Becca the Bibliophile and Shh Moms Reading have teamed up again for a special 3 DAY event with Jackson and Vanessa from Rules of Entanglement by Gina L. Maxwell.
DAY 2 - Becca and I attend our first MMA fight between Jax and his rival Danny Akana. For those who have read, Rules of Entanglement - you know who we are talking about! Get ready for some action packed fun! Be sure to stop by Becca's blog tomorrow for the Rules of Entanglement trailer PREMIERE! Enjoy!
Missed DAY 1 - you can see it HERE.
Fight Day
Vanessa
stood at the entrance to the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu where Jackson
was fighting Danny Akana shortly at UFC 165. The jerk had switched camps after
she emasculated him
by breaking his nose with her fist and then made a career
of publicly smearing Jax’s name and challenging him in the media. Even though
Akana only had a few fights under his belt and in no way deserved to fight a
seasoned and former champion like Jax, but even the UFC wasn’t immune to the
politics of ratings and the bigger the rivalry, the bigger the ratings.
 |
| Neal S. Blaisdell Center |
Jax, of course, couldn’t have been happier when UFC president, Dana White, proposed the fight. Now he can finish what Danny started all those months ago when he sucker punched Jax after a sparring session in the gym followed by a crass threat of what he’d like to do to Vanessa. Although she would never condone Jax going after the guy outside of the octagon, inside the cage was another story entirely.
At
last the towncar with her guests arrived and she greeted Becca and Christine at
the curb with a warm smile and big hugs. They’d interviewed her and Jackson the
day before and now they were here to continue their exposé on the couple.
Christine would be writing an article on the fight and Becca would be taking
pictures and clips of video to accompany it.
Vanessa
handed them their press passes to wear around their necks. “Okay, girls, are
you ready?”
Becca
adjusted the camera strap over her shoulder. “Absolutely. I’m hoping to get so
close to the action I get sprayed with sweat.”
Christine
added, “You never know, Bec, it might end up being blood.”
Becca
momentarily paled as her friend laughed at her expense, then recovered with a
shrug. “I don’t care, as long as it’s followed by Jackson kicking Akana’s sorry
a—”
“Ladies,”
said a deep voice from behind them, “if you’ll follow me I’ll escort you
inside.”
All
three women turned to see a member of the arena’s security team. The guy was
massive and could have easily gotten a job as Duane “The Rock” Johnson’s stunt
double. Vanessa thanked him and he directed them through the throng of MMA fans
through a door labeled as restricted access. After navigating several hallways
they finally arrived at a room with Jackson’s name beside it.
Vanessa
looked back at the girls. “Becca, you’re fine to take pictures. Christine, Jax
is going to be in pre-fight mode, so don’t feel bad if he totally ignores you.
Depending on what he’s doing in there he might be fine with talking or he might
not. Just follow his lead, okay?”
Becca
nodded and Christine added, “Got it.” Big Man knocked and waited for someone to
call out that it was okay to come in before opening the door and waving them
in.
It
looked like a typical green room where celebrities might wait before appearing
on a show or where a band hung out before their concert. A couple of couches
lined the back and left walls and a large flat screen TV hung in the opposite
corner showing the fights as they happened.
 |
| Jackson "Jax" Maris |
“There
she is.” Corey, one of Jackson’s good friends and teammates crossed the room to
greet her with a hug and kiss on the cheek. Vanessa introduced him to the girls
and explained why they were there. He bestowed them with his signature
boy-next-door smile and warm handshake. Then, jerking his thumb in the
direction of Jax shadow boxing in the middle of the room, he said, “Have you
finally come to dump this poor schmo and ask me for my hand in marriage?”
She
laughed at the tall and lanky fighter with his All-American good looks and
charm by the mile. “Isn’t it the man’s job to do the asking?”
“I’m
all for the feminist movement. I support your right to pursue happiness, and in
this case, I think you’d be happier with me,” he said with a wink.
“Now,
Corey, what did I tell you about thinking? It only gets you into trouble.” She
patted his cheek a couple of times. “Stick with fighting.”
“Can’t
say I haven’t given it the old college try. Oh, well. Why don’t you have a seat
on the couch over there while your golden boy does his thing.”
All
three women sat and watched the pre-fight routine. Corey and a couple of the
other fighters who would be “cornering” for Jackson talked amongst themselves
and watched the current fight on TV. Jax was now throwing combinations at the
hand pads his coach was wearing. Vanessa loved watching him move. He wore a
black pair of shorts that looked just like his dozens of pairs of board shorts
he owned, only these had his sponsors’ logos all over them. On top he wore a
matching sponsor loaded hoodie, hood pulled up to block out his peripheral
vision, and ear buds blasting his favorite “get psyched” music straight into
his brain.
He
was focused. He was ready. He was damn sexy.
Becca
took the occasional picture and Christine watched and took down notes on her
writing pad. Vanessa was eager to see what the article would say. Hopefully it
ended with Jackson’s hand being raised in the end.
Fifteen
minutes later Coach shed the pads and Jax removed the ear buds and his hood to
listen to the plan one last time before the older man cuffed him on the side of
the head as his own twisted way of showing affection. Apparently it was everyone’s way. Vanessa’s eyes grew wide
as every man in the room proceeded to hit Jax on the sides of the head—hard!—as
they yelled words of encouragement at him.
Glancing
over Vanessa found Christine’s mouth hanging open and Becca giggling as she
took shot after shot of the barbaric scenario.
“That
explains so much about the male psyche,” Vanessa muttered. “Come on, girls,
let’s leave them to their caveman rituals and find our seats. It’s almost
time.”
The
girls both made pouty faces at having to leave the testosterone filled room and
Vanessa tried not to laugh as she ushered them toward the door.
“Wait!”
She
knew that deep voice as intimately as her own. Turning, she watched as Jackson
strode toward her. Normally her fiancé had a ready smile that showed his
dimples and warm topaz eyes that reminded her of gooey caramel. He was a
charmer by nature and no one was immune to his powers. But right at this moment
all that was replaced with a feral intensity he only ever unleashed during two
things: fighting…and sex.
He
stopped in front of her, so close she swore she could hear his heart beating a
rapid tattoo against his chest. Or maybe that was hers. “You didn’t think I’d
actually let you leave without saying anything, did you?”
“I
didn’t think you knew I was here. I mean, I didn’t think you saw me.”
He
challenged her statement with an arch of his scarred eyebrow. “I don’t have to
see you to know when you’ve stepped into the room, V. You should know that by
now.” A shudder ran through her as he lifted his taped up hands and framed her
face. “Tonight, this win’s for you.”
“You
know I don’t like the idea of you fighting for me.”
“Yeah,
I know. But just this once, I’m doing it all the same. You can yell at me for
it later.”
She
rolled her eyes and released an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Now go on, get in the
zone or whatever. I’ll see you after.”
Jax
kissed her firmly on the lips and dropped his hands. He acknowledged Becca and
Christine with a nod of his head before bouncing from side to side back to the
center of the room. Becca opened the door and they started to shuffle into the
hallway, but at the last minute Vanessa looked over her shoulder and called out
to the man she loved. He stopped jumping around to turn and face her again.
Then
she said the words she’d been secretly wanting to tell him since that first
time he’d been in a cage with Akana. “Kick his ass.”
A
shit-eating grin split his face just before Corey shoved a guard into his mouth.
The glint in his eyes shone brightly as he started jumping again with renewed
energy. As Vanessa finally joined the girls in the hallway, encouraging shouts
from the men of Team Titan echoed as the door swung shut behind her.
Thirty
minutes later Vanessa, Becca, and Christine were seated in the front row behind
the raised octagon platform where Jackson’s corner would be. As Becca checked
her camera’s settings and took some preliminary shots, Christine leaned over to
be heard over the loudness surrounding them. “Holy crap, I’m so nervous for him
I could puke. How do you deal with this?”
Vanessa
gave her a helpless look. “I have no idea. This is his first professional fight
since we’ve been together.”
Becca
had just sat down and heard the tail end. “Oh my God, are you kidding? This is
perfect! We’re going to capture every nail-biting, jaw-clenching reaction!”
Christine
and Vanessa stared at the woman who looked like she’d just won the lottery.
Becca cleared her throat and schooled her face. “What I meant to say was, I’m
sure everything will be fine. Despite how it can look, these fights don’t
result in permanent injuries all that often.” Vanessa felt the color drain from
her face and she thought she saw Christine jab her friend in the ribs. “I mean,
just because there’s blood and lots of things swollen ten times their normal
size doesn’t mean it’s all that serious.”
“I
think I’m going to be sick,” Vanessa muttered.
Christine
used her notepad to fan Vanessa. “No you’re not, you’re going to be just fine
because we all know that Jax is going to rip Akana to shreds. Isn’t that right,
Bec?”
“Yes!
Absolutely. That’s what I was trying to say.”
Vanessa
laughed despite the knots growing in her stomach and gave Becca a reassuring
shoulder squeeze. “Do me a favor, girl. Keep up the awesome work with making
trailers and movies and leave the pep talk business to someone else.”
 |
| Danny Akana |
They
all laughed at that point, but it was interrupted by the walk-in music for
Danny Akana. She didn’t recognize the song, but it was just as obnoxious as its
fighter. When he got into the cage he ran around it taunting the fans, sticking
his tongue out, and finally making a lewd gesture directed at Vanessa. As much
as she wanted to flip him off she refrained. As the fiancé of one of the
fighters, not to mention the publicly-known reason for the rivalry, the cameras
were sure to pan to her from time to time. She wasn’t going to risk her
reputation for a split-second of satisfaction.
Next
came the music for Jackson. Another song she didn’t know, but it sounded
electrifying and empowering. After hugging his coach and teammates, getting
greased up with Vaseline, and proving he wore a mouth guard and cup he entered
the cage and jogged around once with his fist in the air as a salute to the
crowd. When he stopped at his corner, he found her in the fans, pointed to the
sea star tattoo over his heart and then at her.
The
crowd cheered even louder, eating up the brief attention he paid her. But the
only thing Vanessa paid attention to was the easing of the knots in her
stomach. With just one look Jackson had been able to reassure her. She was
ready to watch the fight.
The
music died down as the announcer rattled off the stats of each man. The referee
brought them to the center and went over the rules. Jackson held out his fists
to touch gloves in a show of good sportsmanship. Danny ignored it and backed
away. The referee asked one last time if each man was ready…then clapped his
hands and started round one.
The
next five minutes were a flurry of fists and kicks as both men kept the fight
on their feet. They bounced on the balls of their feet and circled each other
looking for the opening they needed to connect their next blow. The problem was
that Danny seemed to be landing twice as many hits as Jax. Already Jax’s lip
was split open and bleeding along with a cut over his right eye. Vanessa had no
idea what Jackson’s game plan was, but if the shouted orders coming from his
corner were any indication, he wasn’t following it.
During
the round Becca followed the action with the other photographers and captured
the damage with her camera. Christine wrote feverishly while glancing between
the cage and her notepad. Vanessa’s eyes were glued to her fiancé and her hands
were wringing themselves in the hem of her shirt.
At
the end of the round she watched Corey rub ice bags on his shoulders, back, and
chest. One guy wiped the blood from his face and slathered more Vaseline over
the cuts to prevent them from bleeding. Yet another guy pressed a cold, metal
object to his face to keep the swelling down as much as possible. And all of
that took place while they barked orders at him. But Jax didn’t seem to be
listening. His eyes were locked onto Akana the entire time.
Round
two.
This
time the fight went to the ground, but other than that the outcome was the
same. Five minutes of Akana taking Jackson to the mat, passing his guard, and
trying to work submissions on him. He almost succeeded a few times, too, but
each time Jackson managed to get out of it before Danny could lock anything in.
His coach and teammates were screaming bloody murder at him to do this and
that, but Jax either didn’t hear them or decided to ignore them.
When
the round came to an end, Vanessa watched helplessly as the earlier break
played over again like a bad case of déjà vu. She understood enough by now to
know that if a fight wasn’t called by KO, TKO, or submission, it came down to
points and who won at least two out of the three rounds. And it would be
obvious to even a newcomer to the sport that Akana had won both rounds so far.
Jax needed to finish him in round three, or he’d lose.
Unable
to stand by any more, Vanessa ran past security to the black chain link fence.
“Maris!” she yelled. He twisted his upper body so he could see her. “What the
hell are you doing out there? Stop toying with him and finish this!”
He
gave her a wicked grin and a wink to match before heading out for round three.
This
time things were different. Jackson came out with a vengeance, landing his
punches and connecting his kicks. Whatever submission Danny tried to get him in,
Jax easily maneuvered out of it. With each new thwarted attack the kid grew
angrier, more volatile. But the more he let the emotions get the better of him,
the sloppier his technique became.
Finally,
the kid threw his hands out to the side in yet another taunt. And that’s when
Jax struck. His arm shot out like a viper uncoiling, hitting dead center on his
target. Danny’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell boneless to
the mat.
The
crowd rose to their feet, their cheers deafening in the arena. Jax was joined
in the cage by his teammates and coach as they congratulated him and helped him
into his black T-shirt. All the while, the world could have been standing still
for all Vanessa and Jax knew. Their eyes had locked onto each other the second
he won the fight and hadn’t broken since. She mouthed the words I love you and he responded by pointing
to his heart, then her.
As
the announcer named Jackson winner by knock out, Vanessa cheered and screamed
with Christine as Becca captured the each moment with her camera. She made a
mental note to get each and every picture to make a coffee table album so they
could look back on this night for years to come.
But
she knew even without Becca’s captivating pictures and Christine’s sure to be
amazing article, this would be a night Vanessa and Jackson would never forget.
And the fight was only the beginning.
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