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"I love you," I ers trail down the side of my neck "I love you, too"
I’h with her as my body and my mind wanted to be I close my eyes, completely at peace This is the most peace I will feel until after I defeat Don The next teeks are going to fly by in a blur They’ll bring e--for better or for worse…
And I’--that Don is finally pushed out of my life
Chapter Twenty-Four
Olivia
Four weeks I’ve been in Vegas four weeks and yet, I feel like I’ve only been here a couple of days Everything has gone so fast, it’s like I blinked and whole days arehas happened over the course of the four weeks, besides Seth proposing to ht, the one with Don tonight, is the first tiht an alance around the large arena It seats twelve thousand people and I’m sure every seat is taken to watch the rematch between the two rivals The air is heavy with anticipation I can hear the laughs and giggles of spectators inthe seats and vibrates my body I’m not excited--not like everyone else is There’s a flush of heat that pulses through htens anxiously
Selena sticks a bag of chips under my nose and I recoil away froht now churns my already violent stoe man drops himself down next toa black shirt that reads ‘DON’ and I decide, rather quickly, that I don’t like him Anyone ould root for someone like Don is an idiot I look down at my own shirt and smirk I’m happy I packed ht in Portland, Maine and I figured he’ll like seeing it onI couldn’t see hiht
Darryl wants Seth to be wound up and on edge for this fight Don’t ask hts about the fights with ht Seth contested Darryl, refusing to leave his locker room until I came in, but Darryl still sent me away He knows Seth won’t forfeit a match with Don Russell and he wanted to ‘kick it old school,’ having Seth wind doith boxing bags and skipping ropes…in order to warht If that makes sense…it doesn’t really ardless I zone out as the announcer beings to speak, but the second a fains to play, my body forces me to tune back in
My blood bubbles and pulses through my body to the beat of the erly scan the croaiting for Seth to appear and every second his song plays and I don’t see his fierce figure stor out here, the more my excitement melts into worry Then, I hear the roar of the crowd as everyone ju and row nearer, the closer he gets to the stage and I can’t see hi bodies over the other spectators I see the top of his black hoodie first and as he rounds the corner, his entire glorious body coiving hie--not that he needs it
His eyes scan over my row and my lips part as heavy breaths escape me When his stare fall onto me, I cease to breathe
With a twitch of his lips, he turns fros out of his hoodie Jackson throws it over his own shoulder and slaps hie My lungs ache and I release the breath I was holding as Seth does his usual circle of the ring, bouncing on the tips of his toes and shaking his wrists There’s no cockiness to his aht is Seth’s one chance to remove Don from his life--from our life
Seth’s ht, reach, and height before dragging out his nae So uy has I shake my head The crowd cheers and claps, but the intensity of it isn’t like it ith Seth The crowd respects Seth Most of them follow his career and witnessed hio Don tears around the corner, topless and eager He’s deter Seth took from hi his lips athell" Selena chuckles under her breath "That guy has a death wish"
Seth sees Don look atat his sides He rolls his neck over his shoulders and as Don bounds up the stairs and into the ring, Seth steps forward, getting right in his face My heart races as the crowd goes berserk, fueling the already tense relationship between the two fighters The referee is on the thehs in bitter disappointht, ladies and gentlemen--can you feel it?"
The crowd explodes with cheers and applause They can’t wait a second longer for the fight to start They want bloodshed and they want it now The ca ht now…he’d know the right thing to say to easeto win I need to see the exciteets the first punch
"Don’s got this," the large guy next to me mutters I turn my head to look at hiht blue eyes flare "I know so"
I roll e I really hope Seth wins now so I can rub it into the stranger’s big, fat face
The referee calls the two fighters to the center of the ring Each referee is different Sos, others prefer theht cannot coloves
Don and Seth meet in thethehteron between the for war to break out
I swear I can hear the rapid heartbeat of every spectator, mine included, and a crackle of excitement flows over us as Don extends his hand first Seth smacks it away and a unanihout the arena The referee steps between the them back to their corner He points at each and they nod their heads Then, the bell rings and , slow breath and close my eyes in an atteht, I tellto die