The moment they paid their entrance fee, Tabitha went on high alert. A crowd this big was dangerous, but it also meant the cops had been bought off.
“Dogs own this territory tonight,” Mitch, the guard at the door, said. “You’ve entered at your own risk.”
Keeping together as a group, they moved toward the main fighting ring. Ned had come to see this place with her a few years ago, and Tabitha had been addicted to it. Of course, neither her parents nor the club knew that Grandpa Ned had looked it over as a possible site he wanted to use.
Ned dealt in fighters back in Vegas. He was notorious for finding the meanest motherfuckers around. She also knew he wasn’t a nice guy either, and so there were some fights that had a lot more odds on them, a fighter’s life.
Those freaked her out. She couldn’t ever imagine fighting for her life, nor did she want to. Still, this was fighting. It was fucked up, dangerous, but that was the way that it was.
“What are you thinking?” Daisy asked.
They pushed their way up to the edge of the ring. It was on a concrete pitch that was higher up as if on a pedestal. There had been wooden posts secured with rope to try to keep people inside. The trick was to not get slammed down. There were some rules to the fighting, seeing as it was mostly kids who took to the Quad. Some college boys as well. Those were the fights the club often went for. It meant bigger money as there was often some pansy-ass rich boy who thought he was the shit and got beat down a great deal because of it.
Anthony didn’t go for fights he knew he could win.
Tabitha just loved to fight, and the thing about the Quad was they didn’t care if you had a dick or a pussy. A fight was a fight. You win, you get paid. You lose, you go home empty-handed.
The club had yet to lose a fight. Out of the whole club, Daisy didn’t fight, though. It wasn’t that she couldn’t fight, it was just better for everyone if she didn’t.
Staring up at the two competitors, she spotted Luke facing off with a guy twice his size. Both had no shirt on. Luke was covered in ink. His arms, chest, and as he turned to dodge a ram, there was also ink on his back.
“You want him?” Daisy asked.
“Don’t be absurd.” She didn’t want Luke but that didn’t mean he didn’t want her. Nope, she’d noticed Luke watching her. He was also the one who tried to keep things nice between the clubs. It was Dickface Ryan she had trouble with.
Luke was the President’s son, and there was no denying he was a badass. He was also a bully. An asshole bully, but he didn’t turn that shit on her, and when she caught him, she stepped right up into his face for it.
His technique was flawless. He hit hard and took no punishment.
It was good.
The guy finally went down and waved his hand in defeat.
The Dogs roared with victory.
Luke was embraced with open arms and then Ryan ran onto the pedestal. He was smaller than Luke. Still had plenty of ink, but he was a complete and total dick. There was no getting away with it. He believed his patch was what made him the shit, but it didn’t.
If anything, it made him even more of an asshole. The guys couldn’t stand him.
She certainly couldn’t. It was bad enough having to deal with another MC, seeing as they’d been able to avoid it most of their school lives, but now, it made it even more so. Especially since some people considered The Skulls as sellouts or weak. They weren’t. They had just reached their end of horseshit and wanted a break.
Simple as that.
Ryan held his fisted hands in the air as if he was already going to be victorious.
“Can you believe this guy?” Daisy asked.
“Come on, are you all fucking pussies?” Ryan asked. He pointed out at the crowd. “I dare you. Come and fight me, fuckers!”
No one took to the pedestal.
“Are you all pussies? None of you can take me.”
Tabitha watched as Anthony handed his jacket to Simon and then climbed up onto the pedestal. He wasn’t scheduled to fight but there was no way Ryan could get away with that. Calling on others to fight when there was no real competition.
“Well, well, well, look what I’ve got here with me. None other than a Skull brat. Someone who needs his ass beaten.”
Anthony didn’t even bother removing his shirt or raising his fists. He looked bored.
The bell rang, which meant the fight had been accepted and now it was on.
Ryan raised his fists, and Anthony kept his by his side.
Tabitha tensed as Ryan went to charge him, but he went into the ropes that only just kept him in the ring.
Again, Anthony still hadn’t lifted his hands.
When Ryan came at him a second time, he clocked him around the face, sending Ryan down with a single punch.
There were cheers, but the Dogs, they were pissed. She chanced a look over to see Luke watching her.
Averting her gaze, she saw Ryan get to his feet, shake whatever it was off him, and charge again. This time, Anthony took him. Punch by punch. Ryan got a few in to the stomach, but Anthony blocked most of the face aims.
She winced a few times at the brutality of it but she was long gone past the days of covering her eyes. The shit she’d seen, the stuff she knew, it didn’t make her weak, it made her strong. She was more prepared now than ever before, and she was ready.
Anthony threw the final punch, and this time, Ryan stayed down. Their boy had knocked The Dogs boy clean out.
Miles cheered, whooping in the air. “Suck it, Dogs. That’s how it’s done. That’s our boy.”
Anthony climbed out of the ring, went over to Mitch, grabbed their money, and that was it. They left the Quad. If Ryan hadn’t been knocked out, there would have been a lot more crap to deal with. The Dogs wouldn’t accept this. Ryan would demand a rematch.
“You know you fucked up there,” Daisy said.
Tabitha’s brows rose as Anthony came to a stop.
All of the guys did as Anthony turned to Daisy.
“I did?” he asked.
This was new. Daisy and Anthony were often in each other’s presence but rarely on speaking terms. It wasn’t odd for them. Anthony rarely spoke to anyone.
“Yeah. They’re going to demand a rematch. You’re going to have to go up against Ryan or Luke, or all of them.”
“Oh, come on, our boy will take them all on,” Miles said, clapping his hands in excitement.
“Are you all fucking insane?” Daisy asked. “There’s only so much shit they’re going to take before we have to face the consequences. You were only supposed to watch.”
“We didn’t say that,” Tabitha said. She knew the moment they entered the Quad that the chances of them fighting would be pretty high. It was impossible for them to go somewhere with fighting and avoid it. It was like telling a fucking bee not to suck pollen. That shit wasn’t going to happen.
“Were you worried about me?” Anthony asked.
Daisy stared at him.
Tonight was turning out to be full of surprises. Tabitha wished she could take her phone out to film this precious moment. At the very least, she could send it to Simon. That would give them something to talk about, and it would win her a bet, that said Daisy and Anthony would end up together. Simon didn’t agree with her.
“You could have gotten yourself killed. It’s not funny.” She went to turn her back on him, but Anthony grabbed her arm.