The Only Way by Jamie Sullivan Page A

she could scramble back Adler was on her again. His fists flew towards her, the long swing of his muscled arm rattling her bones on impact. She covered her face and braced herself back against the ropes. She could hear the roar of the audience, rising in pitch. She curved back into the ropes and clenched her abdomen, curling up from the floor and kicking out with both legs.
    She caught Adler hard in the hips, one foot glancing off of the cup he wore. He grunted and she flew to her feet, jabbing out before he could recover. He backed off and she took a deep, steadying breath.
    They circled back to the center of the ring. He swung towards her stomach; she blocked him. He raised a knee and she curled forward, bracing. It was a feint; he switched legs and caught her unaware, his foot glancing off the side of her knee. She grunted and flung herself forward, swinging for his face. He jumped back and she missed.
    He swooped forward, ducking his head, catching her just under her armpit, where she was soft. She winced as she was driven back. She rained blows down on the muscular planes of his back, but he didn't stop until she was pressed tight against the ropes. Her lungs fought to expand under the pressure of Adler's bulk, trapping her.
    His knee came out of nowhere, striking hard at her side and she lost her footing. She slid down to the mat, ducking to keep her head covered as Adler loomed over her.
    She rolled away from the ropes, but Adler caught her, straddling her hips and pushing one shoulder flat to the mat. She was face down, her arms trapped under her.
    If she could just get a leg up. She kicked wildly, bucking like a horse. He dodged easily and she cursed into the slick mat. He dropped on top of her, his chest pressed tight to her back, covering her. She wriggled desperately in his hold. He wasn't the biggest man she had fought or the strongest. She should be able to get out of the hold.
    She was a winner.
    Ten! Leo's voice cut through the fog of her panic and she blinked stupidly. The weight disappeared from her back and she flopped to her side. Adler flashed a grin down at her before stepping away. Done with her.
    Because she had lost.
    Hart sucked in a shaky breath and then climbed to her feet. Adler was with Leo, accepting his purse. His winnings.
    Cash that should have been hers.
    She stormed to the side of the ring, flinging herself out through the ropes. Ruby waited on the sidelines but Hart shouldered past her, to the changing room.
    She had been so sure this was her fight to win. Furious, she lashed out, punching the closest locker.
    It stung, the metal giving less than the flesh she was used to. She looked down, surprised to see blood pooling up between her knuckles.
    "Well, that was stupid," Ruby commented. Hart glanced over her shoulder; the girl stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest.
    Hart flexed her hand, wincing at the broken skin.
    "Is it broken?" Ruby asked.
    "No," Hart bit the word out.
    "Good. Still stupid, though."
    "I lost," Hart said, trying the words out in her mouth, feeling the bitter taste of them on her tongue.
    "Yeah."
    She hunched her shoulders. Her hand hurt, but she still wanted to hit something. She wanted another chance at Adler, to take back what should be hers.
    "Everyone loses, Hart."
    "I was winning!" she snarled.
    "Yeah, and tonight you lost. No one wins all the time."
    "I needed that money."
    "So does Adler. Tonight he won it. The next fight, it might be yours."
    Hart dropped her head down against the locker, feeling the cool metal on her overheated face. "Stop being so reasonable."
    Ruby laughed. She stepped up behind her, rubbing a hand across Hart's tense shoulders. "Someone's got to be. And it obviously isn't going to be you."
    "I was sure I was going to win," she muttered into the unforgiving press of the locker.
    "And that's probably why you lost," Ruby said, and Hart knew she would be shrugging, a dismissive hitch of her shoulders. "You should never be sure . People