Free Hurts So Good by Jenika Snow

of her or she would have fallen on her face once again. The guy that had inadvertently stopped her fall turned around, gripped her arm to steady her, and leaned in.
    “Shit, you okay?” She pulled away from him and nodded. He glanced at her face and grimaced. “Damn, got a cut on your face, but it looks like the bleeding as already stopped.” She nodded and reached into her purse for a tissue. After dabbing the cut she shoved the dirty tissue in her bag and knew she had been stupid to come here in the first place. The speaker crackled once more, and she knew the announcer was about to say something that would get this crowd rowdy.
    “I can’t hear you. Are you ready to see the Russian that can knock a motherfucker on his ass in one brutal hit?” The crowd screamed like lunatics.
    Jane’s heart was pounding like a frantic beat of a drum, but it wasn’t because she nearly face planted once again, although it sure as hell should have been the reason. It was because the announcer had said a Russian was going to fight. This was the second time she had heard the announcer say that, but the first time her mind had clearly been so pre-occupied with other things that she hadn’t connected the dots. She may not have heard Mack’s name, but she knew without a doubt it was he who would be getting in the cage. “I’ve never seen you here before.” The guy in front of her hadn’t moved, and in fact came a bit closer to her. He was shouting to be heard over the yelling, but she didn’t comment on the fact how in the hell he would have seen her here any other time with all these people around even if this wasn’t her first time here.
    “If you want to see the Russian, I better hear some fuckin’ noiseeeeeeee .” The announcer dragged out that word, and it reminded her of boxing matches when the guy would hold the microphone and get all dramatic before the fighters came out. The sound went up ten decibels, and she zeroed in on the cage. She spotted the crowd parting on the left, and her heart stalled in her chest, but when she noticed it wasn’t Mack she exhaled so heavily she sagged forward. The guy that climbed into the cage looked Hispanic in origin, and that was verified when he turned and she saw his back. A large Mexican flag was tattooed in vibrant red and green on the muscular expanse.
    “Have you seen the Russian fight before?” She looked over at the guy that seemed intent on keeping a conversation with her. His light hair was on the longer side, and brushing the tops of his ears. He had a kind of “surfer boy” look going on, and when she really looked at him he appeared a bit out of place compared to the other people here, especially with his linen button down shirt and Dockers. She shook her head because she wasn’t about to yell just to be heard. “Oh, man, you’re in for something than. He knocks guys out with one hit. Well, when he isn’t letting them kick his ass into the ground.” Jane knitted her brows. She leaned in so she wouldn’t have to scream to be heard.
    “What do you mean lets them kick his ass?”
    He shrugged. “The guy is a fucking beast, like a realistic Hulk, minus the green and all that. But he has to be a sadist fuck.”
    “What do you mean?” She looked at the cage once more and saw the Hispanic fighter was still bouncing around the cage and getting the crowd worked up, but there were a hell of a lot more “boos” coming from them than cheers.
    “Some fights he throws this insane right hook and knocks the other guys out cold. But there are some other fights where he lets them kick his ass. I mean really kick his ass until he is all bloody and shit on the mat and half-conscious. He won’t even fight back. It’s fucking crazy.” The booing went to chanting and female screams, and Jane turned and looked at the cage. The other fighter took a step back and positioned himself in one of the corners. The crowd on the left hand side parted, and that was when she saw him , the