he's got a nice gash on his lip. If it weren't for the constant rising of his chest you would think he was dead.

8...

9...

10!

Times up.

I hear the bell ring, signaling the end of the match. I feel my arm being grabbed by the referee as he helps me stand up. The whole crowd is screaming my name as I face them.

The referee holds up my arm as the announcer announces my win.

"And Roman King wins once again. Ending the match with a complete knockout just as round 8 was coming to a close!"

I yell out towards the crowd holding up my fist in the air. I see Shaw getting helped up by his teammates and the medic from the side of my eye.

I pound my fist against my chest as I grab onto the cage shaking it, making the crowd go even crazier. The lights flash red and white once again.

My teammates and coach come into the ring and tackle me down. Congratulating me on my win.

They pull away as I take off my head gear and pull out my mouth guard, spitting blood onto the floor of the ring. I shake out my hair as I look up again. Instantly seeing the flash of a camera and a huge smile on the mystery girls face.

"That was Awesome Roman." Luca says patting my back as I walk down the steps. I walk down the long hallway back to my changing room, hands sticking out form every direction. I bring my fist up and touch some of their hands, smiling at a few kids on the way.

I enter my changing room, unwrapping my hands as I walk toward the bathroom. I glance at the mirror finally getting a good look at myself. The side of my lip is cut and I have a bruise on the side of my stomach, and a slight bruise on my jaw. I notice some dried blood around my nose, wetting a washcloth and lightly dabbing it away.

"King you in here." Coach yells as him and the guys enter the room. I place the washcloth on my lip as I walk out of the bathroom.

"Great job kid." Coach praised, pulling me into a hug and patting me on the back. "I'm proud of how far you've come."

"Thanks coach."

"How's the lip?" Milo asks walking over to me. I pull the cloth away letting him see.

"Ah you'll be fine, barely a scratch." He tells me as he places my water and gear on the couch in the room.

"Guess who Milo invited tonight?" Kai asks plopping down on the couch

"Mhm no clue." I turn toward Milo, "Who'd you invite Vantiglio?"

"Just the girl he's been talking about every moment he gets."

"Oh, you invited the girl."

"Her name is Mavis." He says defensively, "And she brought her friends with her, one of them took photos of you tonight."

"Are her friends hot?" Luca asks walking out of the bathroom.

"Well two of them are dating, so I've been told, but the other one is single and very pretty."

"You should introduce us, maybe even invite them out with us tonight."

"That," Milo snaps his fingers at Luca, "is an amazing idea. I'll go get them right now while Roman gets cleaned up." And with that he is rushing out the door.

"I think somebody has a crush." Kai hums.

"He definitely does." I say as I make my way back into the bathroom to assess my lip. I pull away the washcloth and notice the bleeding has stopped. I wet the washcloth once more, wiping off the access blood.

"Hey King, I've got to get going!" I hear coach call out from outside the bathroom. "I'll see you at practice."

"Bye coach." I call back, running the washcloth back under the water to wash out any blood left on it.

I turn side to side in the mirror looking at the bruises, I should be completely fine. I turn to the shower turning it on. I close the bathroom door, stripping off my shorts.

I step into the burning shower, the hot water burning my skin. I sigh in contentment, my muscles beginning to relax. I roll my shoulders and crack my neck.

Tilting my head back and getting my hair wet before I begin to wash it.

Once I'm done in the shower I turn it off, instantly missing the heat against my body. I grab a towel from the rack and wrap it around my body as I step out of the shower.

I make my way over to the door, hearing laughter on the other side. I open the door, running my fingers through my hair as my towel droops down to reveal my v-line. I glance up as I notice the room get quiet, finally noticing the four girls that have joined us.

I glance over the four of them, one of them is sitting by Milo, I'm guessing that's Mavis. Two of them are sitting right next to each other, one of the girls hands on the other ones thigh. That must be the couple. I scan my eyes toward the fourth and I swear I hear myself inhale a sharp breath.

It's her. It's the mystery girl.

Now that I can finally see her in better lighting I can see how truly beautiful she is. My eyes scan her body before making their way up to her face. I'm surprised to see her blue eyes already looking at me.

Our eyes connect before I clear my throat, "Hey guys."

"Hi." The four girls say in unison.

"Roman nice of you to join us." Milo quipped, "These are the girls I was talking about. This is Mavis." He looks toward the girl sitting right next to him.

"Those two over there are Eloise and Eden. And the one over there is Arabelle." He points his finger toward the beautiful girl, my eyes once again taking her in, she gives me a small wave.

"Nice to meet you guys." I tell them as I turn toward my bag to get out my spare change of clothes. "I'll be right back."

I turn on my heel and enter the bathroom again, shutting the door behind me.

"Holy fuck." I mumble running my hand down my face. That girl looks like a literal angel.

I quickly change into my jeans and white shirt. I step back outside and take a seat on the couch with Milo, Mavis, and Kai. Arabelle right across from me. I observe her as she puts the cover back on her camera lens and tucks everything away in her bag. She folds her hands in her lap as she listens to the conversation. Laughing along with everyone and joining in every now and then.

I watch as she plays with the rings on her fingers and then I see her hand go up to her forearm and start scratching. I think nothing of it and turn my gaze back toward my friends.

"Alright so you guys want to head over to a bar nearby?"

"Yeah, sounds fun." Mavis tells him as we all get up.

We all grab our stuff and head out the back door to avoid any paparazzi. God I fucking hate paparazzi.

Arabelle walks in front of me, her hips swaying slightly as she walks. she even smells amazing. I think as I get a whiff of her perfume. She's pretty tall, coming up to my shoulders in her sneakers.

"What bar are we going to?" Arabelle asks, her voice just as angelic as she looks.

"Just follow my car." Kai says twirling his keys in his hand.

We all break apart. heading toward our separate cars. All the girls getting in one.

We all wait until Kai pulls out and fall in line behind him.
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