Page 137 of Heal Me, Love Me

The three of us—me on one side of Frank, and Dawn on the other—were making small talk when someone stopped next to me.

A guy stood there, looking at his ticket, then at the seat and chuckled. “Damn, Cross hooked me up.”

“You’re here for Rowan’s fight?” I asked.

He sat down next to me. “Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it.”

Something in the way he said it made me think this wasn’t just a random fan. “So you guys know each other?”

“Sure do. We served together in the Air Force.”

That caught Frank’s attention, and he extended his hand. “I’m Frank. Rowan’s father.”

The man immediately shook it. “Nolan Bradford. Nice to meet you, Mr. Cross.”

Rowan’s dad laughed. “Frank’s fine.”

“Yes, sir.” Nolan grinned.

Dawn chuckled. “Definitely military.” Then she offered her hand. “I’m Dawn, Rowan’s mother.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“You don’t have to call me ma’am either.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

That earned a laugh from all of us.

I stuck out my hand next. “Keaton Stafford.”

Nolan’s eyes widened slightly. “Nice to finally put a face to the name.”

I blinked. “Rowan mentioned me?”

Nolan shrugged. “Yep, and for what it’s worth, he seemed really happy when he told me you two were together.”

Before I could figure out how to respond to that, the crowd exploded around us, drawing everyone’s attention toward the announcer who stepped into the center of the cage.

Nolan nodded toward the tunnel. “If I remember correctly, this is the point he starts pacing.”

“You’ve seen him fight before?” I asked.

“Yeah. I caught a few of his boxing matches when we were stationed together in San Antonio.”

“That’s cool,” I replied, but hearing about Rowan’s time in the Air Force hit me hard. Nolan had seen a version of my boyfriend that I didn’t know much about, and I hated that those were years we’d never get back.

The giant screens above the cage lit up, and Rowan’s picture appeared. People cheered, and it wasn’t just our section or the handful of Atlantic Combat members scattered throughout the arena. I doubted that any of these people knew Rowan’s name a few months ago. Tonight, they were excited to see him fight.

The music changed, and Rowan appeared at the entrance. He walked to the cage with his coach and the rest of his team behind him, then immediately started moving, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet as he waited for the announcer to continue.

Beside me, I saw Dawn grab Frank’s arm.

“Already?” He laughed. “The fight hasn’t even started.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not nervous,” she argued.

Suddenly, Navarro’s music hit and he headed toward the cage. The reaction was a bit louder than Rowan’s had been, which wasn’t surprising since he was already an establishedfighter in the area, but overall, the crowd was close to evenly split.