The man on the stage swung back abruptly before dealing a nasty uppercut to his opponent which had him falling back against the ring. The crowd erupted in cheers as the fighter tackled his already felled opponent and the referee counted down to three, before declaring a total knock out.
There was a sheen of sweat running down the fighters shirtless body and he raised both of his gloved hands into the air, making the crowd go absolutely wild.
They began shoving each other relentlessly in their attempts to move towards the star of the moment reigning over the fight ring. Said shoving was detrimental to yours truly because I kept getting squashed between angry, sweaty people, and got so worse until the point came that I was convinced that I would be run over.
The traitor Stacey, my brand new best friend and also the one who convinced me to come here is nowhere to be seen. Finally the crowd gives some relief as the fighter walks off the stage and to the inner area where the locker rooms are- which is luckily locked-, so the people give up their aspirations to meet the fighter personally.
I use this chance to worm my way out of the corner and find an empty corner to stand in while I fan myself with my hands. God, it's hot. I could kill for a cold soda right now. As if on cue, a can of chilled Diet Coke- so blissfully cold that a droplet of perspiration runs down its steamy form, is shoved in my face and Stacey gives me a wide grin.
'Girl, where were you?'
I take the peace offering from her hand but still narrow my eyes,
'I should be asking you that.'
Her grin widens and her now swollen lips answer my question for me and she winks, while I shake my head. This girl has no self control. She catches my exasperation and pouts,
'Oh come on! You know how much I need a rebound.'
I cock my eyebrow,
'I thought you said you were going to stay away from all guys for a while.'
She grins again, albeit sheepishly, before her eyes gleam with that dreamy look as she grabs my arm and leans against me.
'You should've seen that guy, he was gorgeous.'
She steals a sip from my can before I can push her off and then gulps quickly before she seems to remember something,
'I just remembered. He asked us if we wanted to stay for the party here later. It's pretty exclusive so it should be safe for your highness.'
I roll my eyes at that.
'It's not the safety I'm worried about, it's the fact that we have training tomorrow in the morning.'
'Oh come on, we'll go back early.' She begins shaking my arm and pleads, 'Come on Cece, live a little.'
Her eyes are all puppy dog again so I sigh, but then nod anyway.
After all, there's no saying if I'll ever be able to do this again. It's fun being out and not being myself for once and despite the overcrowding here, I couldn't deny that I didn't have fun watching the match. While boxing wasn't my cup of tea because of how messy it is, I had to admit that the sport itself was admirable. Being an athlete makes you recognize the value of such techniques. The fighter just now wasn't overhyped for no reason; while I couldn't make out the real reason for his popularity a.k.a his extremely gorgeous face because of the dim lighting, his display of fighting skills were enough to give me an adrenaline rush.
Stacey and I wait around for the crowd to disperse a little until only the party invitees are left. The sudden emptiness makes me slightly wary and I can't help the flash of guilt I feel over my father finding out where I was.
I didn't want to disappoint him- especially not when he pulled such strings for me to attend this road racing camp in Paris.
Stacey notices the sudden dip in my mood and is about to say something when three men come in from the back. From the fighters lounge. The one in the center is blond with gorgeous green eyes and he winks at Stacey- who has turned into mush and runs towards him.
So this must be the reason behind her swollen lips; she wasn't wrong about him being handsome.
I down the last few sips of my soda and toss it in the can behind me, before turning around to join Stacey when I'm struck by a brick wall. Only this wall is made of muscle and is a large man's back. He turns around and I..stop breathing for a second.
Full, deep lips. Electric blue eyes. Hair dark as midnight. High cheekbones.
The man is so gorgeous that he almost seems otherworldly. I can barely blink- my eyes glazed open as if any obstruction to my line of sight would make him disappear.
After being pathetically stunned for a few minutes, I shake myself out of it and lower my head sheepishly for bumping into him. I wasn't going to apologize for the staring though, nope- not my fault.
'F-forgive me.'
He watches me for a beat, his eyes searching my face and roaming down the curve of my neck. I wonder if his gaze will move lower and am pleasantly surprised when it doesn't. He holds my stare for a long time and I feel my cheeks flush in embarrassment by his intensity.
'Forgiven.'
He replies smoothly, his voice so deep that I could sigh. I don't though, thank god.
Except then he smiles at me and I lose my gasping battle. If I thought he was handsome before, he's in a completely different league now.
After blowing me away completely, he walks off to join the blonde standing next to Stacey and I remain affixed to my spot for a while.
I just knew, deep down, that I was now in really big trouble.