Page 57 of Tandem

“What do you want, Tracy?” I knew what it looked like she wanted, but being that I hadn’t seen her in weeks around here, why was she throwing herself at me now? She probably needed a fix and knew I almost always had some on me. “If it’s weedyou want, I can give you a blunt, but that’s it.” I reached into my pocket, and she lowered her hands to my dick and started rubbing it on the outside of my pants. I twitched in her touch, and she giggled.

“Nah, baby, I missed you. Wanted to blow you and feel your dick inside me again. Let’s have some fun, baby, you have time.” She started to reach down my joggers and I grabbed her wrist softly as she grazed my dick with her nails.

“Tracy, baby, I’m good. I’ve got a girl, so as good as you were with me, that’s over now.” She pouted, and fuck, she was a good kisser. I remembered that. I pulled her hand out, and she leaned in, kissing me hard. For a moment, I kissed her back, pulling her into it more, and then I pushed her back. “There you go, for old times’ sake.” I grabbed a blunt out of my pocket and slipped it between her tits. "Now, time for you to go."

She stared at me and then finally sighed. “Fine, AJ. And hey… Good luck out there… you’re gonna need it.”

I glanced at her questioningly as she left my room. She wasn’t one to get like that, and I didn’t like the look she gave me as she left. A part of me wanted to cave, grab her, and take her up on the offer, but I made a promise to myself when I started dating Rosalie. To keep it to one girl—my girl.

I rolled my shoulders and got back to warming up, grabbing my wraps and rolling them around my hands. Then, lining up with the bag, I started to do warm-up drills to work every muscle in my body. Suddenly the music dropped in volume, and I could hear T shouting something from the ring. It was go time.

I stepped out of the room and made my way to the ring, passing Jabari, who was surrounded by girls and other thugs wearing his gang’s green colors. He had a strange expression on his face, and I smirked and flipped him off. As I walked past, I saw Tracy standing next to the guy on his right, his arm around her, and it dawned on me. As if paying an old lay of mine to getme to fuck before a match would have worked, or, if it did, would have made me not able to kick his ass still.

He flashed a grin at me, almost like he had already fought and won. But it was his funeral tonight. I would make him regret offering a rematch. Proving twice that I was the real LA fight champ would be worth seeing his face fall into despair over. I slid over the hood of one of the ring cars, a bigger circle this time. More cars meant more room to roam around and beat the crap out of Jabari’s smug face.

T was already in the middle as Jabari walked around the other side before jumping onto the hood and lifting his arms in the air, making his side of the ring cheer and my side boo. I looked at T and nodded to him. He smiled and nodded back, beckoning us to come to the middle. “All right, y’all, keep this fight clean and clear. Let me check those fists. Ain’t neither of you better be wearing brass knuckles.”

I already had my fists up. I knew he was making sure neither of us was wearing brass under our wraps. If one of us cheated for a win tonight, it would be a shoot-out in the stands for people losing bets.

After he checked each of our hands, he nodded and continued, “Each round is five minutes, the first one to be knocked out loses. Winner takes all.”

I nodded, and Jabari snarled at me.

“Yeah, yeah, T, just start the damn match,” he snapped. T raised his arm, and we tensed, getting into fighting positions and lifting our fists toward our chests. T’s hand dropped, and he leaped back as we started to circle each other, both light on our feet as we mirrored each other's movements. The crowd held their breath, waiting for one of us to make the first move.

I smirked at him, stopping. “Here, batter, batter,” I said, intentionally opening myself for an easy hit. My signature wasalways to let them get the first hit. That way, when I beat the shit out of them, they had one less thing to say about how I won.

Jabari paced around me, jumping back and forth on his feet, working his way slowly to me and throwing a few jabs into the air. I waited, alert. He would land one hit, and that was it. Jabari threw his first punch, a lightning-fast jab that landed barely. First hit, my turn.

The crowd roared as I countered, my fist connected with his cheek, the sound of it echoing through the arena. Jabari grinned, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. He may be a bastard, but we were still fighters. He loved this challenge, and so did I. We went back and forth, exchanging blows with a ferocity that had the audience gasping and booing as we went.

Jabari’s punches were coming in fast, and his kicks were lightning quick. He was using a ton of energy on the attack in this first round. But I held my own, bobbing and weaving, dodging and blocking his strikes with the grace of a seasoned fighter.

Every move was calculated, every punch a testament to the years of training I’d put in and all of the matches I’d won. Eventually, I landed a sharp hook to his ribs. He grunted at the contact and retreated, but that smirk of his never left his smug-ass face. And I couldn't shake the feeling he was up to some shit. I just didn’t know what yet.

Jabari leaped into my space and nailed me with a nasty uppercut that sent lightning bolts of pain through my jaw. I staggered back, my vision blurred for a moment. But I wouldn’t show weakness, couldn’t let him see it actually fucking hurt that time.

With new determination, I launched a barrage of punches, forcing him to backpedal into a corner entirely on the defense. He kicked out, and I moved back toward the center of the ring. The crowd cheered at how evenly matched we appeared. Iwanted this to go on a bit. I wanted to savor beating him after giving him time to think he had an actual chance.

He had spent way more energy so far this round, which was good for what I planned in the second round, which was still minutes away. Jabari’s laughter filled the air as he circled me, his eyes dancing with amusement. “You got some fight in you, AJ,” he taunted, dripping with arrogance. “But it ain’t enough to take me down.”

I clenched my teeth, refusing to let his words get to me. I cracked my neck and rotated my shoulders to loosen up a bit so I could counter whatever he threw at me next more easily. I’d come too far to back down now.

Jabari yelled and came at me. His hooks and jabs came from all angles, but I ducked, weaved, and parried, my reflexes razor-sharp. His fatigue began to show after a minute into his assault, creating cracks in his defense. It was my chance to turn the tide and get in a few more well-aimed hits this first round. With a quick sidestep, I dodged his jab and countered with a wicked hook to his temple. Jabari’s eyes rolled back, and he staggered, barely staying upright.

The crowd’s cheers reached a new level as I pressed home my advantage, and swinging with power and speed, I started landing a series of brutal blows. Jabari’s defenses crumbled more and more, and frustration flashed in his eyes. But Jabari wasn’t a pushover. And just as he started to regain his footing, the timer ran out, and T announced the end of round one. We both went back to our corners, sweat dripping from our bodies. Grabbing a water, I drank some while I looked around. Rosalie still wasn’t here, so I grabbed my phone from T. No new messages either. Fuck, where was she?

Then I looked around the ring as a couple of Jabari’s guys walked to him, laughing and smirking while looking at him and giving him daps. They looked over at me and I flipped themoff. Then one of them handed Jabari something with a nod, whispering into his ear, and Jabari turned and faced me with a smirk growing on his face. The way Jabari approached from his side of the ring made my entire body tense and ready.

I swear to fuck, if he tried some pussy bullshit again this year, like pulling out a knife or something, I would end him outside of the match right here and now. But when I looked closer at what Jabari had in his hand, it was his phone, and by the look in his eyes, something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my entire body.

He came to a stop a couple of feet in front of me, making T look over to see what was about to go down. “Ohhh, AJ,” he called out in a smug tone. “I couldn’t help but notice your pretty girl ain’t here yet. Hiding her won’t help if you lose, you know? I always find what’s mine.”

I raised an eyebrow and clenched my fists. I fucking hated hearing him talk about my girl.

He brought up the phone to his face, unlocking it. Swiping it, he smirked and chuckled menacingly. “Damn, she’s a tiny thing, isn’t she? Think she can handle a real man’s cock?” He glanced up from his phone.

I clenched my fists, done with his shit talk already. “Cut the crap, Jabari, and let’s just finish the fucking fight.”