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“Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t have my phone on me while I was training, so I’m just seeing it now.”
He let out a breath. “He’s not going to back down, Romeo. He’s got his sights set on you, and he’s getting a lot of attention.”
“I’m sorry he’s dragging you into it.”
“I don’t give a shit about that. He’s trying to get under your skin, and I’m guessing he’s doing a good job, because he’s getting under mine. I told you before, I’d be happy to go public and defend you. Put the asshole in his place.”
“No. Don’t do that. That’s what he wants. To turn this into a big publicity stunt. They’re offering me a lot of money to take the fight. The last offer came in at seven hundred and fifty grand just to show up and fight him. Winner gets two million dollars.”
“Don’t do it for the money. You know I’ve got you if you need anything.” Lincoln was always offering to do things for me and Tia. Hell, he was covering the cost of our sister’s schooling and housing, and I was grateful that he’d given her that opportunity. He wanted to give me money for a down payment on a house,but I was doing just fine on my own. I owned this gym, and it came with a small studio in the back. I appreciated the offer, but I didn’t want a handout.
I didn’t need it.
“Says the dude worth millions of dollars. It’s a lot of money, Linc. I have to consider it when we’re talking about that kind of cash. It could be a one-and-done. Use that money to expand the gym, help my mom and grandma out, buy a house on the lake, and tuck the rest away for now.”
“The big question is, do you want to fight again?” he asked.
I scrubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “I thought I was done with it. But I don’t know… Maybe one more fight wouldn’t be the worst thing. When will I ever have the opportunity to make that kind of money in just a few hours?”
“How long would it take you to prepare for a fight like this? He’s been fighting these last few years while you’ve been out of the game. So he has experience on his side, and he must be decent if he had the belt before Gunner took it from him, right?”
“Yes. He’s a cocky son of a bitch, but he’s also a beast in the ring. It would take me a couple of months to get where I need to be. I also know that I’d be putting my mom and Mimi through it. And Tia will lose her shit if I agree to fight again.”
“Take everyone else out of the equation. What doyouwant to do?”
“I don’t want to get punched in the head for the rest of my life,” I said, leaning back in the chair.
“Agreed. I don’t want that for you either.”
“But I wouldn’t mind getting in the ring for one more fight, just to shut this fucker up and walk away with a lot of money. I just have to make sure I leave in one piece. If I train right, I think I could withstand his hits. But I’d definitely be taking a beating.”
“Romeo, it’s Brinkley,” my sister-in-law said, as she must have taken the phone from Lincoln, which was not uncommonwhen we were talking. “I don’t particularly like the thought of seeing you get punched in the head either. But if you take this fight as a onetime thing, I will talk to the magazine about doing a whole spread on you. We can make it clear that you are taking this one fight on, and you will be retiring for good afterward, not because you’re scared—because you’re smart. Let me tell your side of the story and get you some positive press. Hell, with the way you look, you’ll probably get a bunch of endorsements out of this.”
“It must run in the family, baby,” Lincoln said, and I laughed.
“All right. I’ll think about it. If I decide to do it, you can break the story, Brinks. Thanks for doing this for me. Let me sleep on it.”
“We support you either way. I just want to shut that asshole down either way.” Lincoln’s voice was hard.
“Yeah. You and me both, brother.”
I ended the call and finished up a few things at the gym before looking down to see a new text.
Mom
It’s the end of January, and it’s still snowing. I’m ready to be done with the cold. Mimi and I want to watch a Hallmark movie and drink pumpkin chai lattes. Can you grab those drinks and drop them off for us?
Jesus. What was the deal with those fucking drinks? I wasn’t in any hurry to go back over to the coffee shop after the last time I’d been there. I’d been a complete prick, and I’d like to keep it that way.
The Crawfords had fucked over me and River, and I didn’t want anything to do with any of them. Even if Demi most likely didn’t know about what happened, it was still her family.
It had surprised me that she’d appeared wounded by how rude I’d been, even if she’d tried to act unaffected. It wasn’t like I’d ever been friendly to her or anyone in her family. But I also wasn’t dying to go back and be an asshole again.
I groaned because I could never say no to my mom and Mimi.
Fine. I’ll drop them off in a little bit. But you need to buy some pumpkin tea bags, or whatever the hell is in there. I can’t be going there every day.
