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His eyes open but he can’t seem to focus on anything as he stares at the sky above him. I glance over at Arnie. He holds up one finger.

Hurry the fuck up.

Two fingers.

Faster, asshole.

Three fingers.

I need to get the fuck out of here.

Then he’s running up the stairs and into the ring, that smarmy damn smile on his face.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he calls to the crowd and they roar back in response. “Our undefeated champion for the fourth time in a row. Hyyyyyyddddeeeee.”

They all join him in chanting my name.

I don’t give a fuck.

Arnie slaps me on the shoulder and I nod, turning to the exit. Jumper is standing next to Gear just at the bottom of the stairs and my heart scrambles into my fucking throat.

No.

No.

No.

What the fuck does this mean?

Where is Lennon?

Heat bubbles in my veins as I throw open the door to the cage and clear the three steps to the ground in one single leap. Jumper stumbles back but not before I can grab his shirt and pull him to me.

“Where the fuck is she?” I hiss through clenched teeth, desperately trying to not beat my best friend’s face in. “And why the fuck are you not with her?”

Jumper holds his hand up in surrender, his eyes wide. “Chill, brother. She’s safe. She just wasn’t feeling well and asked me to take her back to the compound.”

“This makes you unable to answer your goddamn phone?”

“It died,” he says, letting out a nervous laugh.

“And what the fuck do you mean she wasn’t feeling well?” I release him and shove him away. It’s not as hard as I could have pushed him but a twinge of guilt finds its way through everything else raging through me right now. “Why the hell wasn’t I told?”

“She didn’t want to distract you from the fights, brother.”

I point a finger in his face. “Fucking nothing matters more than her being okay. Not one goddamn thing.”

“I hear you,” he says as I turn away from him and begin ripping the tape off my hands. My bike is right there and I’m done having a fucking conversation when I need to get home and check on my girl. “It was a bad call. For what it’s worth, though, she seemed okay. Not like deathly ill or anything. She said the heat was just getting to her.”

“You took her home?” I ask, striding across the grass to my bike as I continue tearing tape off my hands, tossing it to the ground as soon as it’s free.

“Yeah, man. Dropped her off at your place and made sure she didn’t need anything before I booked it back here to fill you in on what was happening.”

“Still should have fucking told me, asshole.” Maybe once I see her with my own eyes, once I can hold her in my arms, I won’t feel like punching his fucking face in.

“You’re right.” He scrambles after me as I continue to my bike.

“You guys head back to the compound,” Gear says and I stop, turning to look at him.