A Fighting Chance Read Online Free Page A

other, like my grandma used to say. Either way, Drew Hallisay and I just… were.
    “Wanna disappear with me for fifteen minutes?” I whisper ed.
    “ Fifteen? A bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” she teased.
    “I guess there’s more than one show going on tonight,” Buc ky yelled down to us. “Hey, Drew,” he added, lilting.
    She tensed against me and grumbled something I didn’t understand. “Hi…Bucky.”
    “Think you can detach yourself from Jess long enough for him to make me some money, Hallisay? I also think he’d like to breathe now.”
    Drew roll ed her eyes. “Think you can—”
    “I’m ready, dude,” I sa id, cutting off whatever insult she was about to hurl at him. She hated everything having to do with fighting and that included Bucky Webber. Thankfully, he was smart enough to walk back to the center of the ring. “Hey, can I take you somewhere tomorrow after school? Go for a drive, just the two of us?” I asked her.
    Curiosity lit up in her eyes. “Where are we going?”
    “Wherever you want, baby. Radio up. Windows down. Just me and my girl.”
    She glowed with a smile that had a way of punching me in the chest a lot harder than any dude in the ring. “I’d love that. Maybe we could have a picnic somewhere. The weather’s supposed to be really nice.” She tapped her lips to mine. “Okay, go do your thing. Give him a taste of Glory, baby.”
    “Always.”
    She hugged me really tight, like she was afraid to lose me, and maybe she did lose me a little when I was up there. “I love you, Chance,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”
    “Love you back, Hallisay,” I said, and after I set her down on her feet, I looked over to Bucky.
    “Welcome to the main event of Tuesday Night Madness!” he said in his best announcer voice. “The rules are simple! Our goddamn barn better still be standing after the fight, and only fighters are allowed in the ring during the fight. No throwing bottles, Eddie Somerville ….or panties, ladies .” The crowd hooted; they always loved that part. “Okay, over here on my left, the opponent for the night, facing our hometown boy, here’s Kerr ‘The Killer’ Edwards !” Kerr pumped his fists in the air and laughed off the booing as he crossed the ring, flexing his muscles.
    “And now…” Climbing up, I ducked between the ropes as the lights in Perry’s barn went low , and the cheers rose up in the darkness. “The man who busted heads in Waco, knocked out teeth in Little Rock, the man who beat another man so ugly in Shreveport his wife divorced him, the one you just bet your entire paycheck on, Glory’s Own, Jesse Chance!” When the lights came back on, I kept my entrance subtle, only a raised glove, as I moved to the center to meet Kerr. His nostrils flared wide when we bumped knuckles and he could barely stand still. I smirked. Dudes always creamed themselves wanting to beat the champ.
    “Keep it clean, gentlem en,” Bucky warned. “No hitting below the belt, no kidney shots, and no head butting. Sound good? Okay! Let’s fight!” The bell dinged, and Kerr and I both took steps back, but he barreled toward me a second later, trying to trap me in a corner, just like Drew said he would. He came swinging at full strength, so I let him chase me around the ring, with a swift dodge of his punches here and there, and a lot of quick footwork. He tired himself out.
    So , I went to work.
    I threw a rapid series of blows and disorienting knocks to his body. My finale was a hit to the gut, a hook to the chin , and a jab square in the face. Lights out, bitch. Dazed, Kerr stumbled to the left and landed mouth on the canvas floor. Well, he got his taste of Glory.
    He was only still for a few seconds before he took a weak roll onto his back. Blood was snaking from his nostrils and one of his eyes was already swelling. I had expected much more from him. I knew they were still hungry out there, so I leaned down, lifted his head, and pummeled his