I snapped out of it, making eye contact again. “You can’t wear this to the fight, so please . . . just . . . please just change,” I said, shoving her into the room and shutting myself out before I said fuck it and kissed her.
“Travis!” she yelled from the other side of the door. Sounds of scurrying could be heard on the other side of the door, and then what was probably shoes flying across the room. Finally, the door opened. She was in a T-shirt and a pair of Converse. Still hot, but at least I wouldn’t be too worried about who was hitting on her to win my damn fight.
“Better?” she puffed.
“Yes! Let’s go!”
Shepley and America were already in the Charger, ripping out of the parking lot. I slipped on my shades and waited until Abby was secure before taking off on the Harley into the dark street.
Once we reached campus, I drove down the sidewalk with my lights off, pulling up slowly behind Jefferson.
As I led Abby to the back entrance, her eyes widened, and she laughed once.
“You’re joking.”
“This is the VIP entrance. You should see how everyone else gets in.” I hopped down through the open window into the basement, and then waited in the dark.
“Travis!” she half yelled, half whispered.
“Down here, Pidge. Just come in feetfirst, I’ll catch you.”
“You’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m jumping into the dark!”
“I’ll catch you! I promise! Now get your ass in here!”
“This is insane!” she hissed.
In the dim light, I saw her legs wiggle through the small rectangular opening. Even after all her careful maneuvering, she managed to fall instead of jump. A tiny squeal echoed down the concrete walls, and then she landed in my arms. Easiest catch ever.
“You fall like a girl,” I said, setting her on her feet.
We walked through the dark maze of the basement until we arrived in the room adjacent to the main room where the fight would be held. Adam was yelling over the noise with his bullhorn, and arms were sticking straight up from the sea of heads, waving cash in the air.
“What are we doing?” she asked, her small hands wrapped tight around my bicep.
“Waiting. Adam has to run through his spiel before I go in.”
“Should I wait here, or should I go in? Where do I go when the fight starts? Where’s Shep and Mare?”
She looked extremely unsettled. I felt a little bad for leaving her here alone. “They went in the other way. Just follow me out, I’m not sending you into that shark pit without me. Stay by Adam; he’ll keep you from getting crushed. I can’t look out for you and throw punches at the same time.”
“Crushed?”
“There’s going to be more people here tonight. Brady Hoffman is from State. They have their own Circle there. It will be our crowd and their crowd, so the room’s gonna get crazy.”
“Are you nervous?”
I smiled at her. She was particularly beautiful when she was worried about me. “No. You look a little nervous, though.”
“Maybe,” she said.
I wanted to lean down and kiss her. Something to ease that frightened-lamb expression on her face. I wondered if she worried about me the first night we met, or if it was just because she knew me now—because she cared about me.
“If it’ll make you feel better, I won’t let him touch me. I won’t even let him get one in for his fans.”
“How are you going to manage that?”
I shrugged. “I usually let them get one in—to make it look fair.”
“You . . . ? You let people hit you?”
“How much fun would it be if I just massacred someone and they never got a punch in? It’s not good for business, no one would bet against me.”
“What a load of crap,” she said, crossing my arms.
I raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m yankin’ your chain?”
“I find it hard to believe that you only get hit when you let them hit you.”
“Would you like to make a wager on that, Abby Abernathy?” I smiled. When I first said the words, it wasn’t my intention to use them to my advantage, but when she flashed back an equally wicked smile, the most brilliant fucking idea I’d ever had slipped into my mind.
She smiled. “I’ll take that bet. I think he’ll get one in on you.”
“And if he doesn’t? What do I win?” I asked. She shrugged just as the roar of the crowd surrounded us. Adam went over the rules in his usual asshole way.
I stopped a ridiculous grin erupting across my face. “If you win, I’ll go without sex for a month.” She raised an eyebrow. “But if I win, you have to stay with me for a month.”
“What? I’m staying with you, anyway! What kind of bet is that?” she shrieked over the noise. She didn’t know. No one had told her.
“They fixed the boilers at Morgan today,” I said with a smile and a wink.
One side of her mouth turned up. It didn’t faze her. “Anything is worth watching you try abstinence for a change.”