Sugar Pop (The Riot Crew #2)

24. Frankie

Chapter 24

Frankie

F ucking Teo.

He was lucky he had such a big-ass head to protect his fall to the mat.

Even though he lay there unmoving, Jace Perk kept pummeling his head until the referee pulled Jace away. Another man—this place’s lone doctor—threw open the cage door and dragged Teo’s knocked-out body from the ring, a streak of blood dribbling out of his mouth and staining the mat.

The crowd went absolutely insane around me.

The referee held up Jace’s arm.

His ugly eyes landed on me as he screamed, “Fuck those pussies! Perk’s is number one!”

I kept my eyes on him the entire time he gloated around the ring, throwing his hands up like some kind of crowd hype man. All around him, people chanted his name, rattling the cage and throwing money, flowers, and pieces of clothing toward him. That shit-eating smirk stayed the entire time he walked around like king of the ring, even though his nose was bent slightly sideways, and his left eye was swollen and barely open.

I locked eyes with Lotto, who stood in the middle of the raging crowd near the betting tables. Based on the tight look on his angular face, we were both thinking the same thing.

Fuck.

I hadn’t expected Teo to win. I’d trained him as hard as I could, but boxing was a way for him to run away from his problems, not make a name for himself. And Jace Perk had a huge stick up his ass, ready to literally thrash his way to victory. Which was what he did—Teo hadn’t been ready to be bitten in the ear like fucking Evander Holyfield. That one move had thrown off his entire game and had led to his KO not even a minute later.

But that was all legal.

Because this was Heathens Hollow.

The only rule was there were no rules.

And Ari was about to find that out next.

I pushed through the crowd on the way to the locker room with our gym name over it. When I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, the world drowned out and it was only me, Ari, and Bones, staring at each other, already knowing what was about to be said without uttering a damn word.

“How bad?” Bones asked.

“Jace pulled a Mike Tyson.” I snapped my jaw like I was taking a bite of something, and Bones winced. “Out cold.”

“At least it was his ear and not his dick.”

“You think Misty would look good with half an ear?” Ari asked with a nervous smile. She messed with the tape around her wrists and cocked her head. “Would I?”

“Don’t even joke about that.” I frowned.

Ari merely chuckled and turned to face me. Ari, looking like a fallen angel even in her fighting attire. Her sports bra and boxing shorts were pure white, and her light blond hair was tied up in a tight bun on the top of her head. Her eyelids shimmered with gold, and her plump lips grinned blood red.

“So I have to win?”

Her question hung in the air. Bones and I shared a knowing look before I nodded stiffly. The world roared one more time when the door pushed open; Lotto stepped inside and closed the door with his back. He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a long, heavy exhalation.

“Otto told me something funny.”

I lifted a brow. “The guy who takes bets?”

He nodded. “Teo’s rich as hell now.” Lotto’s sharp glare danced between the three of us. “He bet against himself.”

“Wait.” Ari held up a hand. “Are you saying Teo threw the match on purpose?”

I ground my teeth. If that was true, I was going to take Troy up on his offer to bury some skeletons here.

Lotto shook his head. “Not unless he was trying to look like Van Gogh. He dropped money on Ari and Bones, too.”

Ari exhaled slowly. “So… he knew he was going to lose?”

“Looks like it.”

“Goddamnit.” Bones threw a punch at one of the lockers. It dented under his strength, but he didn’t even look fazed. If anything, his chiseled face grew even angrier. “That means we?—”

“Have to win.” Ari stopped playing with the tape around her wrists but clung to herself, staring at the wall. “I have to win.”

I stalked forward, placed my hands on her shoulders, and turned her toward me. She snapped back to reality when I shook her slightly.

“Look at me.” I squeezed her shoulders. “Do whatever it takes to win.”

“But…”

“No buts, Ari. Teo will be lucky to avoid brain damage.”

“And missing some ear piercings when he comes to.” Lotto pushed off the door to come closer. With a strong hand over mine, he nodded to Ari. “You’ve been practicing. You can do this.”

“For boxing,” Ari frowned. “What if Misty, I don’t know, bites my jugular? Or kicks me in the vag?”

“Then you punch her in the tits.” Bones placed his hand over my other one. “Wherever will take her ass down.”

“You’re ready,” I said. “You might just need to bend the rules a little.”

“Think about what Bones would do. Not what your dad would do.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment, Lotto?” Bones asked. “Not would do, anyway. Will do. I’m going to kick River’s ass and give us a reason to celebrate.”

Ari sucked in a breath. A small bit of color rose to her cheeks. When she took in all of us, I could tell what she was thinking. ‘Celebrate’ wouldn’t just be our 10% cut or our winnings from Otto and his betting table. The true celebration was a few stories below this locker room, the sweat and sin of the sex club calling our names.

Ari sucked in a slow breath through her nose before nodding. “I’m ready.”

“And going to win,” Bones added.

“Oh, I’m going to do more than win. I’m going to fuck up Misty so bad that she can’t cry to her followers later because her eyes will be swollen shut.”

Lotto chuckled. “Sounds like a plan.”

“I’ll bring a tooth as a trophy.”

“Hope it’s Misty’s and not yours.” I smacked Ari’s shoulders a few times, Bones and Lotto’s hands still over mine. “Let’s fucking go.”

Ari began jumping up and down, stretching out her neck and arms as the three of us massaged her muscles. A sharp knock came at the door, and a kid way too young to be here gestured us forward. It was now or never. Ari’s jaw tightened but she walked from the locker room with her head held high.

Bones, Lotto, and I pushed through the raging crowd to get a good spot near the cage itself. Misty was already in there looking like an angry pit bull.

The announcer’s voice boomed from his microphone and echoed in Heathens Hollow.

“In this corner, we have owner and former Gold medal champion, Misty Perk !”

As soon as the announcer called her name, she threw up her hands, beckoning the crowd to start chanting her name. We stayed silent. Our focus was elsewhere. Ari spoke with the announcer for a brief moment before she turned toward the cage door.

The squeal of mic feedback made me wince.

“And her opponent, owner and founder of Smiley’s Gym in her first ever cage match, right here at Heathens Hollow, Ari Dexter !”

The crowd screamed and pressed in on me like a vice. They screamed her name over and over—they screamed some other bullshit I would normally lay some people out for daring to say out loud. But words failed me. This was the moment we were waiting for. The moment we’d trained for. The one we’d fought tooth and nail to bring to life.

Ari lifted her chin and drew a deep breath.

Then threw open the cage door and stepped into the ring.