My gaze catches on the pink hair of the beautiful woman again, my arms raised in victory as I do a slow spin of the arena from the centre of the cage.

The crowd is normally nothing but a blur, but with a face like that, it’s no wonder she stood out.

Everyone in the room is going crazy, screaming my name, stomping their feet against the hard floor and clapping their hands – celebrating the victory with me.

Considering I beat the shit out of other dudes for a living, I’m this place’s golden boy.

I’m the crowd favourite here tonight, and with good reason. This is my home town now, and even though I was raised somewhere else entirely, they treat me like I’m the prodigal child returned – not to mention the fact that I’ve just won myself another title belt.

That makes two now.

Justin’s hand lands heavily on my back, and I realise I’m frozen, still looking at the girl.

She’s not even so much as glanced up at me. In fact, her eyes are on her feet, and she looks like she could hurl.

I don’t know who she is, but given that she’s got prime ringside tickets, she must be someone.

“Your uppercut needs work,” Justin yells over the cheers of the crowd as I pull my eyes from the girl and turn to face him.

I flip him off. He might be my coach, but he’s also my best mate.

“You’re going to pull me up on my uppercut, when I just got us another belt?”

His face breaks into a grin. “Good things come in twos, baby.”

“I’ve had a few knocks to the head.” I chuckle. “But I’m pretty sure it’s bad things and that they come in threes.”

“Whatever, same difference.” He throws his arm around my shoulder and shoves at my head, a shit-eating grin on his lips. “He messed up your pretty face this time.”

I shove him back. “Fuck off.”

He’s right though. I can feel the blood trickling down my left eye and onto my cheek, plus my right eye is swelling so hard I can’t see shit out of it anymore.

The calling of my name picks up, and I raise my hand to the crowd, my newly acquired belt strapped around my middle.

It doesn’t feel too bad to be king of the ring, I can tell you that much.

“You done with this circus?” Justin asks, and I nod.

Fuck yes, I am.

Post-fight interviews are done – my opponent has already insisted on a rematch, even though I kicked his ass in only three rounds, but hell, if he wants to offer up his reputation for me to destroy further, then I’ll take the pay day.

Winning is a high, but one that is wearing off fast.

This thing is done.

Justin throws my robe over my shoulders and gestures to the other guys that we’re moving out.

Justin is my main trainer, but I’ve also got a couple of other guys. Randy is my grapple and floor expert and Owen works with me on conditioning and my leg work – kicks and knees. Between the three of them, they handle my management and nutrition – I like to keep my circle small.

We’re exiting the opposite side of the cage from the girl with the pink hair, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed about it.

No one catches my eye in a crowd on a normal day, and the fact that she did, has me curious – I want to know who she is and why she’s here.

Justin leads me through the screaming crowd – security guards flanking us until we reach the hallway leading to the warm-up area and changing rooms.

I glance back over my shoulder, even though I know I won’t see her.

I know I could ask Justin to go out there and invite her back here for me, but honestly, the pain is starting to kick in, and I’m not sure I could be charming even if I wanted to be – I certainly don’t look my best.

I scowl and shrug my shoulders, which are starting to feel like lead, and try to relax.

There’s so much lactic acid coursing through my body, and I know I’m going to be sore as shit tomorrow.

That bastard might have gone down like a sack of potatoes in the end, but he got a few good shots in along the way.

Randy jogs off ahead of me, to check on my ice bath I bet, and Owen sits an ice pack between my shoulders to try and give me some temporary relief.

The guys know me well by now, when I get this look on my face, it’s time to get to work making me more comfortable.

“Anything you want the doctor to check?” Justin asks, his gaze travelling to my eyebrow.

“It’ll need stitches or something,” I tell him, I can feel the gaping cut across my brow, and it’s definitely not going to heal up on its own.

“I’ll see if he wants to glue it or sew it up.” He nods.

We reach the door of my changing room; Owen tugs the robe from my shoulders and removes my belt.

I slide my shorts down my legs and limp towards the bath in only my boxer briefs.

“Might get him to check my leg too,” I tell Justin.

He nods. “I’ll get him to swing by in a few, I’ve gotta go grab my sister quickly.”

I slide into the ice-cold water and wince. I’ll never get used to this level of cold.

“Your sister?”

“Yeah, man, remember I told you she was finally back?”

I shake my head and try to relax my tense muscles.

“I told you yesterday she was coming to watch, I got her tickets…”

I shake my head again. He should know better than to talk to me about anything important in the lead up to a fight.

Most of the time I’m half-starved from trying to make weight, and almost delusional from all the training.

He shakes his head and chuckles. “We might get doc to check your head while we’re at it… so, my sister – you do remember I have one of those, right?”

I flip him off again.

“Anyway, she’s in the crowd and I’ve gotta go get her.”

I wave him off with my hand and close my eyes, letting my head fall back against the rim of the bath.

I don’t know how long I lie there for, but I hear Justin’s voice coming back towards the room and I open my eyes.

There’s still blood pouring out of my brow, so I hope he’s got the doc with him; it’s getting fucking irritating.

“I don’t know, J, I’m not sure I should go in there,” a female voice says.

“Don’t be stupid, you’re practically family.”

His sister.

I’ve never met Ramsey, but it would seem I’m about to.

Excellent fucking timing.

Justin strides into the room, a grin on his face, and my eyes fall to the woman behind him… the one with the pink hair and the pretty face.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath.

She’s the woman. The one from the crowd. The one who caught my eye and is now making my heart beat faster.

She’s fucking gorgeous.

I’d need a cold shower if I wasn’t already covered in ice.

“Ramsey, this is Hudson, but you can call him Horror if you want.”

Her eyes find mine and she gasps, her face turns white and she sways on her feet.

“Oh fuck, I forgot about the blood,” Justin hisses as he darts to catch her as she faints in his arms. “She can’t stand the sight of blood.” He groans as he scoops her up.

“Well, shit, I’ve never had a woman react quite like that to meeting me,” I drawl, trying to cover the fact that I’m about two seconds away from leaping out of this bath to see if she’s okay.

Justin carries her from the room, and it takes every last bit of my self-control to stay put.