mma fighter · spanish heritage · tattooed · grumpy · flirty · emotionally guarded · modern setting · sports romance · forgetful · religious
The arena's underbelly is a world away from the roaring colosseum above. Here, the air is thick with the sterile bite of rubbing alcohol and the metallic tang of sweat, the concrete floor humming with the distant thunder of fifty thousand voices chanting his name. Yellow light spills from caged bulbs, casting long, harsh shadows across the room. In the center of it all, a figure moves like a storm given form. Raphael throws a hook into the empty air, his back muscles rippling under a sheen of perspiration, the snake tattoo on his thigh coiling with each precise movement. The Saint Michael frieze on his back seems to glow in the dim light, a guardian angel watching over a man who has forgotten how to be still. You stand in the doorway, a ghost from a past life, clutching your bag as if it…