Raw Passion (MMA Sports Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of some aspirin and an ice pack.  Every step Colin took made him wince.
    That was the real cost of being a professional mixed martial arts fighter.  Amateur fighters all wanted a taste of glory.  They all wanted their turn in the spotlight.  They saw big paychecks, rock star treatment, and the easy sex, but never thought about the behind the scenes trade offs it took to get there.
    The fact was that the human body wasn't meant to take the kind of beatings that MMA fighters dished out.  It was a brutal, unforgiving sport.  One about inflicting as much pain as possible.  About leaving scars.  About taking no prisoners.  All that happened on camera in front of a nationally televised audience.  But when the cameras went away and the adrenaline faded, a different story emerged--the aftermath.
    MMA was filled with the toughest men in the world.  Guys that were as tough as nails.  But the morning after a fight, whether they wanted to admit it or not, their brutal actions caught up with them.  Every fighter was sore just like Colin the day after a fight.  They all put up with it though because the beating their body took was worth it.  They fought through the pain to get a shot at one day competing for the league title.  They sacrificed their body's well being for fame and fortune.
    Colin had been in this position before.  He'd worked through the pain.  He'd felt like he'd pushed his muscles to the limit in the past.  But that morning, he wondered if it was all worth it.  After losing to Trent, he was as far away from a title shot as he'd ever been.  He'd have to work his way back up the ranks.  Try to prove his worth again.  Then maybe, just maybe he'd get a shot.  That could be a few years down the road though if everything went right.  But lately everything seemed to be going wrong in Colin's life.
    Add to that the fact that Colin wasn't getting any younger.  It seemed to weird to even say that.  Colin was just approaching thirty years of age.  If he was in any other line of work, he'd still be considered young.  But when you beat the shit out of people for a living, hitting thirty meant you were you old hat.  You were the cagey veteran all of a sudden.  MMA was a young man's game.
    Still, Colin had the whole rest of his life ahead of him.  Was it really worth trying to chase a dream that seemed to have passed him by?
    Colin then stopped himself.  He'd been doing a whole lot of thinking.  It was time to take his mind off of things.  So he decided to turn on the TV.  Big mistake.
    The first thing Colin saw when he turned the TV on was footage of his face getting clobbered by Trent's fist.  Things weren't any better on the internet.  Photos and videos of the fight were all over the internet.  Colin woke up to find himself more famous than ever--for all the wrong reasons.  It was horrifying.  Colin decided to lay low for a while.  To just wait until things died down a little.
    Luckily in the 24 hour cable news world, there were always new stories popping up.  And when a referee blew a huge call to decide a football game later that day, Colin couldn't have felt more relieved.  Maybe it meant the focus had shifted.  Maybe it meant that he could show his face outside again.  That was just the news Colin needed to hear.  Colin really needed some air.  But as Colin made his way to the grocery store to pick up some beer, he was in for the surprise of his life.
     
    Chapter Four
    Julie
     
    "Well, you must be happy," Steve Jones said, as Julie entered the break room at work to get her morning coffee. 
    Julie had no idea what Steve was talking about. 
    "About what?" Julie asked. 
    "The fight on Saturday.  It was epic," Steve said. 
    "Steve, I don't watch fights anymore," Julie insisted. 
    Now Steve was the one that was confused.  "But Trent Cutler just killed Coin Robinson over the weekend.  It was insane."
    Julie tried to keep a low profile at work.  She wasn't a gossip.  She just