18
EPOV
I couldn't help but chuckle softly as Emmett and Jasper glared at me and muttered under their breath as they followed Bella. My girl was ballsy, that's for sure.
"I'll give you this much, kid," laughed Carlisle, playing his hand on my shoulder. "My sister is going to keep you on your toes. I hope you're ready."
"I am," I smiled, looking from him to Esme and back. "You should be asking yourself that."
"Trust me, I am," he murmured, looking over at Esme. She was talking to Rose and Alice, while Charlie looked bored and Renee was scowling. "Well, let's go."
I followed Carlisle into the large arena and bit back my gasp. The room was filled with rings, fighters, judges, and fans. I'll admit that I was in awe and one hundred percent scared out of my fucking mind. As I followed Carlisle over to my first ring, I couldn't help but look around at all the other fighters around me. I was going to get my ass kicked, hard.
"Ok, let's get you taped," said Carlisle. I stuck my hand out and tried to squash my nerves. "Relax, Edward. You are ready for this."
"Yeah?" I asked. "Then why don't I feel ready?"
"Cause you are scared," snickered Carlisle. "When I was sixteen, my father signed me up for my first tournament. I was scared shitless but Nolan, my father, told me that I would be ok. All I could do was look around at all those other fighters. They all looked huge compared to me. I thought that I was going to get killed."
"Apparently, you didn't," I muttered as he gloved me.
"No, I didn't," he laughed, looking up at me. "The first guy I fought got one hit on me before I let go of all my nerves and beat his ass. After that, I went into each fight with a little more confidence than the one before. You're going to get hit. It's going to hurt. You shake it off, regroup, and go on. Understand?"
"I understand," I mumbled. Carlisle put my head gear on and I looked over at Esme. She was biting her nails. "Es, stop biting your nails."
"I'm not," she grumbled, dropping her hand from her mouth. I stepped over to her and put my hands on her shoulders.
"Remember Mark Daniels?" I asked.
"Yes, that asshole with the trams-am who nearly hit us when we were going to the park," said Esme. "What about him?"
"I'm going to give this guy the beating that Dad gave him," I chuckled, causing Esme to roll her eyes and laugh.
"You had better," she laughed, shaking her head. "Good luck, Edward."
I climbed into the ring and looked over at my opponent. Chris Cooper was a tall, thin man with dark black hair and beady eyes. He looked over at me and smirked. I gritted my teeth against the mouthpiece in my mouth as the judge rang the bell. He stepped up to me and threw a right hook at me. I blocked him with my left and threw my own right hook into the middle of his face. He stumbled back a few steps, shaking his head. He came back at me again but I ducked and kept moving. He tried to throw a left upper cut but I blocked it and threw several jabs into his gut and face. He fell back onto the mats with a loud thud.
"Winner," announced the referee, holding my hand up. "Nice fight, young man."
"Thank you," I said. I went over and climbed out of the ring.
"Good job, Edward," said Carlisle, squirting some water into my mouth. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," I shrugged. "How's Bella doing?"
"She's fine," sighed Carlisle. "Focus on your matches, not on her."
"I am," I mumbled.
"No, you're not, but it's ok," chuckled Carlisle. "Ok, your next match starts in ten so let's get moving."
"Is it normal for him to be fighting in matches so close together?" asked Esme, falling into step with me and Carlisle. Alice, Rose, Renee, and Charlie had moved up to the stands.
"Yes," smiled Carlisle. "He will have four matches today, and then depending on how he does, he will have four or five more tomorrow."
"Oh," mumbled Esme.
"I promise he will be fine, Esme," said Carlisle, grabbing her hand. "I give you my word."
"I believe you," smiled Esme. I rolled my eyes as I looked around. Like I wanted to see my sister making goo-goo eyes at Carlisle.
I stepped into the next ring and looked over at my opponent. Sebastian Martindale had fiery red hair and dark brown eyes. His pale skin was littered with freckles. Once we were both ready, he came at me like a madman. I stepped out of his way and kept moving. He was swinging his arms like crazy but I managed to block nearly everything that he threw at me. We were about halfway through the second round when he started slowly down. I smirked inwardly as I stepped up to him and threw a left then a right. I followed with another left. He fell back onto the mats, hard.
"Winner," announced the referee, once again holding my arm up. "Good match."
"Thanks," I muttered. I climbed out of the ring and let Carlisle take my gloves off.
"Let's re-tape your hands," said Carlisle, cutting off the old tape. "You're doing really good, Edward. Keep your elbows in a little tighter. You did a good job of making him do all the work."
"Thanks," I mumbled, looking around for Bella. "How's she doing?"
"Good," said Carlisle. "Won her first match. Second starts soon."
"Good," I smiled softly.
Carlisle redid my tape and pushed my gloves back onto my hands. I followed him and Esme over to my next ring. Esme was listening to Carlisle as he tried to explain the tournament rules to her. She listened to every word he said like it scripture sent straight from the heavens or something. It was both cute and very nauseating.
My next opponent was a man named Bryce Henson. He was a dark haired man with bright hazel eyes. He had a cocky look on his face like he thought he was everything. I couldn't wait to wipe the shit eating grin off his face. I stepped into the ring and got ready for the start of the match.
Once the judge had rang the bell, Bryce stepped around to his left. I followed his movements. He was a smarter fighter than the first two I had faced but his punches were weaker, lighter than either of theirs. He threw a couple of jabs at me but I managed to block them. I clocked him with an upper cut to the side of his head and he fell back against the ropes before sliding to the ground.
"Winner," declared the referee, holding up my arm. "Good luck, young man."
"Thanks," I said. I climbed back out of the ring.
"Nice job," smiled Carlisle.
"Gee, try not to act so surprised," I mumbled.
"I am," he snorted. "I figured you would be out by now."
"Thanks for having confidence in me," I snapped.
"Don't be a baby," he laughed, leading me to my final ring. "Most fighters don't win their first three matches. It's impressive."
"Whatever," I sighed.
My last opponent of the day was a short, squatty man with light blond hair and blue eyes. His name was Matthew Hatley. I stepped into the ring with him. He was focusing on the ground in front of us. The judge rang the bell and he snapped his head up to me. There was a look in his eye that made it clear to me that he was in this for the kill, so to speak.
He stepped to his side so I followed his actions. His eyes were trained on me. Matthew stepped up to me and threw a short left jab. I blocked it and threw a left upper cut to his jaw. It didn't even phase him. For the next two rounds, we went back and forth throwing jabs, left hooks, uppercuts, gut shots. By the middle of the third round, he was starting to weaken a little, very little. I stepped up and threw a right uppercut followed by a left jab. He stumbled back but didn't fall so I stepped up to him and threw a left roundhouse. I hit him directly on the jaw, spinning him around. He fell back into the ropes before sliding to the ground.
"Winner," yelled the referee. "Nice fight, gentlemen."
"Thanks," I muttered. I went over to Matthew. "Good job, Man."
"Thanks," he said. "Good luck tomorrow."
"Thanks," I sighed. I climbed out of the ring.
"Shit, he got you good. That eye is going to swell like a son of a bitch," muttered Carlisle. He pulled out an ice pack and placed it on my eye. "Hold it on there."
"Where's Bella?" I asked, looking around.
"She's fixing to start her last match, and no, you can't go watch her. She needs to focus on her opponent," explained Carlisle. "We are going to meet them out in the lobby."
"Fine," I sighed.
I followed Carlisle and Esme out to the lobby. Charlie, Rose, and Alice met us out there. Alice and Rose were whispering to each other and looking over at me. I rolled my eyes and looked away. I knew they were talking about me and Bella. Charlie was leaning against the back wall flipping through a magazine.
"So," smiled Esme, coming over to stand next to me.
"So," I echoed.
"You and Bella, huh?" asked Esme.
"Yep," I said.
"How long?" she asked.
"A couple weeks," I mumbled. She inhaled deeply and shook her head.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, softly.
"We weren't ready for people to know yet," I answered honestly, looking over at my sister. "Esme, it's been really hard for Bella to trust me. I didn't want to push her to tell her brothers before she was ready. She needed time."
"Are you in love with her?" asked Esme.
"I don't know," I mumbled, shaking my head. "I just…I don't know, Esme. Do you love him?"
"Who?" asked Esme, blushing.
"You know who," I chuckled softly.
"I don't know what I feel for him," said Esme, shaking her head. "This is new for me, too."
I looked over as the doors opened to the arena. Bella, Jasper, Emmet, and Renee came out. Bella looked up at me and smiled as she ran over and jumped into my arms. Besides a bruise on her jaw and the beginning of a black eyes, she didn't have a mark on her.
"I'm taking it your matches went good," I laughed, wrapping my arms around her
"Yep," smirked Bella. "I beat their asses. How did your matches go?"
"I beat some asses too," I smiled. I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, softly.
"Ok, that's enough," grumbled Emmett. "Let's get back to the hotel so you two can change before we head to dinner."
Bella and I laughed as Emmett and Jasper dragged a laughing Rose and Alice out of the building. I held Bella's hand tightly in mine as we headed out after them. A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of the hotel. Bella and I ran straight in and jumped in the elevator before they could catch up. I kissed her several times on the trip up.
Once the doors opened, we headed into our own rooms. I quickly showered and dried off. My eye was starting to swell and bruise but other wise, I didn't look too bad. I quickly pulled on my jeans, Black Sabbath t-shirt, and black leather boots. I headed out into the hall to wait for Bella.
A few minutes later, she and Esme came out of their room. Both of their eyes were a little red, like they had been crying. Esme smiled at me as she headed down the hallway to the elevator. Bella laid her head on my chest and sighed contently.
"You ok, Baby?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her.
"Yeah," she whispered. She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine. "I'm great."
"You sure?" I asked. "You look like you've been crying."
"I'm sure," she smiled. "Esme and I had the talk."
"Oh, the talk, huh?" I grimaced. "Can't say I'm too surprised."
"She was just worried about you, Edward," said Bella.
"I know," I sighed. "You ready to head down for dinner?"
"No," laughed Bella. "Everyone is going to be all over us demanding details."
"True, but we have to face them sooner or later," I smiled. "We're doing it together. Besides, I think we could take them."
"Me too," snickered Bella, pulling away from me. She molded her hand around mine. "Ok, let's go."
I chuckled softly as Bella and I headed down to the elevator. We stepped off in the lobby and everyone looked over at us. Just based on the looks on Emmett and Jasper's faces, this was going to be one hell of a long night.
