Into the ring

9- Against the champion

I watched in awe as he fought expertly, making his opponent  dance to his rhythm. It was bloody, violent. But it was obvious that Ryder had the upper hand. My eyes drifted to the round commentator.

Fucking Parker?! What the actual...?

"Hey, you coming or what?" Jace said from behind me just as Ryder's opponent tapped out.

"And the winner is... GREY!!!" Parker shouted through the microphone, raising one of Ryder's hands.

"Anyone to challenge our champion?" He asked as nobody dared to raise their hands.

"I do!" I shouted in the manliest voice I could muster. I took the gloves from Jace, pulled them on and climbed onto the ring as Ryder gave me a baffled look. Parker sized me up.

"I thought that the Underground only accepted people older than sixteen." He snickered and a few laughs echoed through the room.

"I'm seventeen, " I told him biting my lip nervously.

"You boy have a death wish. I'm not fighting a kid." Ryder declared, shaking his head.

"How about we give little newbie here a taste of our champion?" Parker yelled into the mike under the crowd's hysterical screams.

"How much, guys?" Parker asked, his eyes darting from me to Ryder.

"Let's start small. 500 bucks?" Ryder looked at me for approval . I nodded. I had the money in my handbag, which I had given to Jace.

"So, what's your name, kid?" Parker asked. I rolled my eyes, only realising afterwards that he couldn't see them.

"Rynn," I said.

"So, Rynn against Ryder everyone, the kid has guts. A round of applause for our fighters!!!! Go easy on him, man," he said through the mike as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"I wouldn't make that mistake if I were you," I told him with a smirk.

He raised an eyebrow at me. To say that he looked attractive was an understatement. Weird, I know. I was about to kick his ass and all I could think of was of how good he looked. What was wrong with me?

The bell rang and we both started circling each other, watching the other's moves, barely finding any faults in our stances.

He finally decided to launch himself and, calculating his trajectory, I dodged him carefully and we were back to circling each other. As I watched him carefully, I realised that he put most of his weight on his back leg and that his face was basically unprotected.

I speeded towards him, swept him off his legs and punched him straight in the face. He stood up quickly, though and continued the fight despite his broken lip and bleeding nose. I could see a bruise forming on his jaw. He looked furious. Seething.

He lanched forward again, throwing punches randomly at my face and I easily blocked them, landing a few good ones on his face. That was probably the longest fight I had ever been in, and it wasn't over even after seven minutes. Parker had to ask us to take a break.

To say that I was sweaty was an understatement. Jace handed me a water bottle and I gulped down all of its content.

"Jace, give me a pair of scissors ," I asked him. He nodded and handed me one from his backpack.

"Thanks." And I used it to cut off the sleeves of my hoodie. I looked over at Ryder. To the women's excitement, he peeled off his shirt, revealing an amazing body, all muscles and six packs. Damn, Rynn, get a grip. He took his bottle and dumped its content on himself, causing the water to trickle onto his taut muscles.

My jaw almost dropped. Almost being the key word. Jace snapped me out of my daze.

"You're an amazing fighter," he told me. "So please kick his ass."

"Sure will," I replied as the bell went on again.

Ryder's jaw was set tightly as he circled me again. I would end this quickly. I launched for him, this time, and managed to have him on the ground with me straddling his lower back, holding his neck to the ground and Parker crouched next to us as Ryder tried to wriggle out of my hold. The crowd held its breath.

"FIVE... FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE.. and our new champion is RYNN!!!!" He shouted into his mike, although he sounded disgusted. He threw me a dirty look as I got off Ryder. To say that Ryder was mad would be an understatement. The look he gave me when he stood up would make any grown man run for his mama.

"Beginner's luck, Rynn. I'll have your ass next time." He said as I took the money from Parker's hand and got down the ring.

"You wish," I replied coldly. Ryder gave me a weird look. I was wondering why when I realised that I hadn't altered my voice. Dammit.

I thanked Jace, grabbed my stuff and hurried to Kiara's.

"Where the hell were you?" She screamed when I got in. "It's like nine already!"

"I'm so sorry, I had to work till late." I had taken off my hoodie and put it in my bag in case she would get suspicious.

As I walked inside, I noticed Ryder on the couch being nursed by Cameron and Parker.

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch !" He seethed.

"You will," Cameron assured him.

"Hi," I said. "You're okay?" I asked Ryder. His face would be an aching mess by the next day.

"Yeah," he answered, shoving Cameron's hand way.

"You aren't doing this right. That's why it's hurting," I pointed out at Cameron. He sighed and handed me the first aid kit.

I took it and sat next to Ryder. "You aren't gonna ask why I look like a human punching bag?" He asked me as I rubbed the gel on his bruise.

"That's your problem, not mine." I replied with a shrug. He frowned and I gave the tube back to Cameron.

"Rub back and forth instead of circularly," I told him. He nodded.

Parker turned to look at me. "Get in the car. I'll drop you home." He told me. I nodded and carried a sleeping Noah to the car. The drive was pretty silent.

"Are you okay, Katharynna? You seem off," he told me. To be honest, I couldn't help think about how different he was in the ring. Again, so was I. No mentioning Ryder.

"Yeah. Just tired." I replied. He nodded with understanding as I took Noah out of the car and got to my house.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow?" he asked me.

"Sure," I replied, smiling at him. He smiled back and waited for me to enter the apartment building before driving off.

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Noah above.