"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.”

Channing’s eyes narrowed at Justin’s words, and I could tell he was thinking about the money.

“So Batman is the best fighter here?”

“No.” Channing jumped up. “I’m going to knock his f**king brains out, punk-ass bitch.”

“He’s not talking about you.” Justin laughed, but I could tell he looked anxious. “Batman’s only been coming to the gym for two weeks. We were all pretty sure Channing would be the one representing us before he arrived.”

“It’s not fair.” Channing glared at me. “He’s trying to take my spot. I’ve been training for this shit for two years and he thinks he can just show up.”

“He’s a new fighter?” I asked curiously. “How did he get a spot with you guys?”

“Nick’s cousin is his best friend.” Justin answered me.

“I’ll punch Luke’s f**king face in as well.” Channing hit a boxing bag with such power that it swung back and forth furiously.

I stopped breathing for a second. “Luke?”

He couldn’t be talking about the same Luke I was thinking of. He just couldn’t be. Because that would mean that Batman was Hudson. And I didn’t know if I could stand to be around Hudson now. Not after everything that had happened.

“Let’s not talk about him.” Justin jumped up. “What else do you want to know?”

“I guess for now I’ll just watch you train, if that’s okay?” I closed my notepad and put it into my bag. “I just want to observe.”

“Sure, whatever.” Justin nodded, and the other guys stood up, walking away from me. They all went in different directions, and I wasn’t sure which one I should follow.

I stood there for a few moments when I noticed that Channing was in the corner just standing there. I walked over to him slowly and stopped just in front of him.

“Hey, everything okay?” I asked him softly, hoping he was not still angry.

He looked up and nodded. “I’m fine.” His blue eyes looked sad, and I felt sorry for him even though I didn’t know why.

“You may still get the opportunity, right?” I tried to be encouraging. “Maybe this Batman guy will mess up? I mean, who calls themselves Batman?”

“A douche, that’s who.” He gave me a small smile. “Thanks for your kind words. I guess it’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

“Exactly.” I smiled wide. “You look like you’re pretty strong to me.”

“I’m strong, but the championships are about more than strength. They’re also about being smart.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Oh?”

“You thought it was just about the fighting, didn’t you?” He laughed and shook his head.

“I did.” I looked at the ground, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Hey, you wouldn’t know.” He touched my shoulder, and I looked up at him. His expression had changed, and there was a look of curious wonder and interest in his eyes. “Do you know anything about fighting?”

“I know a bit about boxing and MMA.”

“This isn’t MMA.”

“Oh. I thought it was similar?”

“Mixed martial arts is still pretty controlled. Underground fighting is dirty. It’s physical and psychological. You have to be aware of everything. The most important part is your mind. Not your muscles.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Maybe I can take you out to dinner and explain everything to you.” His expression changed even more this time, and I felt my heart racing. I didn’t know what it was about Channing, but something about him made me pause. He seemed like a nice guy, but when he grew angry, there was a light in his eyes that made me wonder just how angry he could get.

“Yeah, that would be cool.” I nodded and looked around the room. I saw Justin motioning for me to come join him and I nearly cried out in happiness that he was saving me. “But let’s talk later, yeah? I think Justin wants to talk to me.”

“Okay.” Channing looked disappointed, and I quickly walked away from him.

“Hey, how can I help you, Justin?” I almost ran up to him, and he laughed.

“You’re funny.” He grinned. “I’m actually just about to lift before the fights start. But it looked like you needed someone to intervene.”

“Thanks. Is he always this intense?” I paused and blushed. “I hope you don’t think I’m offending him.”

“I’m not concerned if you offend him or not.” He laughed again. “Channing’s just pissed because he thought he was going to get to go and then Batman came in at the last moment.”

“So...this Batman. He’s really good, huh?” I stared at him thoughtfully. “How come he’s not here right now?”

“He comes and goes as he likes. I think he trains somewhere else. He just comes here for the fights.”

“Oh.”

“Stay around and you’ll get to meet him. He’s a different guy. A bit older, but he seems cool.”

“I have class in ten minutes. I should really get going. Hopefully I can meet him when I come tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “He comes every day. Even when we don’t want to see him.”

“Sounds like you like him just as much as Channing does.”

“That obvious?” He shrugged and picked up some weights. “I don’t know. It’s just all f**ked up. We all need this fight. We all want this opportunity. It’s just not right that we’ve been here busting our asses for months and he just shows up.” He looked me in the eye then and leaned forward. “I’ll tell you this, Riley. I’ve got a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.”

Chapter 7

Hudson

Present Day

I felt slightly out of breath as I got to the gym. I’d run twenty miles today, but I knew that it still wasn’t enough. I had to be in the best shape of my life if I had a chance of winning the million dollars. I laughed as I walked into the gym. “You don’t even have the entry yet, buddy,” I chided myself and looked around.

A part of me felt bad that I was going to be taking the spot that some of these guys had been practicing for over the last couple of years. But when I thought of Clara’s mom and Jamilah, I knew that I had to take a shot at the title. Luke had been delighted when I’d called him and asked for more information. I think he’d known that as soon as he’d mentioned Clara’s name he’d had me. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for Clara.

“Well, look who we have here, it’s Batman.” Channing’s voice carried through the gym. He sounded bitter and angry, and I knew that he had hoped he’d never see me again.

I knew that he was my biggest competition to represent Nick’s club at the championships. He had considered the spot his until I had shown up. I felt bad that I was going to take it. I really did.

A female laugh made me pause, and I looked back around the room, slowly this time. Time seemed to stand still as I saw her. Her head was held back and she was laughing. I saw the long lines of her slender neck and I froze. She seemed to notice me then because she suddenly looked in my direction. Her eyes met mine and I felt as if the world had stopped. Time has stopped and images flashed into mine as I looked at her, and I was transported back to one of the last times we’d been together.

***

Four Years Ago

“Hudson, we should get back to the house.” Riley giggled as I made chocolate faces on my pancakes. “Eden and Clara will be wondering where we are.”

“Let them sleep some more.” I stared at her. I couldn’t stop myself from just looking at her face and into her eyes. Being with Riley made me feel happy. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.”

“Well now that you’re a college guy, you just don’t have time for me.” She smiled, but I could hear the sadness in her voice.

“I figured you didn’t want to be bothered by me anymore. Now that you’re so busy with all those guys.”

She frowned. “What guys?”

“You know.” I tried to keep my tone light. “All your high school boyfriends.”

“What boyfriends?” She tilted her head and started playing with her hair. I felt a stirring in my stomach as I stared at her innocent expression.

“Don’t you call them boyfriends now?” I faked a laugh. “Are they all friends with benefits?”

“Friends with benefits?” She laughed. “What benefits?”

“You know.” My heart thudded. I wasn’t sure why I was going into this line of questioning, but I had to know if she was seeing anyone.

“No, I don’t.” She shook her head and then took a sip of water. I watched as her eyes widened and she looked at me in shock. “Hudson, you’re not asking me if I’m ha**g s*x with a bunch of different guys, are you?”

“No, of course not,” I groaned, and both of our faces went red.

“I don’t have any friends with benefits, Hudson Blake.” She leaned forward and hit me in the arm. “I can’t believe you would ask me that.”

“Sorry, I just thought...” I sighed and shook my head. “Forget what I thought. Eden told me something about you and that guy and I just assumed.”

She looked confused. “What guy and assumed what?”

“Well, it was a night you were playing seven minutes in heaven.”

“What?” She looked at me and laughed. “I’ve only played that once and that was ages ago.”

“Oh.” I looked at her lips again and sighed. So I’d gone and made a mess of things. “I thought you were practicing all your newly acquired kissing skills on other guys.”

“Don’t remind me of that night,” she groaned and looked at the table. “Thank you for humoring me that day.”