SCARLETT
“Those are hot.”Sawyer muses from beside me.
I roll my eyes. “Tattoos arenothot.”Said no one ever.
I’m a sucker for a guy with tattoos, but ever since seeing Cross shirtless in his gym, I’ve changed my mind.
Sawyer scoffs and snaps her head over to gawk at me. “Said who?”
I look away from the movie playing on her laptop screen and shrug.
“Don’t tell me.” She stuffs some popcorn into her mouth. “You’re into those nerdy guys. The ones with glasses who spend their mornings checking on the stock market.”
No.
“What’s wrong with that?” I ask.
She sighs and goes back to watching the movie. “Nothing…” She pauses. “Just soundsboringggg.”
I click my phone off because somehow I’ve ended up on Cross’s social media profile. There’s nothing important on there, like an explanation of why I found him training in some dark, smelly gym.
I’d only found him there because after trying to hunt him down to give him the homeworkheblackmailed me into doing, Iran into one of his lacrosse teammates, who gave me the address to the gym. He didn’t tell me what kind of gym it was, and silly me to think he’d be running on a treadmill or lifting weights.
Instead, he was bare-chested and sweaty with his knuckles taped. My stomach flipped as I scanned every single toned muscle, and with the tattoos? How could I not stare?
I admit that Cross has sex appeal, but the moment he opens his mouth to insult me, I suddenly hate everything about him.
One thing is for sure, Cross is the furthest thing from boring. When our eyes meet, my body heats. Whether that’s from anger or something else, I don’t know.
“Boring is just what I need,” I say.
Sawyer pauses the movie and turns all the way toward me on her bed. “As your only friend here, I think it’s my duty to introduce you to a life of excitement.”
I make a noise of sarcasm. “I had plenty of excitement at Yale.”
Her eyebrows furrow. “I think that’s an oxymoron.”
“Don’t diss the intelligent guys,” I say, half-joking. “They can be exciting too.”
A memory tries to slip in, reminding me of the last thing I did at Yale that was exciting, but I quickly block it and hop to my feet to stand on her fuzzy rug.
“Fine.” I cross my arms. “What do you have in mind?”
Sawyer scrambles off her bed, and popcorn flies into the air and lands at our feet. She rushes over to her desk and comes back with a torn flyer in her hand. “This.”
I hesitantly take the paper from her and scan its contents.
The Inner Ring - INVITE ONLY
Location disclosed after RSVP / Must have password for entry
I make a face. “Sex parties aren’t my thing…”
Sawyer looks at me as if I’ve grown three heads. “It’s not a sex party!” She snatches the paper from me. “It’s a fight.”
My interest piques. “A fight?”
She nods with a thrill in her eye. “Cage-fighting. It’s a thing here at Shadow Valley, and I got an invite.”
