My eyebrows lift with surprise, and I laugh quietly.Wow.
“I knew it!” Sawyer’s hands fall to my shoulders. She smiles widely.
“Knew what?” I shout over the noise.
“I knew you had a wild streak. You’re totally in your element!”
I shake my head and laugh again. “I’m just picturing Cross’s face when he sees me mid-fight. This is what we call blackmail, babe.”
Something he’s familiar with.
“Is he up next?” I ask, rising to my tiptoes again.
I hope I didn’t miss it—for no other reason than to make him angry, of course.
Sawyer lifts a brow and leans in closer to my ear. “I think blackmail is the last thing that’s going to be on his mind when he sees you.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You’re hot, Scarlett. He’s going to be hating the fact that his stepsister turns him on, is more like it.”
I jerk backward and bump into a guy behind me. I mumble an apology and turn back around toward Sawyer. “That is not true,” I hiss into her ear.
She shouts through a smile, “Whatever!”
Two drinks appear in front of our faces, and we take them, though I don’t dare take a sip. As soon as Sawyer puts it up toher lips, I reach over and wrap my fingers around her wrist. She glances at me, and I shake my head. She squints with confusion but listens anyway.
Good girl. Never take an opened drink from someone you don’t know.
The basement suddenly goes dark.
I gasp, my fingers tightening around my cup.
A voice booms over the speakers. “Are you ready for the most anticipated fight of the evening?”
The crowd is deafening.
Anticipation rushes through my veins, but I’m on edge. My chest heaves, desperate for oxygen or some type of lifeline.
So many people surround me, most of whom I’ve never even seen before, but I’ve been in crowds before. I can do this.
This isn’t Yale, and I’m completely sober.
It’s fine–
Suddenly, an arm wraps around my waist, and a hand goes to my mouth to muffle my scream. I’m pulled away from Sawyer, though she probably has no idea because it’s pitch black.
The sound of a door opens, and I’m quickly shoved inside from behind. My cup falls to the floor, and the sticky liquid spills all over my shoes. I spin around when a light comes on, the buzzing pulling my attention to the single lightbulb above my head.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Relief has my knees buckling.
If you would’ve told me an hour ago that I’d be relieved to see my stepbrother, I wouldn’t have believed you, but here we are. Sweaty, flushed skin, knuckles taped with a look that could kill.
I cross my arms against my sweater and shift on my feet. Cross runs his gaze down my body, his lip snarling when he drags it back to my face. “You look like a slut.”
My jaw falls. “I’m wearing more clothing than ninety percent of the girls here!”
