Within a week, I could feel my body starting to fall back into the same rhythm I had going before coming to college. I woke up the previous morning to a beautifully descriptive message from one of Lee’s encrypted numbers telling me when and where the fights would be located, and I could not stop the anxiety from pooling in my chest. With only two weeks to finish getting my ass into gear, I was starting to feel the pressure.

Even though it was helping, working out with Abraham seemed more beneficial for him instead of myself. I didn’t need much training. I knew when and how to fight, having done it for the better part of my life. But something didn’t sit right with me about the upcoming tournament. Lee knew who I was now, after already knowing who I work for. It was a catch twenty-two. I was going to earn all the money Ryker owed to save his life, but ultimately, I was putting my ass on the line for it. Lee had something up his sleeve, and I knew that I needed to be one step ahead of him or I was going to bite the dust., so to speak.

“Where’d you go?” Abraham asked as we paused for the second time within a couple of minutes. We were both drenched in sweat and finding it hard to breathe.

“My mind is just elsewhere tonight.” I mumbled, forcing my breathing into a normal rhythm. “I think Ryker is starting to think that I’m up to something.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He’s starting to ask questions. First, they were subtle. Now, he is starting to dig a bit deeper. You haven’t mentioned anything to him, have you?” I looked over at him, trying to detect any sort of emotion that would be enough evidence of his betrayal.

“Ryker isn’t my keeper.” He snickered. “But no. I haven’t said anything to him. What did you tell him?”

I made a face, only taking a millisecond to determine that he was telling the truth. “I just blew it off and left.”

“Why would you do that?” He asked, a bit puzzled. “You know Ryker is the type to go searching for answers if he doesn’t get one the conventional way. So why not just tell him the truth?”

“I can’t risk for anyone at school to figure out who I really am. It would put not only them in danger, but myself, and Giovanni included. Not only am I Smoke, underground fighter, but I’m also a lapdog for one of the most prominent mafia leaders in our nation. Do you honestly believe that it would go over too well with any of them? And not to mention, I would have to out you in the process.”

He made a face, but only for a second. “I think most of them would be more understanding than even you realize.”

“I highly doubt it.” My face shriveled.

“Okay, then. Do not tell them. But you can only blame yourself on how they react if they were to find out from anyone but you. Just tell Ryker that you are going to the gym, and maybe then he will leave you alone. I know he is completely up your ass, even with Emma hanging around, but maybe then he might back off just a bit.”

I made another face.

“Hey, he’s one of my best friends. I wouldn’t be doing this for him otherwise, but I don’t always agree with him personal decisions.” He shrugged.

“Fair enough.” I sighed.

“You ready to tap out so soon?” He teased lightly.

“Absolutely not.” I smiled. “I was going to take it easy on you, but if you want to sass, I guess I won’t.”

His eyes widened only a fraction when he realized the mistake he had made, and I had a challenging time containing the laughter that followed.

“Bring it on.”

After another hour of sparring against Abe, my body just could not keep up. Even at my lowest, I could still kick his ass, but it seemed pointless as my body screamed at me for relief. We called it, or at least Abe gave in before I did and left to grab food. With the rainy weather, I didn’t want to take the risk in driving my bike, so Abraham offered to drive us both, and I reluctantly accepted. Something about being in close quarters with him kept me on edge, but I always chose to ignore it. He was an enigma, and regardless of his lack of being in shape, I knew something far more dangerous lurked underneath all that cocky attitude.

We pulled into the parking lot, finishing the last of our food, and I made it a point to get out as quickly as possible.

“So, I guess I’ll see you in a bit?” He asked before I could close the door.

My face leaked confusion.

“Tony’s?”

“Oh, it is Friday.” I mused at my blatant lack of being able to keep my days from getting mixed up.

“Yeah, everyone is going.” He jutted his chin, motioning towards our onlookers and it took me a minute to realize we had an audience in the form of Elsie, Giovanni, and Ryker from across the lot.

Fuck.

My phone instantly started ringing.

Fuck me.

“It’s Elsie.” I rolled my eyes at the face Abe made and slammed his door shut, answering my phone simultaneously.

“Hello?” I tried to keep the air of annoyance out of my voice.

“It’s Elsie.”

“I know. I do have caller I.D., Els.” I shuffled my duffle bag and water bottle, making my way up the lot towards my building.

“We still going to Tony’s tonight, right?”

“I just got back to campus and need to change first, but yeah.”

“I can see that. You’re all sweaty.”

“Yeah, seems so.”

I really didn’t want to lie to her, but I couldn’t risk telling her the truth either. I hung up as soon as I knew she was in ear shot and stuffed my phone into a side pocket, avoiding making eye contact with Ryker. I didn’t want to take the chance of giving anything away, or even really dealing with what I knew would be his anger.

Elsie looked fine, even though I could tell the wheels were turning behind her eyes. I would have to come up with something to tell her or her questioning would boil over. When I make it to her, she looped her arm into mine and walked into the building with me. Gio had a slight smirk on his face, and thankfully Ryker said nothing.

“You know he’s going to follow us up here and ask where you’ve been with Abraham.”

I sighed. “It’s really none of his business, Els.”

“That may be true. But you know he’s going to do it anyways.” She giggled, and I gave her a side eye.

“Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I laugh in times of high stress too.”

“It’s fine.” I sighed again. “I wish he would just drop it.”

“He has it for you.” She explained. “Bad, I think.”

“I don’t understand why.” I shrugged. “I am a fucking robot.”

“You are not.” She argued.

“I really am.”

I dropped my stuff off in the doorway as we entered my apartment and looked around for a minute before I headed to my room and grabbed what I needed for a shower. Elsie sat on the couch and made herself at home. As soon as the bathroom door snapped shut behind me, I clicked the lock and could hear the front door open. It had to be Ryker and Giovanni. At least Ryker.

“Jay?” The deep baritone drifted easily through the door.

“Yeah, I’m in the shower.” Even though I was not technically in it, the water was running, and he wouldn’t know the difference.

“Are you still coming to Tony’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. You want to ride with me?”

“Sure, just give me like twenty minutes to get ready.”

I tried to not get annoyed with myself about how long it took me to get ready nowadays. I was used to the bare minimum and now I didn’t look forward to showering at all with all the hassle it took to cover up my tattoos. Between that and then a regular appliance of make-up and I was pretty much exhausted. It was a pain in the ass to live two separate lives, and slowly over time, I was starting to feel the heat.

Ryker still said nothing as we made our way downstairs with Giovanni and Elsie on our flank. Sarah was supposed to meet us there, and I supposed Abraham would make his appearance whenever it best suited him. Elsie seemed a bit giddy at the idea that Nick Black would be joining us at some point, and it bothered me just a bit too much for my liking.

When we reached the bottom of the stairwell, Ryker mumbled something under his breath about the elevator still being out of commission and I let out a quiet laugh as we rounded the corner. Abraham was standing with a couple of his friends, a genuine smile on his face when he turned to look at me. He didn’t say anything, but we didn’t have to.

Our group joined his and it didn’t take long to figure out that his friends were giving him grief for his overall shaggy appearance. It looked like he had been put through the ringer, but no one knew that the ringer was me.

“Damn, Abe. What happened to you?” Giovanni piped up as we drew near, and I tried not to smile.

“Nothing, man. Just got my ass kicked.” He smirked but didn’t look down at me.

“Must have been more than one. You look fucking rough.”

Little did they know, it was only a five foot nothing standing in the middle of them. I was trying hard not to display any type of humor that might give away our game.

“No, just one. A bit smaller than me.” He chuckled as Elsie hooked my arm and started to pull me away from the conversation. “The little fucker was just faster than me.” I heard before Elsie pulled me completely out of ear shot and I grinned.

“So where have you two been lately?” She demanded softly.

“Just around and about.”

“Jay, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.”

“We all saw you with Abe. What have you two been up to?” Her eyes displayed concern. “You don’t even like him all that much.”

“He’s alright to be around occasionally, just not all the time.” I smirked.

“Oh, my god.” Her eyes widened. “You’re not dating him, are you?”

“Jesus, Elsie. Hell no.”

“So, you’re just sleeping together?”

“For the love of fuck, no. Elsie, I don’t get around that much. We have just been going to the gym together. But no one is supposed to know, okay?” I sighed.

“That’s it?” She looked relieved.

“Yes. You know I would tell you if anything other than that was going on. I just don’t want to deal with Ryker about it, so don’t say anything to him about it, or anyone, okay?”

“Of course, I won’t. But who beat the crap out of him?” She asked quietly.

“I don’t know. He showed up tonight like that and I didn’t want to ask him what happened.”

The week dragged on, and I thought that by leaving with Abraham for the gym when Ryker wasn’t home would save us from the suspicion. I was wrong.

Near the end of the week, on our way to the gym, Abraham noticed Ryker’s car following us and finally convinced me to let him in on our not-so-subtle secret. The whole car ride had my senses on high alert as the dark mustang followed every turn we made and never got too far behind. He wanted us to know that were being followed and for some reason, that bothered me even more. Elsie had kept her promise, that much I was aware of. Ryker was just being typical, and it unnerved me in some way. Like I didn’t have a right to my own privacy.

“It’ll be fine.” Abraham said as we closed in on the gym parking lot. “He will realize what we’re doing, but not the reason behind it. So quit freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out.” I said flatly.

“Who are you trying to kid?” He snorted as we parked.

We got out and walked side by side to the building. Ryker had only parked, and I knew he was watching me. Abraham let out a chuckle and tried to drape his arm over my shoulders. I pushed him away with a bit of venom.

“Don’t make him think this is anything other than what it really is, Abe.” I snarled.

He only laughed a bit harder.

“Jackass.”

Once we got inside, it didn’t take us long to get into a good start of a hard workout. Only when we started to spar did I notice Ryker watching us from the counter. I tried my best to keep my focus on the task at hand, but I could feel his eyes drifting over my every move. I couldn’t understand why he would not just come talk to us.

After about an hour or so, he finally came sauntering over as we had paused to catch our breaths. He didn’t look angry, so that was a plus. He didn’t seem surprised either, so that was a big minus. I didn’t want him to have any part of what was going to happen.

“So, this is why you’re sleepy all the time?” He seemed amused.

“Yeah, here’s my big secret.” I tried to keep my cool.

“Abe, you looked like you got hit by a Mac truck last week.” He chuckled. “Would this be the little fucker that got the best of you?”

“Sure is.” He joined in with Ryker’s amusement at the expense of my temper.

“Not sure why you would want to fight with Abe. He’s a lot larger than a normal sparring partner should be.” Ryker mused.

“Yeah.” I agreed.

“Is that all you’re going to say?”

“What do you want me to say?” Annoyed. Definitely annoyed. “That I’ve been training at the gym with Abraham the last few weeks? Not that it’s any of your damn business.”

“Well, you could start with that.” He chuckled. “If you’re so irritated with me, why don’t you take it out on me on the mat?”

“I’m telling you, man, she doesn’t go in easy. Ever.” Abraham warned. “She’ll eat your ass alive and then spit you back out.”

“I’m not intimidated.”

Immediately my annoyance turned into aggression. “Then get a pair of gloves.”

Ryker only chuckled, not realizing his mistake.

“Our girl is a badass.” Abe smirked.

“Our girl?” He looked between me and Abraham. “Friends now, huh?”

I nodded only barely. Abraham was trying to push buttons that I didn’t want to know what they would lead to. I knew the way Ryker’s shoulders tensed that he wasn’t happy at the news, but he said nothing as he dawned on a pair of his own gloves and squared up with me in the middle of the ring.

I wasn’t going to lose this, and I was ready to take out all my frustration about my current situation on Ryker. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into, but he was going to find out soon enough.