“I wish it would really happen.” The smile left her face and she pushed herself out of the pool.

“It could happen if you practice a lot.” I jumped out of the pool with her.

“I don’t know.” She looked down. “I have to support my mom.”

Her words made me freeze. The memories that brought back to me were bittersweet, and I could feel my heart racing. Jamilah stood there shivering as water slid down her body and her eyes were full of sadness. She was too young to be taking on the cares of her mother.

I repeated the words I had said to Clara so many times. “It’s not your responsibility to take care of your mom.”

“She doesn’t make much money.” She shrugged. “I want to help her.”

“That’s admirable of you, Jammy.”  I gave her a quick hug. “But your mom is doing fine.”

“I wish she was home more.” She hugged me back and then giggled. “What flavor jam am I?”

“What flavor jam do you want to be?” I whispered, playing the game we’d been playing for the last year.

“Not raspberry jam.” She made a face. “Or mixed fruit. Mixed fruit jam is yucky.”

“What about strawberry?” I smiled down at her. “You like strawberry jam, don’t you?”

“Yes!” She smiled up at me. “I love strawberry jam.”

“Then you’re my strawberry Jammy.” I winked at her, and she giggled.

“I should go and check on Marcus.” She sighed. “Make sure he’s doing his homework.”

“Yeah, you should.” I smiled. “I’ll walk you to your apartment.”

She shook her head and made a little face. “You don’t have to do that.”

I laughed. “Have I told you that you remind me of a girl I once knew?”

She shook her head as we walked. “No, who?”

“When I was younger, I used to tease a girl on the bus. Her name was Riley, and one day she went to her mom and complained about me. Her mom came to my parents’ house and told them what was going on. She asked if she could ask me to protect her instead of my being punished.” I smiled at the memory as I spoke. “Well, that girl and I became friends, and she always used to make faces at me.”

“Is she your best friend?”

“No. Luke. You remember Luke? Well, he’s my best friend.”

“He’s goofy.” She made a face and then stopped, her hand flying to her mouth as she looked at me sheepishly. “I mean, he’s nice, but goofy.”

“That describes him perfectly.” I smiled at her.

“So, are you and Riley still friends?”

“No, not really.” I frowned as I thought of her. I paused as I let the feelings of love, joy, wonder, hurt, horror, and heartbreak wash over me. “She has her own life now.” I tried to smile again, but couldn’t.

I could see Riley’s face in my mind as clear as day. It made me feel incredibly guilty and incredibly sad. Riley was a part of my life that I couldn’t think about anymore. Not after what had happened. Not after Clara. It didn’t matter what I wished were different. This was my life now. I thought back to my earlier conversation with Luke and sighed inwardly. I had a feeling I was going to try and enter that fight. A million dollars would go a long way. I knew what Clara would want me to do, and I couldn’t let her down. Not now.

Riley

Present Day

The taste of sin is sweet. Ridiculously sweet—like honey dipped in sugar. It’s satisfying for one distinct moment before you realize that it’s too much and you regret taking a bite. Especially if you’re like me and you’ve taken the biggest bite your mouth could handle.

“Riley, there is no way that you are going to be able to go in there and fool those guys into believing that you know a thing about underground fighting.”

“You don’t know my powers of persuasion.” I laughed. “And my acting skills are also great. I’ll be fine.”

“Unfortunately, I do know about your bad wannabe-actress skills. Also, you don’t have any powers of persuasion.” Eden shook her head. “Just because you watched one YouTube video about how to persuade people to believe you’re invisible doesn’t mean you have any mad skills. In fact, it gives you no skills and makes you a bit of an idiot.”

“I’m going to believe I didn’t hear that.” I stared at my reflection in the mirror. “Do you think I should cut my hair? Or dye it or something?”

“No way.” Eden jumped up and grabbed my arm. “If you cut off your beautiful hair, I will kill you.” Her fingers played with my long brown hair and she sighed with envy. “You have gorgeous hair, Riley. You know what I would do for your chestnut tresses.”

“I told you I’ll sell it to you.” I grinned at her and stared at her golden bob. “Though, half the world wishes they had naturally blond hair like you.”

“Uh huh.” She flopped down on the bed. “Anyways, this is not about me. Are you really going to try and infiltrate the fighting ring?”

“Yeah.” I looked at her in excitement. “This is my first real assignment. I can’t mess this up.”

“It’s not going to be dangerous, is it?” She looked at me with a worried expression. “You don’t want me to get Hudson down here, do you?”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes while my insides flushed at the mention of her brother’s name.

“You know he’ll totally drive down if he thinks you’re up to something bad.”

“Don’t tell him.” I gave her a stern look, and she laughed.

“You’d think he was your brother and not mine.” She shook her head. “Though I suppose I should be thankful that he thinks he has two younger sisters. I’m very grateful that he is on your case more than he is on mine.”

“Argh. I’m not,” I moaned. “My mom asked him to look after me when I was six. He doesn’t have to keep doing it like it’s his job.”

“It’s because he loves you like a sister,” Eden explained. “He plays the overprotective-big-brother role to a T.”

“Yeah he does.” I smiled at her before I turned around and walked to my closet.

“Did I tell you that he’s going on an around-the-world trip in a few months?”

“Oh?” I turned around in surprise and tried to still my beating heart. “For how long?”

“No idea. He thinks he’ll be gone for a year or two.”

“A year?” I frowned.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “You should be happy. I’m enthused. We can finally date boys and not have him acting like he’s a part of the FBI and they’re criminals.”

“Yeah.” I gave her a weak smile.

I was hurt that Hudson hadn’t called me to tell me of his plans. But then after what had happened three years ago, nothing had been the same.

“We’re twenty-one, Riley. We’re ready for real relationships.” Eden sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m ready to lose my virginity.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, my face burning up at the huge secret I was keeping from her.

“I hope it’s romantic and sexy.” Her eyes glazed over as she daydreamed out loud. “I hope he has short, dark, silky tresses and sky blue eyes. I hope his lips are soft and sweet and taste like cotton candy. I hope my body trembles at his look and shivers at his touch.”

“Eden!” I burst out laughing. “You have been reading way too many Harlequin books. You really need to stop.”

“Shhh!” She grinned at me. “A girl can only hope right. Knowing my luck, it will be one, two, three, bam, and then he’ll fall asleep on me and I’ll be thinking, Is this it?”

“It won’t be that bad.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t.” I made a face and closed my eyes for a second, remembering my first time. It had been as gentle as it was rough, sweet, bitter, and sweaty, and I had still been able to taste myself on his lips as we’d kissed and climaxed together. It had been the best night of my life. And also the worst. The most wickedly devious night of my life, and I wanted to relive it again and again.

“Well, we both need to find out then.” Eden giggled. “And preferably soon.”

"Hi, I'm Riley." I smiled wide at the group of guys in front of me. "I'm from the school newspaper," I continued and then groaned inside. "Not high school, by the way. I'm in college. At State," I mumbled, seeing that I was losing their attention. "I'm going for my English degree. I know, I know. Should I be studying journalism or some sort of broadcasting?" I paused as I saw a few of the guys yawning. "Anyways, I don't mean to bore you." I smiled tentatively this time. "I just wanted to introduce myself so that you know who I am if I ask you any questions or if you see me in the changing rooms." I tried not to sigh as I saw all of the guys looking at their phones. I'd lost them. Eden was right—I had no business being here. I wasn't a journalist, and I knew nothing about fighting or fighters. "Does anyone have any questions?"