“Yeah he does.” I smiled at her before I turned around and walked to my closet.
“Did I tell you that he’s going on an around-the-world trip in a few months?”
“Oh?” I turned around in surprise and tried to still my beating heart. “For how long?”
“No idea. He thinks he’ll be gone for a year or two.”
“A year?” I frowned.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “You should be happy. I’m enthused. We can finally date boys and not have him acting like he’s a part of the FBI and they’re criminals.”
“Yeah.” I gave her a weak smile.
I was hurt that Hudson hadn’t called me to tell me of his plans. But then after what had happened three years ago, nothing had been the same.
“We’re twenty-one, Riley. We’re ready for real relationships.” Eden sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m ready to lose my virginity.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, my face burning up at the huge secret I was keeping from her.
“I hope it’s romantic and sexy.” Her eyes glazed over as she daydreamed out loud. “I hope he has short, dark, silky tresses and sky blue eyes. I hope his lips are soft and sweet and taste like cotton candy. I hope my body trembles at his look and shivers at his touch.”
“Eden!” I burst out laughing. “You have been reading way too many Harlequin books. You really need to stop.”
“Shhh!” She grinned at me. “A girl can only hope right. Knowing my luck, it will be one, two, three, bam, and then he’ll fall asleep on me and I’ll be thinking, Is this it?”
“It won’t be that bad.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.” I made a face and closed my eyes for a second, remembering my first time. It had been as gentle as it was rough, sweet, bitter, and sweaty, and I had still been able to taste myself on his lips as we’d kissed and climaxed together. It had been the best night of my life. And also the worst. The most wickedly devious night of my life, and I wanted to relive it again and again.
“Well, we both need to find out then.” Eden giggled. “And preferably soon.”
***
"Hi, I'm Riley." I smiled wide at the group of guys in front of me. "I'm from the school newspaper," I continued and then groaned inside. "Not high school, by the way. I'm in college. At State," I mumbled, seeing that I was losing their attention. "I'm going for my English degree. I know, I know. Should I be studying journalism or some sort of broadcasting?" I paused as I saw a few of the guys yawning. "Anyways, I don't mean to bore you." I smiled tentatively this time. "I just wanted to introduce myself so that you know who I am if I ask you any questions or if you see me in the changing rooms." I tried not to sigh as I saw all of the guys looking at their phones. I'd lost them. Eden was right—I had no business being here. I wasn't a journalist, and I knew nothing about fighting or fighters. "Does anyone have any questions?"
"What are you doing tonight?" one of the guys shouted out, and the other guys laughed. He gave me a boyish smile, and I smiled at him without reservation.
"Hopefully talking to you," I shot back at him, and he raised his eyebrows at me. "What's your name?"
"Channing." His blue eyes twinkled at me. "Yes, like Channing Tatum."
"You wish." The guy to his right punched him in the shoulder. "You’re as much Channing Tatum as I am Denzel Washington." He rolled his eyes, and all the guys laughed again.
"What's your name?" I smiled at the handsome black guy, who looked much hotter than I considered Denzel Washington to be.
"Justin." He smiled boyishly at me. I laughed to myself at my thoughts. None of these guys were boys. Their bodies were fit and muscular, and while they were all still rather young, they were all definitely men.
"Nice to meet you, Justin." I found myself blushing as I felt him looking me over in a very inappropriate way.
"You too, Riley. I'd be happy to give you a private interview any day of the week—or should I say night."
"So who's the best fighter here?" I changed the subject, not wanting to give anyone the wrong impression. I knew how easy it would be to make one or some of the guys get the wrong impression of me, and I didn't want that to happen.
"Batman." Justin smiled wryly.
I looked around the group of six guys. "Who's Batman?"
"He's not here right now," Channing said with a shrug. "I guess he's too good to join us for a group meeting."
"Don't mind Channing." Justin rolled his eyes. "He's just a bit jealous."
"Jealous of what?" Channing's voice rose and he scowled at Justin.
"You're jealous ‘cause he's the new guy and he's already a better fighter than you."
"He's not a better fighter."
"He's in it to win it."
"We're all in it to win it." An extremely handsome boy spoke up. "Isn't that why we're all here?"
"Why are you all here?" I interjected eagerly. What made all of these guys want to enter the underground fighting match of the year?
"A million dollars." Justin flashed his perfect white teeth at me. His light brown eyes looked at me with a clear, honest expression. "We all want a chance to win a million dollars."
"But only one of you can enter the contest to represent this club, right?" I thought back to what I already knew about this underground world.
There were only a few private gyms that had access to the underground fighting championships, with Nick's being the only gym in the state. There was an annual championship and there were no rules. At least I'd heard there were no rules. And that people died. Or rather men, as no women had ever gained entrance.
"Yeah, the best member at each club gets to take part." Justin smiled at me again, his dark mocha skin seeming to glow in the bright lights. "And this year it's looking like that will be Batman."
"That's his name? Batman?"
"That's how we know him." Justin shrugged. "You'll meet him soon enough. He never misses a fight."
"A fight?"
"We have fights every week. The one who wins the most fights will represent Nick's and fight against the best nine fighters in the country."
“Nine?”
“Yeah. There are ten fighters who get to participate.” Justin held up both of his hands. “So you have a one-in-ten chance of winning a million dollars.”