Lucky's Real Life Romance Novel

Chapter 18

By the end of the fight, I was still standing, watching the empty ring. The people had cleared the gym, River had already gone back to the locker room, and I was still stuck there. I felt like I couldn't move.

"Lu," River's voice reached my ears. His unwrapped hand touched my arm gently. It was like I finally thawed. I broke down. My eyes watered and spilled over as I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head in his, still bare, shoulder. I didn't care that he was still slightly sweaty. He rubbed my back gently and held my head against him as he shushed me.

"Lu, I'm fine. Don't cry, okay?" He said softly. I heard a laugh from further in the distance.

"Her first fight?" Eric asked. River didn't answer, but he didn't have to. The answer was so obvious.

"Lulu, if you cry like this, who's going to patch me up?" River asked. I pulled away quickly and wiped my tears away even though they were quickly replaced with new ones. I grabbed my backpack with shaky hands and went back to the locker room. River sat on the bench and I looked over his injuries. This time there was only a cut near his eyebrow and a bruise on his torso. I was still crying as I rummaged through my backpack and got out my supplies.

"If you think this is bad, you should've seen the beating this kid took last time," Eric said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, watching me in amusement. I knelt in front of River and got to work. Luckily, he already washed the Vaseline off of his face.

"She saw the end result," River said. My hands were still shaking as I dabbed a cotton swab with hydrogen peroxide on the cut. He hissed in a breath and I quickly pulled my hands away as my lip started to quiver. I didn't like watching the fight at all. It scared me to death watching River get punched over and over again. At the moment, hurting him further was my worst fear. I was on the edge of breaking down into full on hysterical sobbing. River made me look at him as he held my hands in his.

"Lucky, take a breath. It's over, okay? Look, I kept my promise. I only got one little cut and one little bruise. Just breathe. I'm fine," he tried to calm me down.

"She doesn't like violence or something?" Eric asked.

"Florence Nightingale complex, empath, and she just... cares a lot about me," River answered, smiling slightly at me as I tried to breathe. Eric left as I finished dressing the cut on his head before I put everything back in the backpack.

"Better?" He asked. I was feeling a little calmer now. I nodded as I set the bag aside. River pat the bench next to him. I stood and sat next to him. River pulled on a shirt before pulling me into a hug.

"I know it scared you. This is why I didn't want you to come," River sighed.

"I didn't want you stumbling home like last time," I muttered. Eric came back, handing River an envelope.

"Good fight. Winner's purse was $5,000. Of course, that's only because you stretched it out three rounds. I think you should take your girl home now. She still looks a little pale," Eric said before he left. River let go of me for a moment only to put his sweatsuit back on before sticking the prize money in my backpack and hanging it on his shoulder. He turned and offered me a hand.

"Let's go home," he said. I took his had and followed him out to the car. I was still too shaken up to drive so I handed the keys over to River. When we got back to my house, it was dark and quiet. I warmed our food up before giving a plate to River. We sat to eat a very late dinner but I wasn't that hungry. 

"Lu, it actually helped me that you were there, so thank you," River admitted.

"I hated watching, but I'm glad it wasn't as bad as last time," I replied. I gave up on the food and put it in a to-go container before putting in the fridge. When River finished his food, he put his dishes away and headed for the front door.

"Riv," I stopped him as I stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Will you stay a little longer... please?" I asked. He smiled lightly before following me up to my room. Mia wasn't there. My dad must have laid her down for bed in the guest room. I excused myself to shower and change into my pajamas before River showered and changed into my dad's pajamas that I had washed and in my room from last time. We laid down in my bed and I cuddled into River, cautious of his bruises. He wrapped his arms around me as he sighed. My head rested against his chest.

"You act like a big baby sometimes, you know that?" He teased me. I only adjusted my arms around his torso slightly and put my head further on his chest.

"Just let me stay here until my peace of mind comes back," I asked.

"It really scared you," he said out loud. I realized something while waiting, watching River in the ring today, I cared about him a great deal. If something happened to him, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

"Well, the purse from today will keep me out of the ring for about half a year," he tried to assure me.

"I don't like seeing you get hurt," I admitted.

"I know. That's because you care. I would be worried if something happened to you too," he breathed. He placed a kiss on my head gently. I sat up slightly over him as I looked at him curiously.

"What could happen to me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He adjusted his arms around me as I was practically laying on top of him.

"Thing one and thing two could run off with you somewhere and hide you away," he joked.

"Aiden and Trevor are too scared of what you might do to them to hide me away. Plus, when would they have the chance? I'm always stuck to your side," I chuckled.