Lucky Strike (Niall Horan)

1.<3

A/N Lovely book cover was made by @iLoveU26RshMntl ,she so nice and funny!Give her a follow,and all credit of a book cover goes to her :-)

Three minutes.

There’s a lot you can do in three minutes but for Lucy her life was lived in a succession of three minute rounds. Fancy footwork and a few carefully placed jabs and uppercuts would get her though any hardship. Lucy lived, breathed, and dreamed boxing. She had admired her father growing up and his illustrious amateur career and even when it ended Lucy knew that there was no other life for her. She loved the thrill and the strategy and being the oldest daughter of two, she felt like she had to be the son her Dad never had. 

When Lucy was 16 her father finally let her start training properly and began training with her uncle, Pauly. When Lucy started she was the only female and though she didn’t spar with any of the other trainees in the beginning, it was clear that Lucy was in man’s world and would have to prove herself more than anyone else.

As the training went on it was clear that Lucy was a fighter like her father and had the same strategic approach. Her strength didn’t come from her hooks or her ability to bob, it came from her careful observation of her opponents and how they fought. She was smart and would use their patterns to her advantage. Her careful calculations allowed her to lay that final blow, knocking her opponent out and ultimately gaining her boxing name: Lucky Strike.

It had been a little over 6 years since she started training at her Uncle Pauly’s gym and she was still one of the only women at the gym. If Lucy wanted to spar Pauly would find other female boxers from other areas to fight her or convince the male trainees in his gym to do it. Not many men wanted to fight Lucy: one, because she was a girl, and two, they secretly feared she could kick their ass.

As good of a fighter that Lucy was she was always being held back in the gym. Her uncle would bring in different agents and explain to her that she needed to show off but would always be let down when they left without any offers to take her on professionally. The excuses were always the same: female boxers didn’t sell tickets in this world. If she really wanted to make it she would have to be more marketable.

Marketable? This concept was something new to Lucy. She was a strong fighter, quick on her feet, and even quicker with her mind. She had participated in several dozen fights and had come out victorious or very close each time. It seemed that as a woman it didn’t matter if you could hold your own with the big boys, you also had to look good outside of the ring. They wanted to find someone they could put on a Wheaties box, and carry around a title belt, but they wanted her to be the next Covergirl spokesmodel and know how to bake a cake.

Lucy wasn’t having it.

After a while this cycle became too much for Lucy to handle and she angrily charged into her Uncle Pauly’s office. Her strong arm quickly slammed the door causing the blinds to rattle and jump about over the glass that sat like small window in the middle of the door. Pauly sat behind his desk, a pair of half-mooned spectacles sat at the edge of his nose, crooked from years of being broken and reset. Once he saw the look on Lucy’s face the older male went right back to his paperwork.

“What is it this time, Lucky?” Pauly asked in a thick Boston accent. Pauly never referred to Lucy by her given name, at least not since she began coming to his gym.

Lucy stood with her hands on her hips, her chest heaving. Her two French braids pulled back her straight dark hair and exposed the anger in her hazel eyes. She was thick; years of training had built up her muscles and created a solid wall.

“Really, Pauly?” Lucy started with a loud voice, “I’m tired of you sending agents here who don’t know their head from their ass!”

“I don’t have time to talk to you about this, Lucky. You know that I don’t bring the agents in for you, they want the guys. I’m giving them what they want.” Pauly said uninterested in dealing with the wrath that was Lucky Strike.