Knocked Out: A Red, Hot and BOOM! Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

a Contact Sports press conference announcing a Contender’s Tournament called.
    “Rage in the Cage” when Evan, a favorite to win, announced his retirement and disappeared.
    What made him come back? Why now?
    All the rocks that she and Tucker knew of had already been looked under. She had one more idea
    left. If this didn’t work, all bets were off.
    ***
    A couple of weeks later, Evan had taken his mother and daughter out for the day. It was now
    early summer and Evan and his mother were exhausted from their trip to the zoo.
    “Daddy! I had so much fun today! Can we do this again tomorrow?” Everly asked while she had
    a balloon in one hand and a chocolate ice cream cone in the other.
    Evan laughed while they walked into the house. “Hmm, I don’t know about tomorrow, but we’ll
    definitely do this again, baby. I promise.”
    The little girl nodded her head in between licks of her ice cream cone and replied. “You better.
    Mr. Elephant will miss me.”
    Evan snickered. “I’m sure he will after all the junk you gave him to eat.”
    Edna kneeled in front of her granddaughter and began to wipe the excess ice cream from her face.
    “Sweetie, why don’t you put your Balloon away and finish up your ice cream cone. I’ll be right up to give you a bath and read the new book Daddy got for you today.”
    “Okay, Nana.” Everly said as she sprinted towards her room.
    Evan and Edna fell onto the couch in a tired heap.
    “Dear God Ma, did I have that much energy?” Evan asked.
    Edna laughed. “You were worse than her. At least I can catch her. You were another story at that age.”
    She grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the television. She began to surf
    through the channels before settling on the Contact Sports Network. On the screen was an Octagon with a beautiful woman in the middle of the ring.
    “What’s this?” Evan asked his mother.
    Edna glanced at the television with interest. She shrugged and placed the remote down. “I have
    no idea, but I guess we’re about to find out.”
    Evan looked at the TV with curiosity. He had seen the beautiful woman before. Light brown
    wavy hair, huge blue eyes, curves that went on for days. That smile…
    His blue eyes narrowed with interest. “Where have I seen her?”
    “Who?” Edna asked.
    Evan pointed at the television screen. “Her. I’ve seen her somewhere.”
    “Well, she’d be kind of hard to forget. She’s beautiful.” Edna quipped.
    The person on the screen began to speak. “Good evening, my name, is Hayley Monroe and
    tonight, I invite you on my journey to find MMA’s ‘Next Great Hope’. I’ll introduce you to 4 men. These contenders embody the spirit, athleticism and the heart of a champion. We’ll see their stories from their perspective while we watch them compete with one another for the chance to win not only a $1 million contract with Contact Sports, but a chance to compete in a 4th of July exhibition match with current MMA Heavyweight champion, Jackson Briggs.
    “Holy shit! That’s amazing.” Edna said in a stunned voice.
    “I’ll be damned. That’s who she was that night.” Evan said as he watched the young woman
    continue to talk.
    “Here are the competitors, Joey England, Mike Tunney, Brian Maslow, Jordan Henry, and Ethan
    O’Malley and…” She paused for a moment while the five competitors all handsomely dressed in suits walked into the Octagon and waved at the studio audience.
    “Do you know any of them son?” Edna asked.
    “A couple of them. Tunney and O’Malley are good guys. I used to spar with them when I was
    going to Rounders.”
    “Briggs is still at the top.” Edna said. “What an arrogant ass he is. I wish someone put a muzzle on him.
    Evan’s eyes lit up with excitement. He knew Jackson well and if there was anyone that he
    couldn’t be happier for, it was Jackson Briggs.
    “Tunney and O’Malley could beat Jackson. They were good 5 years ago; I’m sure they’re even
    better