Page 10 of Savage Salvation

“And what about you?” he asks as we step outside into the night air.

“I’ll get an Uber.”

“Nah. You shouldn’t be alone on your birthday.”

Why the hell not? Being alone sounds more appealing than anything else at the moment. After Isaac drops into the passenger seat of his Corvette, I assume the driver’s seat, push the button, and slowly move the seat forward enough for me to reach the gas pedal, wishing I was in my Camry instead of the Z06 more by the second.

“Come on, Kins. Cruz and the guys are going to the Den. I told them we’d meet them there.”

“The Den?” Just what I don’t want to do on my birthday, or any other day of the year. Watch a bunch of blockheads brutally beat the shit out of each other.

“Yep. I have some money on your boy. He’s a guarantee.”

“My boy.” He can’t possibly mean who I think he means but I know he does. “Gage isn’t my boy and I’m not going.”

“Fine.” He turns his face away looking out the window. “I’ll go by myself.”

“You need to go to bed.”

“Not happening. I said I’d be there, so I can drop you off and go alone.”

“You don’t need to drive anywhere.” I wave my hand over the drunken idiot who isn’t in any state to drive.

“Well, I said I’d show, so there’s no backing out now.”

“No. I’m driving you home.”

“Okay. I’ll wait until your Uber arrives, then I’ll head to the fight.”

“Isaac.” He ignores me, so I say his name louder until he finally looks at me. “You can’t drive.”

“Yes. I can. Watch me. Or don’t. Your choice.”

“My choice would be punching you in your busted lip if you try to drive.” This. This is another reminder of why I shouldn’t let myself care. Because now I know I’ll be babysitting an inebriated fool so he doesn’t get behind the wheel. Again. The last time, he hit his mom’s parked car. “Did you not learn your lesson last time? Why don’t you Uber to the Den?”

“Come on, Kins. Just a few minutes. He won’t even know you’re there. He’ll be all wrapped up in the fight. I just want to see who wins (he will, by the way), collect my money, and celebrate with my best friend.”

Best friend. He uses the term, but I can’t call him anything other than a friend, which is generous right now because all the expressions that come to mind are nowhere near as nice. “Fine. A few minutes. But we’re not staying long, and I swear I will drag your ass out of there if you won’t leave when it’s time.”

“Got it.” His hands rise in victory, applauding as his head falls back to the headrest and he lets out a long, exaggerated breath. “Why do you have to be so fuckin’ stubborn, Kins?” he mumbles. His eyes close, and (I think) he drifts off to sleep. It’s a few minutes later when we pull into the parking lot that’s already filled with vehicles, so I follow the car in front of me to the grassy, overflow parking area of the field.

Isaac’s eyes pop open, and we step out of the car. Well, I step out. Isaac more or less rolls out. But he leans against the Corvette to steady himself, looking to the old, deserted rice factory that now is known as the Lion’s Den. Named after the school’s mascot, it’s Sacred Creed Academy’s favorite place to house their underground—and highly illegal—fights that everyone seems to know about (even law enforcement) that continue to take place with no end in sight.

“Are we gonna go in or watch from here?” I ask the boozy joker who’s bent over, looking at the ground. “Exactly how much did you have to drink?”

“Not enough for this,” he mutters. His fingers clasp around my elbow, and he hauls me to him. My hands come up unconsciously, pressing against his chest as his mouth covers mine. His tongue parts my lips as I freeze for a few seconds like the flabbergasted chump that I am.

Isaac is kissing me.

Shoving him away, all I can do is stare into his glassy eyes. I’m at a loss for words for the first time in my entire life. Isaac manages to find a few, though, slinging a couple colorful terms out before his hand covers his mouth, rubbing across his face then drops to his side as he whispers, “I didn’t mean to do that. Let’s just forget that ever happened. We have to.”

I get it. He’s drunk. But what the fuck was he thinking? Or perhaps he wasn’t since it shouldn’t have happened. I thought the fight would be the worst part of being here. Now it’s the awkward silence that I can’t take anymore. “We’re friends. We agreed that’s all we ever wanted this to be.”

“And that’s all it is.” His playful tone returns a little too swiftly considering he was just trying to maul me against his car. “Just ignore my drunken escapades. Friends with benefits would never work for us, so let’s just keep the friends part.”

“Yeah. You are drunk. Because benefits was never on the table to begin with, Isaac.”

“You ain’t fuckin’ lying.” He snickers, his arm drapes over my shoulder and tugs me towards him as he places a quick smooch on my forehead.