Colour Me Alive

Two: A Tatted Misunderstanding

A/N: Thank you for 100 reads already! AH!

Don't forget to comment and vote for this chapter if you're enjoying it!

Happy reading!

  - • ∿ • - 

Valentin Ramirez (Ram)

"AND THE WINNER IS..."

"VALIENT EROS!"

The whole crowd cheers me on, as I am being announced the winner of this fight. Men are happy because they won their bet, while others are frustrated because they lost money. Women are throwing themselves at me as I saunter down the aisle that takes me to my space away from the arena.

Another night, another win.

MMA has been a part of my life ever since I was a morillo, helping me cope with some shit I have been through and steering me away from trouble. Tattooing also helped but that's another thing.

I shrug off my robe when I get to my room then place it on the hook behind the door. My space is an average size, but bigger than the others. After years of fighting and training here, they had given me this room after being impressed by my performance last season. I did well, but not enough to get me past quarter finals.

However, this season will be different. I'm determined to go all the way to the final two, the last ones standing. My trainer has been steadily coaching me for the qualifying rounds coming up in a week, but as we go further in the competition my training will become more intense and time consuming, thus limiting my time at the tattoo parlor.

Isaac hates it when I cut down on my hours but he understands my reasons of doing it. Although he's my boss, he is also like a second father to me, but that doesn't change how much a pain in the ass he can be. All of today he has been pestering my phone with his constant calls and text messages, when I told him I would be busy today with the fight and all. But Isaac could care less about that, he honestly just likes to get under my skin at any given opportunity.

"Ram, I'm coming in so you better be clothed!" My close friend, Ricardo, warns, opening the door without checking if I am.

I chortle, turning to him while I wipe down my sweat with a towel. "You're going to end up seeing me naked again if you keep coming in the moment you announce it."

Ric groans, covering his face with his two hands. "That day will forever haunt me."

"I thought walking in seeing Isaac and Frida-"

His hands make an 'x', cutting me off from speaking. "Nope. We agreed to never speak of that day again!"

I laugh as I start to pick up my things to leave. "You know damn well it was a one-sided agreement, Ric."

Ricardo has been my friend since we were chamacos. Our mothers met each other at the gym my dad trained at. Ric's mother, Marlena, was a temporary ring girl who worked out at the same gym my father did.

One day, my mother decided to go check on my dad during his training and stumbled upon Marlena, they instantly clicked and bonded over their children and their life similarities. Few weeks later they became inseparable, spending so much time together when their husbands weren't home and they weren't working. Typically Marlena would come by with Ricardo, leaving him to my company. Just as they became inseparable, so did him and I.

"Good job out there, Ram. But remember to keep your head in the game, we have a week left until the qualifying rounds start." My trainer, Henderson, reminds me as he pats my back and hands me my pay from the fight then leaves.