Page 88 of Meant for You

Grifter was in the ring, eye swollen, blood smearing his mouth guard as he grinned and smashed his fist into a guy who looked like he weighed twice as much. When the guy went down with a thump that could be heard before the next wave of cheers, it was easy to see he wasn’t getting back up anytime soon.

Another guy lifted Grifter’s hand in the air, and there were more cheers as the big unconscious guy was dragged out.

“There’s a spot over there,” Trix said. “We’ll give Riff a minute to get cleaned up then hunt him down.”

I nodded as I scanned the massive space, searching for Dane. There was no way I’d see him with all these people filling the place. We squeezed through gaps in the crowd, hanging on to each other, making our way to the seats Trix had pointed out close to the front that some guys had just vacated.

We finally got where we wanted to go as more fighters came out and climbed in the ring—

My breath got stuck in my throat. Dane was one of them. “Oh God.”

My heart stalled in my chest, and Lila and Trix, who were on either side of me, both grabbed my hands.

Grifter was back, still shirtless, his inked skin splattered with blood, and apparently not caring. He was in Dane’s corner, talking in his ear, thumping him on the shoulder.

Dane looked…I didn’t recognize him. His eyes were hollow, so far away.

Something was wrong with him. Seriously wrong.

The guy in the opposite corner was big—bigger than Dane. I wanted to rush over to him, tell him not to do it, and drag him out of there. I started to stand, but Trix stopped me.

“If he sees you now, he’ll get distracted,” she said, looking worried as well.

She was right. I forced myself to sit back down.

The fight was about to start, and I couldn’t stay in my seat. I stood again. Trix and Lila did the same, still gripping my hands for support and I knew holding me back as well.

A bell went, starting the first round, and they moved to the middle of the ring, dancing around each other for a bit before the other guy took the first swing. The sound of leather hitting flesh made me flinch.

I clutched my friends’ hands tighter as they went at each other. I couldn’t take my eyes off Dane, not for a moment, terrified for him because something was definitely wrong.

I’d seen Dane fight when he and Tanner had sparred at the gym. Dane wasn’t fighting like he had that day. He got in the odd blow, but he was taking a lot more. It was almost like he was letting the guy hit him.

Like he was purposely letting himself be beaten.

The big guy smashed his fist into Dane’s jaw and his head shot to the side, blood spraying on the mat. Grifter was up yelling at Dane from his corner, obviously seeing what I was. But it didn’t work. Blow after blow came, with Dane barely fighting back, getting knocked down before he got back up.

God, he just kept on getting back up.

I wanted him to stay down, but he didn’t.

Wouldn’t.

The bell finally rang again and Dane stumbled to his corner. Grifter got in with him and was in his face, yelling something at him.

I started toward them, and instead of holding me back, Trix and Lila helped me shove and push through the crowd. Grifter was back out, talking to another guy fast, looking worried. As soon as there was a space clear, I ran toward him.

Grifter saw me and grabbed me, stopping me from getting to Dane.

“I need to talk to him. Let me talk to him,” I said, tears threatening to spill over.

I thought he wasn’t going to let me, but then his jaw tightened and he took my hand, held the ropes open, and I climbed into the ring, rounding on Dane.

He was staring blankly ahead.

“Dane?”

Nothing.