Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
That made me feel good. It meant my dad thought of me as a man now. I had officially grown up in his eyes.
“That’ll be nice,” Kage said. “There is one more thing, though. Because of this fight, I have to leave in the morning. I was supposed to leave for camp today, but I didn’t want to miss bringing Jamie down here. This is way more important.”
“Well, that’s awfully sweet of you, Kage,” my mom said. She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Why do you have to leave so soon?” I asked.
“That fight they got me is short notice, because somebody got injured at the last minute. Starting tomorrow, I’ve got eleven days to lose thirty-five pounds.”
“Jesus. Thirty-five?” I asked. “Why so much?”
“I should be fighting Welterweight, but the guy who pulled out is a Lightweight. Gotta take what I can get. Marco’s got me signed up for an intensive training camp.”
“And that means you have to lose weight?” my mother asked, obviously confused.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kage said. “I walk around every day at one-ninety. The weight limit in Welterweight, the class I want to be in, is one-seventy. So I’d have to lose twenty pounds before the fight. That’s something fighters do all the time. Most of that is water weight. They sweat it out in a sauna before the weigh-in, then rehydrate over the next twenty-four hours before the fight.”
“Why on earth do they do that?” Mom asked.
Kage chuckled. “A long time ago, somebody decided it was a clever way to trick the system. To dehydrate themselves down much lighter for the weigh-in, then use electrolyte drinks and IV fluids to come into the ring the next day far heavier than their opponent. That kind of weight can be an advantage in a fight.”
“That sounds terrible,” Mom said. “It can’t be healthy, can it?”
Kage shook his head. “Not really. But the problem is that everybody started doing it, and now if you don’t, you risk being the small guy in the fight. It’s a vicious cycle.”
“And you have to leave tomorrow morning?” I was still hung up on that.
“Don’t worry. You stay here and look after your mom, then I’ll send for you before the weigh-in. I promise you won’t miss anything.”
His smile and his words made me feel a lot better. But eleven days? That was a long damn time. I’d gotten used to being with him. Every time he’d disappeared for a couple of days in Vegas, I got agitated. Now we were going to be apart for eleven whole days? I wanted to be there for Mom, but I already knew I was going to lose my mind.
I couldn’t say it, though. Not with my parents listening.
THE euphoria of Kage’s backyard announcement was short lived for me. In all of the excitement about the fight, and the dread of being without him for so long, I had forgotten about the surprise guest waiting for me in the house. When the four of us entered the back door, we came face to face with Layla and my sister, who were sitting on bar stools in the kitchen.
My laughter died in my throat.
“Jamie,” she said, striking a demure pose with her hands on her knee. “It’s so great to see you. You look… different.”
“If one more person says I look different, I’m going to lose my mind.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it, papi. Only that you looked like you’ve really been working out a lot. Your body—” She blushed. “Vegas has been treating you right, huh?”
“I guess. What are you doing here?”
I could see the disappointment on her face at my reaction to her presence, but dammit, I’d broken up with her. Then confirmed it on the phone. So how had she ended up in my parents’ kitchen?
“That’s no way to speak to someone, Jamie,” my mother scolded. “Did you leave your manners in Las Vegas? Layla called to see how I was doing, and I invited her to come and spend the weekend with us while you were in town.”
“Oh.” That’s absolutely all I could manage. I didn’t want to be rude or hurt her feelings, but the situation was forty kinds of fucked up.
Kage was standing beside me, but he wasn’t looking at me, and he wasn’t smiling. He was putting a hole through Layla with his eyes.
My parents were glaring at me, and Layla looked devastated, but my sister Jennifer was twirling a finger in her long auburn hair and smirking evilly at me. She cut her eyes over at Kage and then at me, and that’s when I knew. My sister was onto us.
And Jennifer had a big mouth. So there was no telling who else knew.
I shrank about two feet and skulked away into the living room, where Chase the douchebag fiancé was watching TV with my little brother, Paul. Chase was antisocial, always sitting in front of the television at family events instead of spending time with people, so I didn’t bother speaking to him.