In Her Laugh

21. He's the one

"Gray has our locations," I remind them.

"Yeah... no," Roman says. "I don't have reception or wifi."

"What?" I ask. I open my phone only to find out I don't have reception. "Shit, I lost reception too."

"Same," Landon says. "If we die because of you Reese, I better not be buried anywhere near you."

"Hope you wrote that in your will," I say.

"You have a will?" Roman asks Landon.

"No, I didn't plan on dying anytime soon, but I guess if we survive this, I'm gonna have to," Landon retorts. "If not today, Reese will get us killed one day. I can just feel it."

"I'm really feeling the love, Landon," my words drip with sarcasm.

"Hey!" I hear King from the far left. I look up and see him approaching us. He's wearing black sweats and a black hoodie. He gives Roman and Landon a quick bro hug. When he looks at me, he takes a second to scan my appearance from head to toe. Even though it's kind of cold outside, I feel my cheeks heat up at his gaze. He then hugs me. "Glad to see you guys made it here on time."

"Yeah, but we just don't know in time for what," I retort.

"Let me get you guys in and I'll explain," King says. He takes my hand and we start walking towards the underground parking. The closer we get, the louder it gets.

A lot of people are drinking and smoking outside and my muscles tighten becoming tense. King gently squeezes my hand in assurance.

"You look beautiful as always," King whispers in my ear. The air on my neck stands on their end as his breath travel down.

"Thanks," I smile.

King skips the line of people waiting to get past the gate. A lot of the girls eye my brothers and King while they send dirty looks my way. Even though the girls aren't welcoming, the boys seem to be enjoying the sight I have to offer. They can't seem to take their eyes off of me. I smile at the attention and go along with it.

"Did you bring your IDs?" King asks.

"Yeah, he has them," I nod towards Landon. Landon pulls them out and King shows them to the guard. He lets us in.

"Night Vixen, really?" King laughs at the name on my fake ID.

"It's the best I could come up with," I roll my eyes. As King hands Landon back the IDs, I take King's out of his hand. "Kral Sinner? Dark."

"I was a broken kid," King huffs snatching the ID back.

"Mm-mh."

"So what is this place?" Landon questions as we walk through the vacant lot. King walks us to a door at the far end and holds it open for us to walk in.

He closes the door once everyone is in. He and I take the lead again walking through the halls. A few people pass on their way out and they all nod at King.

"I was kind of a fucked up kid. In middle school, I would be high or drunk all the time which would get me into a lot of trouble because I would start random fights. I'm from one of the hood areas of town so one of the ex-gangsters there told me about this place. He knew I would either be recruited into the gangs, killed by one of them or I could come here and clean up my act. I decided to sober up and come here. My dad needed money to continue running the shop then too, so it looked like the best option," King explains coming to a stop. "To the right are the change rooms where all the players get ready and to the left is where we fight."