Kyle's Return (Gloves Off #5)(6)

Dean hopped up into the ring and smacked his fists together, his venomous glare staring at nothing but me. “This is for Nate, *.”

Taking a deep breath, I entered the ring and stretched. Once Tyler got the nod from both me and Dean, he shouted for us to start. Dean was a muscular guy, but he’d be in the Light Heavyweight division instead of a Heavyweight like I used to be. He was still focused and determined to kick my ass.

I knew what I had to do.

***





OH MY GOD, Kyle was in the ring. I’d intentionally not paid attention to him the past two days, but the second he stepped into the ring, the whole atmosphere of the gym changed. The tension was so high, the hair on my arms stood up. Dean Jacobson was a great fighter and if anyone in the gym had animosity toward Kyle it was him. I couldn’t believe Tyler was actually putting them in the ring together. Dean was good, but I’d watched Kyle fight; he was better. The last thing we needed was for Kyle to kick his ass and cause more problems.

People who were working out all stopped what they were doing to watch the fight. Dean made the first move and pelted Kyle on the side of the head. His head snapped to the side, but he clenched his jaw and shook it off. The old Kyle would’ve went on a rampage. Hitting Dean in return, I could tell there wasn’t much power to it. What the hell was he doing?

I left my desk to join Tyler at ring side. He was watching with a small smirk on his face. “Am I missing something? We all know Kyle doesn’t fight this bad,” I whispered. The crowd cheered for Dean as he pummeled Kyle, over and over. Kyle would fight back, but with feeble attempts.

Tyler looked over at me and smiled, his gray eyes beaming. “He’s doing what I’d hoped he’d do . . . letting Dean win.”

“Why would he do that? What’s the story there?”

“About four years ago, Kyle spiked Dean’s brother’s drink and he failed the drug test before a big fight. He was suspended for two years. Last I heard, he moved away to the east coast and started fighting again. It sucks he couldn’t be here to fight Kyle, but Dean will do.”

“So, this is his way of finding redemption?” I asked.

“Looks like it.”

“Do you think he’s honestly trying to change?”

He kept his focus on Kyle. “I’m not sure. Letting someone kick his ass is a big deal for Kyle though.”

The beating Kyle took made my whole body ache. I wanted it to be over, but he stood there and took it. By now, the crowd had figured out what was going on. Instead of cheers, there was a somber ambience as everyone watched Kyle take his punishment. Even Dean realized what was going on and had tears in his eyes as he fought for his brother. As he reared back for the last hit, Kyle turned my way and by the look on his face I could tell he had found a semblance of peace. As Dean finished him off, he fell to the mat.

“I think there may be hope for him yet,” I said to Tyler.

He glanced up at Kyle’s still form. “For Kacey’s sake, I hope so. But he still has a long way to go.” With those final words, he turned on his heel and disappeared to the back.

Dean jumped out of the ring and his friends all congratulated him. No one even bothered to check on Kyle, so I hopped up into the ring and looked down at him. He was breathing hard and definitely still awake, but his eyes were closed.

“I think you can open your eyes now. They’re gone.”

He opened one eye and then the other. “I’m sure everyone’s disappointed I’m not dead.”

“Yeah, maybe a couple,” I laughed.

His lips pulled back into a smile which only split his lip further. “Are you?”

“Nope, because as soon as you’ve recovered, you are going to clean the blood up off of this mat.” I held out my hand and he grabbed it so I could help him up. He didn’t even need my help, but he held onto it anyway.

He looked down at the blood and cringed. “Fuck, that’s a lot of blood. How bad do I look?”

I bit my lip and assessed the damage. “Like you just went through the windshield. I do think it was good of you for what you did.” We both jumped down from the mat and I handed him a towel and a bottle of water.

He wiped the blood off his face and gently touched his lip, hissing. “What do you mean?”

“I know that you let him beat you on purpose. I’ve watched you fight plenty of times to know that you aren’t that horrible.”

His green eyes twinkled. “You’ve watched me fight?”

I threw another towel at him and it smacked him in the face. “Only to watch you lose, jackass. Now get cleaned up so you can wash off that mat before the stains set in.” Turning on my heel, I started for my desk and stopped when he spoke.

“And what do I get in return?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “My gratitude. That should be enough for now.”

After about two hours, the mat was clean and the gym was almost vacant. There were still a couple people left, including Kyle who kept sneaking glances my way. He looked better now that his face wasn’t covered in blood. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about the fight. My only concern was that if other fighters wanted to fight Kyle, they’d get a sore awakening. He wasn’t going to go easy on everyone.

“Meg, I can close tonight if you want to leave,” Tyler offered.