CHAPTER 22
MADDOX
Beau
Park in the back, to the right of the dumpster. Turn your headlights off when you enter the alley. Make sure you don't signal an alarm when you lock your car. Come to the back door. Knock four times, waiting two seconds between each knock. Only then will you be granted entry.
Idon’t know how one gets into a fight club—you know, because one doesn’t talk about fight club—but I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m walking into.
Or a cult. It’s up in the air at this point.
I do as Beau instructs, making sure my head lights are off and parking next to the dumpster. I’m the only car in the Sugar and Sweets parking lot, which also has me on edge. Is he here? I completely understand why Beau wants to have a chat with me, but all of this seems excessive.
Then again, I’m not about to piss off my future brother-in-law, so I do as he says, lock my car without the fob, and walk to my doom.
Knock.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi.
Knock.
One Mississippi, two Mississi…shit that’s hard to say right in a row.
Knock.
Am I saying Mississippi too fast? I never thought about the speed of my Mississippis.
Knock.
Fuck it. Here goes nothing.
I take a step back after my final pound on the heavy back door. My stomach is completely tied in knots as I wait. It’s more than a little ominous back here, with only the moon and the security light above the door illuminating the space. I hear the turning of a deadbolt, which makes me suck in a breath, unsure of what I’m about to walk into. But I swear to everything that’s holy and my unborn child, if I walk in and people are wearing robes with candles lit all around, I’m out. I’ve seen that movie. It doesn’t end well.
“Come in.”
The voice is deep, and I can’t make out whose it is, but I do as it says and start slowly walking through the back hallway. There's barely any lights on inside, and the only sounds are the refrigerators and freezers that are always running.
When I turn the corner, I nearly jump out of my skin. Standing in front of the massive prep table are two larger than life figures. I can’t make out their faces in the dark, but I can tell that their arms are crossed, and I don’t think they’re smiling.
“What is going on?”
I jump again as I feel a hand on my shoulder. “Maddox Gallagher. Welcome to Poker Club.”
As if on cue, every one of the lights comes on in the kitchen. I immediately have to squint, the brightness too much for me to handle.
“Oh that was fucking cool…”
The voice standing next to me said that, except now it’s not as deep as it was before. I rub my eyes, needing to be able to see what the hell’s going on. When I start to regain sight, I see that Beau is in front of me, one of the shadowed figures. And he’s standing next to…Asher Reed? Not sure how he got here, but I’m even more confused when I turn to my left and see the starting center fielder for the Nashville BlueBirds, Theo Lawson.
“What the fuck?”
“Here, take a seat,” Theo says, ushering me toward a stool at Gabi’s prep table in front of a waiting bottle of water. “Sorry if I scared you earlier. I was doing as I was told.”
“Oh shut it, you volunteered,” Beau chimes in. “But I need to know, were you scared? I feel like you were scared.”
“Of course I was scared,” I say to him. “I thought I was about to get murdered!”
“I mean, you did get his sister pregnant,” Asher says. “Also, if I would’ve known when I saw you that night it was Gabi that you were going home to, I would’ve taken a lot more pleasure in our interaction, and given you a lot more shit.”
