He was silent for a long time. Eventually, he blew out a heavy breath. “Yeah. I get that, I guess. But even so… Shit. This whole situation just got even more fucked up.”
“Tell me about it.” I kicked at the ground, dust swirling around the toe of my trainer. “There’s no point in even thinking about it, though. Nothing’s gonna change, and the party probably made it even worse. No…there’s no ‘probably’ about it. I fucked up. I should never have danced with her.”
“Okay, so what actually happened? Anton worked out you liked my sister?”
“Something like that,” I muttered. “You know we had to do that extra practice. I dunno, he was just winding me up, and I ended up so frustrated that I couldn’t be around him, and, uh, I somehow ended up doing drills with Bellingham. That was why Dan was pissed off with me. He took me into that cage-fighting arena—and why the fuck do the Volkovshave a whole fucking arena in their grounds?—and we threw a few punches.”
“Fucking Bellingham. Hate that arrogant asshole.”
“Yeah. But we’re not irrational about it like Dan.”
Ryker rolled his eyes. “No one else could ever be that irrational. He’s fucking unhinged when it comes to Bellingham. I can’t believe he fought you over it. That’s just…yeah. I’m gonna have to have words with him.”
“It’s water under the bridge,” I said.
“If you say so. Back to the party. That’s why you were in the maze? Because of Anton and Dan?”
“I needed some air. You know everything else that happened.”
“Alright. If you wanna talk about anything else… Uh. Yeah. Arson’s probably a better bet than me. But you know…if any of us had a say in this fucked-up agreement and Nova wanted the same thing as you, I’d have your back, yeah?”
An unexpected smile tugged at my lips. We didn’t speak like this, ever, and the fact that Ryker was here, making an effort to push past his natural discomfort levels and lower his walls, meant a lot to me. “Thanks, Ry. I know nothing’s gonna change, but I appreciate it. You know I’ve got your back too. Me and Dan. If you have anything?—”
I could see his walls slamming back into place, the blank emptiness returning to his eyes. “There’s nothing I can’t handle. You don’t need to worry about me.” Glancing towards the yard where students were gathering for tonight’s sparring sessions, his lip curled. “Look at that. Whelford can’t stay away, can they?”
Following his gaze, I saw a group of Whelford Uni students milling around at the edge of the yard. I guessed there was safety in numbers, especially when they were on hostile ground. Was this payback for us crashing theirparty? Even though the Whelford Flames had invited us, I knew there were plenty of people who hadn’t been happy we were mixing with them. People who thought we were beneath them, thought we might taint them with our “criminal ways.” That had to be it, because as far as I knew, we didn’t have any current disputes to settle with any members of the hockey team after we’d come to our agreement.
Although I guessed there were always exceptions. I scanned their faces, stopping on a familiar dark-haired, tattooed guy. Exceptions like…him.Lincoln Bellingham. He was standing at the front of the group, his arms folded across his chest, and I just hoped that Dan was somewhere far away. It was unlikely, but miracles happened sometimes.
When Ryker pushed off the wall, I fell into step with him as we headed towards the yard, glancing back over at Bellingham. “We might have trouble with Whelford tonight,” I murmured.
“Maybe. This should be interesting.” Amusement threaded through his tone. “My sister’s about to spar with one of them.”
I stopped dead. “What thefuck?”
“She spoke to Arson, and he came up with the idea. He thought it might be good for her—help her get rid of some of the noise in her head. I dunno, it works for us, doesn’t it?” I stared at him, open-mouthed, and he nudged me with his shoulder. “Don’t worry, she can hold her own.”
“She’s fighting someone? For real?”
“Yeah. Get a move on. We don’t wanna miss it.”
My head was reeling. What had possessed Nova to do something like this?
We reached the cage, the crowds moving out of our way, and then I saw her.
Standing fierce and proud in the centre of the cage, dressed in a cropped, black hoodie and black joggers, with her light hair tied back in a high ponytail and her knuckles wrapped, she took my fucking breath away. I barely paid attention to the taller, athletic brunette facing her.
I’d seen her spar with Ryker, and I’d seen her spar with friends, but I’d never seen her fight for real. Not until now.
“Is this a good idea? What if your parents find out?”
Ryker shook his head, dismissing my concerns. “No one will talk. They never do. The yard is a sacred space, and Whelford know their money is no good here. We rule this place, and if anyone did talk, they’d face the fucking consequences.”
“No weapons,” Neo called out, and thank fuck he was officiating and not Dan or, even worse, Volkov. Nova nodded sharply, and then she and the brunette began to circle each other.
“I think that’s the girl who had a thing with Arson at one point. Didn’t she give Bellingham a blow job at the party?” Ryker murmured.
My gaze narrowed on the brunette before sliding back to Nova. “Shit. I think you’re right. If Dan shows up, we need to keep him far away from Bellingham, otherwise it’s gonna get messy.”
