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He dug in and pulled out the wraps while Noah emptied the contents of his pants pockets and handed my phone to Finn Noah held out his hands, and Bo wrapped him "I saw Rickers earlier He looks like he has triave a short nod "Have you heard where he’s been training?"

"No Maybe out of town"

"Strategy?"

"Don’t let him punch you in the face He eak in the stoood kick should level hirappler, but you’re on sand and ceon, so you don’t want to spend tooout of hand, I’ in the towel," Bo said

"I don’t need ababysitter," Noah snarled

"Yes, you do," Bo shot back, "or you wouldn’t even be here"

Noah didn’t respond to this taunt After Bo finished wrapping his hands, ent back into the hallway, and as we got close to the entrance, I saw another door that I hadBo threw it open The warehouse smelled of old wood and dust A cluster of people maybe five or six deep stood in the center Many held bottles or cans of beer As we approached, the sea of people parted, and I realized it wasring at all, just a crudely chalked out square Whether from the traffic of feet or the oppression of ht bowl in the dirt floor of the warehouse, creating a ht--there were no chairs and the dip in the floor made it easier for the people in the rear to see the action

The sea of people closed in behind us A barrel-chested man covered in tattoos stood to one side inside the square, shifting fro one side of his chest and then the other with alternating hands He looked huge If this was trimmed down some, I wouldn’t want to see hie of the square Noah turned and said, "Don’t move from here Finn," he directed, "take care of her" Noah uy came out to the center and told the crowd they had five minutes to finish up their bets Five minutes crawled by Noah pulled off his sweatshirt and sweatpants He stood with his aruy came up to Noah and handed him a white towel Noah balled it up and threw into the middle

"Fuck," I heard Finn say softly

"What’s wrong now?" I whispered to Finn

"Rickers is ahit and won’t stop even if he is seriously injured He refuses to tap out, and now Noah has rejected the towel," Finn explained Fuck, indeed

"This isn’t going to end well, is it," I said It was a statement, not a question

Finn shook his head, "No, probably not"

The gangly guy went to Ricker’s side and talked to him for a minute Ricker shook his head and seemed to refuse the white towel Finally, he turned to soestured for her to take the towel Part of the crowd groaned at this but most seemed to sith exciteht where no one tapped out et dreams were made of for some of these attendees

I felt so nervous that I wondered if I should bite my nails to alleviate my anxiety Instead, I just shifted from side to side so much that Finn finally put both hands on my shoulders

"Stand still," he warned, "or I’ll tie your shoelaces together"

Noah bent his head down slightly so his and Bo’s foreheads were aled words, serious looks on both their faces, and then Noah held out both wrapped fists Bo crashed his hands down on top He slapped Noah on the back and went to the corner

The skinny guy cain

Noah

The plan was to knock Rickers down and get the hell out of there I didn’t want Grace to see us grappling like aniht for her, but damn I needed this money

Rickers could take a punch and, despite his size, he was fairly light on his feet But, his short ar forward No ae that

I didn’t want to get punched in the face, so I danced backward as he advanced I had plans with Grace later, and a broken lip would put a serious dent in the as I ducked and weaved aanting ured I’d move around for a minute, catch Rickers off balance, and then attack

He advanced wildly, eager to erness played right intoout and round-housed hiht me on the top of my head, but I barely noticed The kick caused hihtly, and I clipped hiround

I straddled his body and struck him twice led upward, trying to throw ainst his windpipe and waited Nothing Fuck this

I pressed my forearm harder into his neck Sweat and blood rolled downrowled All y was focused into runted "Can’t Won’t"

This was insane I’d never choked someone into submission before I had knocked people out with a fist or a kick, but never deliberately choked the air out of sos, and I didn’t want to this tihting There wasn’t a referee ould juhters do Left to our own devices, we’d choke each until ere all brain daodda warehouse," I ground out, but still he refused His eyes stared up at et it, brother" He raised up slightly, as if he wanted my face near his I should’ve drawn back A head butt would hurt like a son of a bitch Instead, I leaned forward and heard hiainst mine and at the sahtly I don’t think anyone around us could see but he was al my teeth, I acquiesced to his unspoken coht in his eyes dimarage door I felt his entire body go lax beneath mine I sat up on my haunches and looked down at Ricker’s body underneath mine, laid out like a corpse on a slab

This was the last tiht The last time I’d ever do this I had left the Marines because I was tired of the dirt and the death, and here I was, voluntarily rolling around in the dirt in a warehouse fighting souy practically to the death I pushed up to ht me out of the war, took me away from my past My future ith her, if she’d still havehter on my back I stood up, dizzy frouess that was all the encouragement she needed, because I could see her run toher ain and before I could fall, she was there, holdingmy blood and sweat , I’d push her away, but I couldn’t I could never push her away again

Chapter Thirteen

Dear Grace,