The corners of Travis’s mouth turned up infinitesimally as he tossed a twenty on the table. “That should cover it.”
“I don’t care about the money … Abby …”
I shrugged. “He’s my best friend, Parker. If he needs me there, I have to go.”
I felt Travis’s hand encapsulate mine as he led me away. Parker watched with a stunned look on his face. Shepley was already on the phone in his Charger, spreading the word. Travis sat in the back with me, keeping my hand firmly in his.
“I just got off the phone with Adam, Trav. He said the State guys all showed up drunk and padded with cash. They’re already riled up, so you might wanna keep Abby out of the way.”
Travis nodded. “You can keep an eye on her.”
“Where’s America?” I asked.
“Studying for her Physics test.”
“That’s a nice lab,” Travis said. I laughed once and then looked to Travis, who had a small grin on his face.
“When did you see the lab? You haven’t had Physics,” Shepley said.
Travis chuckled and I elbowed him. He pressed his lips together until the urge to laugh subsided, and then he winked at me, squeezing my hand once again. His fingers intertwined in mine, and I heard a small sigh escape his lips. I knew what he was thinking because I felt the same. In that sliver of time, it was as if nothing had changed.
We pulled into a dark patch of the parking lot, and Travis refused to let go of my hand until we crawled into the window of the basement of the Hellerton Science Building. It had been built just the year before, so it didn’t suffer from stagnant air and dust like the other basements we’d snuck into.
Just as we entered the hallway, the roar of the crowd reached our ears. I poked my head out to see an ocean of faces, many of them unfamiliar. Everyone had a bottle of beer in their hand, but the State students were easy to pick out of the crowd. They were the ones that swayed with their eyes half closed.
“Stay close to Shepley, Pigeon. It’s going to get crazy in here,” he said from behind me. He scanned the crowd, shaking his head at the sheer numbers.
Hellerton’s basement was the most spacious on campus, so Adam liked to schedule fights there when he expected a larger crowd. Even with the addition of space, people were being rubbed against the walls and shoving one another to get a good spot.
Adam rounded the corner and d
idn’t try to hide his dissatisfaction with my presence. “I thought I told you that you couldn’t bring your girl to the fights any more, Travis.”
Travis shrugged. “She’s not my girl any more.”
I kept my features smooth, but he had said the words so matter-of-factly that I felt a stabbing sensation in my chest.
Adam looked down at our intertwined fingers and then up at Travis. “I’m never gonna figure you two out.” He shook his head and then glanced to the mob. People were still streaming in from the stairs, and those on the floor were already packed together. “We’ve got an insane pot tonight, Travis, so no fuckin’ off, okay?”
“I’ll make sure it’s entertaining, Adam.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. Brady’s been training.”
“So have I.”
“Bullshit,” Shepley laughed.
Travis shrugged. “I got in a fight with Trent last weekend. That little shit is fast.”
I chuckled and Adam glared at me. “You better take this seriously, Travis,” he said, staring into his eyes. “I have a lot of money riding on this fight.”
“And I don’t?” Travis said, irritated with Adam’s lecture.
Adam turned, holding the bullhorn to his lips as he stood upon a chair above the multitude of drunken spectators. Travis pulled me against his side as Adam greeted the crowd and then went over the rules.
“Good luck,” I said, touching his chest. I hadn’t felt nervous to watching his fights other than the one he’d had with Brock McMann in Vegas, but I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling I’d had since we stepped foot in Hellerton. Something was off, and Travis felt it, too.
Travis grabbed my shoulders and planted a kiss on my lips. He pulled away quickly, nodding once. “That’s all the luck I need.”