Lucky's Real Life Romance Novel

Chapter 17

The next day, we repeated our carnival experience by taking Mia. She had a blast. We didn't ride as many rides because she was too small but she still ran around like it was DisneyWorld. Weeks passed and I was getting used to our routine. I was keeping up with my journal as much as I could and even started the Youth of Us storyboard. Things were going pretty great. Everything was settling in until one Friday when River caught me off guard.

I thought it was going to be just like any other Friday, until I saw the look on River's face as we got to my house. He was being hesitant and quieter than normal. Mia went to sit in front of the TV like usual, and it was an odd time when my dad was actually home and already starting on dinner. I was picking up on River's odd mood, so I took him up to my room and closed the door behind us.

"What is it?" I asked knowingly. He glanced at me before sighing.

"I have to fight again," he admitted. The money ran out. I was instantly worried.

"Riv-" I started as I took a step towards him.

"I know what you want to say, but I already tried to put it off for as long as I could," he stopped me. I sighed before sitting on the edge of my bed.

"When is the fight?" I asked as I stared at my lap.

"Tonight," he admitted. That meant he already had it in his plans for a few days now.

"I'm going with you," I said with determination.

"No. The areas are sketchy and I'll be fighting so I can't look after you," he argued.

"I'm going to look after you, idiot. There's no way I'm letting you go by yourself, only to stagger back home in the same state you were in last time. At least I can make sure you make it home. My dad is here, he can watch Mia tonight," I retorted. River thought about it for a moment before covering his face with his hand.

"You stay on my side of the ring at all times with Eric. You don't leave Eric's side, understand me?" He finally gave in. I didn't know who Eric was, but I nodded anyway.

"I'm going to change, and then we'll go," he said softly before leaving my room. I went to the bathroom and pulled all the medical supplies I could find out before putting them all in a backpack. I zipped it up before heading downstairs.

"Hey dad, River and I have to run an errand, do you mind getting Mia to bed and putting our dinner in the microwave?" I asked him.

"Sure, just don't stay out too late," he agreed. I grabbed my keys before going out to the car to wait for River. I wouldn't lie, I was nervous as all hell. River got in the car in black sweatpants and a zip-up hoodie before directing me to where the fight would go down. I was surprised to see it wasn't in a back alley somewhere. It was at an actual boxing gym. Going inside, it was packed. People were filling chairs and standing room. River held my hand and lead me to a locker room where it was quieter before taking off his sweatsuit to show his bare abdomen and boxing shorts. Another man was there waiting for him. The guy was shorter than River but he looked older. He had black hair and a beard. He was probably in his late 30s.

"You're late. Start warming up... who's this?" The man asked River.

"Lu this is Eric, my coach. Eric, this is Lu. She's going to stay with you on the sidelines tonight. Make sure she stays right next to you," River said sternly as he grabbed a jump rope and started warming up.

"I can do that," Eric said as he shook my hand. I sat on the bench and bounced my leg nervously as River warmed up. Eric watched over him and ran him through a few drills for about half an hour before River stopped for water. Eric wrapped his hands up a special way before they stood facing each other.

"Now I don't need to tell you what to do right?" Eric said to River. He only nodded.

"See ya out there, kid," Eric said before leaving the locker room. I stood and approached River nervously. I knew this would be the last time I saw him unhurt for a while. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his lips into mine. He froze in shock before his arms went around my waist and pulled me closer as his lips moved against mine. I couldn't believe our first kiss was initiated by me, but I couldn't help it. I was scared. My heart thumped wildly from excitement and nerves. I finally pulled away and stared at him.

"You better not take a beating like you did last time, or I'll kill you myself," I warned him. He smiled gently before placing a gentle kiss on my head.

"Go ahead and stand with Eric. I'll try not to provoke Florence," he played along as he finally let me go. I didn't want the match to start at all but I couldn't stop it either. My feet felt heavy as I picked up the backpack and went back out in the crowd and found Eric near the ring. The fighters were announced as they entered the ring and prepped. Eric smeared Vaseline all over River's face and a mouth guard was put in his mouth before his gloves were shoved into his hands. Everything seemed like an out of body experience. I didn't move a muscle as I watched the whole thing. It was loud with cheering and yelling but all I remember is white noise. Every punch to River felt like watching a dog getting hit by a car from far away. You couldn't do anything about it, no matter how tragic it was.