“I just got off the phone with Adam, Trav. He said the State guys all showed up drunk and padded with cash. They’re already riled up, so you might wanna keep Abby out of the way.”

Travis nodded. “You can keep an eye on her.”

“Where’s America?” I asked.

“Studying for her Physics test.”

“That’s a nice lab,” Travis said. I laughed once and then looked to Travis who had a small grin on his face.

“When did you see the lab? You haven’t had Physics,” Shepley said.

Travis chuckled and I elbowed him. He pressed his lips together until the urge to laugh subsided and then he winked at me, squeezing my hand once again. His fingers intertwined in mine, and I heard a small sigh escape his lips. I knew what he was thinking because I felt the same. In that sliver of time, it was as if nothing had changed.

We pulled into a dark patch of the parking lot, and Travis refused to let go of my hand until we crawled into the window of the basement of the Hellerton Science Building. It had just been built the year before, so it didn’t suffer from stagnate air and dust like the other basements we’d snuck into.

Just as we entered the hallway, the roar of the crowd reached our ears. I poked my head out to see an ocean of faces, many of them unfamiliar. Everyone had bottles of beer in their hands, but the State College students were easy to pick out of the crowd. They were the ones that swayed with their eyes half-closed.

“Stay close to Shepley, Pigeon. It’s going to get crazy in here,” he said from behind me. He scanned the crowd, shaking his head at the sheer numbers.

Hellerton’s basement was the most spacious on campus, so Adam liked to schedule fights there when he expected a larger crowd. Even with the addition of space, people were being rubbed against the walls and shoving one another to get a good spot.

Adam rounded the corner and didn’t try to hide his dissatisfaction of my presence. “I thought I told you that you couldn’t bring your girl to the fights, anymore, Travis.”

Travis shrugged. “She’s not my girl, anymore.”

I kept my features smooth, but he had said the words so matter-of-factly, it caused a stabbing sensation in my chest.

Adam looked down at our intertwined fingers and then up at Travis. “I’m never gonna figure you two out.” He shook his head and then glanced to the mob. People were still streaming in from the stairs, and those on the floor were already packed together. “We’ve got an insane pot tonight, Travis, so no fuckin’ off, okay?”

“I’ll make sure it’s entertaining, Adam.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. Brady’s been training.”

“So have I.”

“Bullshit,” Shepley laughed.

Travis shrugged. “I got in a fight with Trent last weekend. That little shit is fast.”

I chuckled and Adam glared at me. “You better take this seriously, Travis,” he said, staring into his eyes. “I have a lot of money riding on this fight.”

“And I don’t?” Travis said, irritated with Adam’s lecture.

Adam turned, holding the bull horn to his lips as he stood up on a chair above the multitude of drunken spectators. Travis pulled me against his side as Adam greeted the crowd and then went over the rules.

“Good luck,” I said, touching his chest. I hadn’t felt nervous to watch him fight since the one he’d had with Brady, but I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling I’d had since we stepped foot in Hellerton. Something was off, and Travis felt it, too.

Travis grabbed my shoulders and planted a kiss on my lips. He pulled away quickly, nodding once. “That’s all the luck I need.”

I was still stunned from the warmth of Travis’ lips when Shepley pulled my arm to the wall beside Adam. I was bumped and elbowed, reminding me of the first night I watched Travis fight, but the crowd was less focused, and some of the State students were getting hostile. Easterners cheered and whistled for Travis when he broke into The Circle, and State’s crowd alternated between booing Travis and cheering for Brady.

I was in prime position to see Brady tower over Travis, twitching impatiently for the bullhorn to sound. As usual, Travis had a slight grin on his face, unaffected by the madness around him. When Adam began the fight, Travis intentionally let Brady get in the first punch. I was surprised when his face jerked hard to the side with the blow. Brady had been training.

Travis smiled, his teeth a bright red, and then he focused matching every punch Brady dealt.

“Why is he letting him hit him so much?” I asked Shepley.

“I don’t think he’s letting him, anymore,” Shepley said, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, Abby. He’s getting ready to take it up a notch.

After ten minutes Brady was winded, but he was still landing solid blows into Travis’ sides and jaw. Travis caught Brady’s shoe when he tried to kick him, and held his leg high with one hand, punching him in the nose with incredible force and then lifting Brady’s leg higher, causing him to lose his balance. The crowd exploded when Brady fell, but he wasn’t on the floor long. He stood, but with the addition of two lines of dark red streaming from his nose. In the next moment, he landed two more punches to Travis’ face. Blood rose from a cut on Travis’ eyebrow and dripped down his cheek.

I closed my eyes and turned away hoping Travis would end the fight soon. The small shift of my body caught me in the current of onlookers, and before I could right myself, I was several feet from a preoccupied Shepley. I fought against the crowd futility, until I could feel the back wall behind me.

The nearest door was on the other side of the room, an equal distance to the door we’d come in. My back slammed against the concrete wall, knocking the wind out of me.

“Shep!” I yelled, waving my hand above me to get his attention. The fight was at its peak. No one could hear me.

A man lost his footing and used my shirt to right himself, spilling his beer down my front. I was soaked from neck to waist, reeking with the bitter stench of cheap beer. The man still had my shirt bunched in his fist as he tried to pull himself from the floor, and I ripped his fingers open two at time until he released me. He didn’t look twice at me, pushing his way forward through the crowd.

“Hey! I know you!” A man yelled into my ear.

I leaned away, recognizing him right away. It was Ethan, the man Travis threatened at the bar — the man that had somehow escaped sexual assault charges.

“Yeah,” I said, looking for a hole in the crowd as I straightened my shirt.

“That’s a nice bracelet,” he said, running his hand down my arm and grabbing my wrist.

“Hey,” I warned, pulling my hand away.

He rubbed my arm, swaying and grinning. “We were rudely interrupted last time I tried to talk to you.”

I stood on my tip toes, seeing Travis land two blows into Brady’s face, and scanning the crowd between each one. He was looking for me instead of focusing on the fight. I had to get back to my spot before he was too distracted.

I had barely made headway into the crowd when Ethan’s fingers dug into the back of my jeans. My back slammed into the wall once more.

“I wasn’t finished talking to you,” Ethan said, scanning my wet shirt with lewd intent.

I pulled his hand from the back of my jeans, digging in my nails. “Let go!” I yelled when he resisted.

He laughed, and I scanned the crowd for a familiar face when he pulled me against him. “I don’t wanna let go.”

I tried to push Ethan away, but his arms were heavy and his grip tight. In a panic, I couldn’t distinguish State students from Easterners. No one seemed to notice my scuffle with Ethan, and it was so loud, no one could hear me protest, either. He leaned in, reaching his hand around to my backside and squeezing.

“I always thought you’d be a nice piece of ass,” he said, breathing stale beer in my face.

“Get OFF!” I screamed, pushing him.

I looked for Shepley, and saw that Travis had finally picked me out of the crowd. He instantly pushed against the packed bodies surrounding him.

“Travis!” I screamed, but it was muffled against the cheering. I pushed Ethan with one hand and reached for Travis with the other.

Travis made little progress before being shoved back into the Circle. Brady took advantage of Travis’ distraction and rammed an elbow in the side of his head.

The crowd quieted down a bit when Travis punched someone in the crowd, trying once again to get to me.

“Get the fuck off her!” Travis yelled.

In a line between where I stood and Travis’ desperate attempt to reach me, heads turned in my direction. Ethan was oblivious, trying to keep me still long enough to kiss me. He ran his nose across my cheek bone and then down my neck.

“You smell really good,” he slurred.

I pushed his face away, but he grabbed my wrist, unfazed.

Wide-eyed, I searched for Travis again. He desperately pointed me out to Shepley. “Get her! Shep! Get Abby!” he said, still trying to push through the crowd. Brady pulled him back into the circle and punched him again.

“You’re fucking hot, you know that?” Ethan said.

I closed my eyes when I felt his mouth on my neck. Anger welled up within me and I pushed him again. “I said get OFF!” I yelled, ramming my knee into his groin.

He doubled over, one hand automatically flying to the source of the pain, the other still gripping my shirt, refusing to let go.

“You bitch!” he cried.

In the next moment, I was free. Shepley’s eyes were wild, staring into Ethan’s as he gripped him by the collar of his shirt. He held Ethan against the wall while he nailed him with his fist repeatedly in the face, stopping only when the blood poured from Ethan’s mouth and nose.