Worth the Chance

Chapter 50

Vince

Underneath the arena, less than an hour to go until the biggest fight of my life, and I’m fucking miserable. Finding it difficult to pretend to be psyched up for a fight that I know I can’t win, I’m glad for the chaos in the locker room that surrounds a championship fight. Otherwise I’d have to deal with Nico one on one. The fucked up part is I feel worse for doing this to Nico than I do for myself.

Over on the other side of the room, I see him talking to a reporter. He talks about the years that we’ve worked together with pride. He’s a pain in the ass, always has his nose in my business, yet I don’t know where I’d be without him. In more ways than one.

Half an hour before we have to go up for announcements, Nico kicks everyone out of the room. Wrapping my hands, he starts with the pep talk I knew was bound to come.

“You’re better than this guy.”

“I know.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Watch for when he drops his left…”

“I know.”

“And don’t let him take you to the ground.”

“I know.”

“Well if you know everything, what the hell do you need me here for?” Nico jokes, giving me a playful smack across the face.

“Listen, Nico,” I pause, not sure of my words, not wanting to come out all sappy, sounding like a pussy…so I go for simple. “Thank you.”

“I’m your trainer, you don’t have to thank me. I get a cut, remember?” He smiles.

“I meant for everything.”

Finishing the tape, Nico stills and looks up at me. A nod that says more than words ever could. He slaps one arm around my shoulder. “Come on, let’s go kick some ass.”

Standing at the back of the arena behind closed doors, I wait as the crowd cheers after the announcer calls my opponent into the ring. Head bowed, I close my eyes, taking in the electricity of the moment. A moment that should be mine. Ten years in the making, and I’m finally here. The doubters never thought I’d make it. Thinking back, neither did I most days. I spent my life swimming upstream, but sometimes…sometimes, it just got to be too much. So I’d stop swimming and just let the current take me for a ride, never knowing where I was going to land.

Nico clasps his hand to my shoulder as the door opens and I look down the familiar dark aisle toward the center where all the lights shine. “You ready to do this?” he yells to me over the sound of the crowd leaking out through the open door.

“As I’ll ever be.”