Glass Jaw

Chapter 12

"Why was I expecting something more dungeon-like?" I asked Jules as I stopped my newly delivered Jeep Wrangler in front of the boring arena. It was a large domed building, perched between neatly trimmed gardens and a well-lit parking lot. Where was the danger? Where was the angst?

"It's not underground fighting, Ryan," Jules laughed as she shook her head. "It's a legit sport."

"Not going to lie, I'm disappointed," I sighed—only partially joking—as we got organized to go inside. "I thought it would be at least a little shady."

"Like a dark pit in the middle of a field?" Jules suggested, hitting one of my daydreams right on the head.

"Or a cement basement that you need a password to get by the bodyguard," I shrugged.

"God, you're really going to be bummed when you find out they serve popcorn and hotdogs," Jules sighed.

I perked up at that and my needy stomach rumbled just at the thought of junk food. Looking down at my light jeans, I sent a silent prayer that they'd survive the night without ketchup stains.

With a newfound goal of shamelessly eating a hot dog for the first time since I was ten, I jumped down from the driver's seat and strode to the front of my Jeep to meet Jules. I clicked the lock button on my keys then slipped them into my small purse.

"It's so cool that you have your own vehicle," Jules gushed. "Now we can go escape the boys anytime we want."

"It was actually my cousin's first," I said as we walked toward the entrance. "When we were sixteen she became obsessed with that show Laguna Beach for like a week. Suddenly she was going to be a surfer and wear her hair in those short pigtails like Kristin Cavallari. I thought my aunt was going to have a heart attack."

"So she got a whole car because of a whim?" Jules scoffed.

The shock and borderline disgust that Jules clearly felt for my family's frivolity made me embarrassed on their behalf. I'd judged Elizabeth at the time too, obviously. Her screaming had nearly split my head in two as she tried to get Aunt Felicity to agree. But it was different when someone else—someone normal—pointed it out.

"I guess it worked out for you, though," Jules added more mildly. "How did that end up happening?"

I laughed as I thought back to that time. Elizabeth had cried hysterically because it turned out that she hated driving the lifted vehicle. It was too big and bulky for her. The daydream of being a sporty girl in her white Jeep had obviously not been as fun in reality. Uncle Robert was going to force her to keep driving it as a lesson, but Aunt Felicity had stepped in and insisted Elizabeth get a respectable Mercedes.

Shrugging, I gave Jules the cliff notes version. "She got a new vehicle and when my Uncle mentioned something about me getting one of my own, I thought it made more sense not to let the Jeep go to waste."

The lobby of the arena was already filled with people as we walked in. Looking around, most of them seemed to be students from our college. Excitement buzzed through the air as some stood in the line for food and others called out for their friends. It made my heart thrum as I soaked it all in.

"The boys will all be in the back," Jules said as she led me toward a corridor. "Usually there are at least three or four prelim fights before the main event. They're probably almost done now."

"And the main event is Landon?" I asked.

Jules turned toward me with a small smile and curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "Did he ask you to call him Landon?"

I thought back to that day in class and how I'd stolen his name off the signup sheet. "Not exactly... why?"

"No reason," Jules said with a head shake. She stopped in front of a heavy door and pulled it open, letting me walk through. "He used to have a thing about his name, so most people here call him by his last name." The doors closed behind us as we walked together down another hallway, enveloping us in a sudden quiet.