Everlasting Sin

"What are you doing tonight?" one of the guys shouted out, and the other guys laughed. He gave me a boyish smile, and I smiled at him without reservation.

"Hopefully talking to you," I shot back at him, and he raised his eyebrows at me. "What's your name?"

"Cha

"You wish." The guy to his right punched him in the shoulder. "You’re as much Cha

"What's your name?" I smiled at the handsome black guy, who looked much hotter than I considered Denzel Washington to be.

"Justin." He smiled boyishly at me. I laughed to myself at my thoughts. None of these guys were boys. Their bodies were fit and muscular, and while they were all still rather young, they were all definitely men.

"Nice to meet you, Justin." I found myself blushing as I felt him looking me over in a very inappropriate way.

"You too, Riley. I'd be happy to give you a private interview any day of the week—or should I say night."

"So who's the best fighter here?" I changed the subject, not wanting to give anyone the wrong impression. I knew how easy it would be to make one or some of the guys get the wrong impression of me, and I didn't want that to happen.

"Batman." Justin smiled wryly.

I looked around the group of six guys. "Who's Batman?"

"He's not here right now," Cha

"Don't mind Cha

"Jealous of what?" Cha

"You're jealous ‘cause he's the new guy and he's already a better fighter than you."

"He's not a better fighter."

"He's in it to win it."

"We're all in it to win it." An extremely handsome boy spoke up. "Isn't that why we're all here?"

"Why are you all here?" I interjected eagerly. What made all of these guys want to enter the underground fighting match of the year?

"A million dollars." Justin flashed his perfect white teeth at me. His light brown eyes looked at me with a clear, honest expression. "We all want a chance to win a million dollars."

"But only one of you can enter the contest to represent this club, right?" I thought back to what I already knew about this underground world.

There were only a few private gyms that had access to the underground fighting championships, with Nick's being the only gym in the state. There was an a

"Yeah, the best member at each club gets to take part." Justin smiled at me again, his dark mocha skin seeming to glow in the bright lights. "And this year it's looking like that will be Batman."

"That's his name? Batman?"

"That's how we know him." Justin shrugged. "You'll meet him soon enough. He never misses a fight."

"A fight?"

"We have fights every week. The one who wins the most fights will represent Nick's and fight against the best nine fighters in the country."

“Nine?”

“Yeah. There are ten fighters who get to participate.” Justin held up both of his hands. “So you have a one-in-ten chance of wi

Cha

“So Batman is the best fighter here?”

“No.” Cha

“He’s not talking about you.” Justin laughed, but I could tell he looked anxious. “Batman’s only been coming to the gym for two weeks. We were all pretty sure Cha

“It’s not fair.” Cha

“He’s a new fighter?” I asked curiously. “How did he get a spot with you guys?”

“Nick’s cousin is his best friend.” Justin answered me.

“I’ll punch Luke’s fucking face in as well.” Cha

I stopped breathing for a second. “Luke?”

He couldn’t be talking about the same Luke I was thinking of. He just couldn’t be. Because that would mean that Batman was Hudson. And I didn’t know if I could stand to be around Hudson now. Not after everything that had happened.

“Let’s not talk about him.” Justin jumped up. “What else do you want to know?”

“I guess for now I’ll just watch you train, if that’s okay?” I closed my notepad and put it into my bag. “I just want to observe.”

“Sure, whatever.” Justin nodded, and the other guys stood up, walking away from me. They all went in different directions, and I wasn’t sure which one I should follow.

I stood there for a few moments when I noticed that Cha

“Hey, everything okay?” I asked him softly, hoping he was not still angry.

He looked up and nodded. “I’m fine.” His blue eyes looked sad, and I felt sorry for him even though I didn’t know why.

“You may still get the opportunity, right?” I tried to be encouraging. “Maybe this Batman guy will mess up? I mean, who calls themselves Batman?”

“A douche, that’s who.” He gave me a small smile. “Thanks for your kind words. I guess it’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

“Exactly.” I smiled wide. “You look like you’re pretty strong to me.”

“I’m strong, but the championships are about more than strength. They’re also about being smart.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Oh?”

“You thought it was just about the fighting, didn’t you?” He laughed and shook his head.

“I did.” I looked at the ground, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Hey, you wouldn’t know.” He touched my shoulder, and I looked up at him. His expression had changed, and there was a look of curious wonder and interest in his eyes. “Do you know anything about fighting?”

“I know a bit about boxing and MMA.”

“This isn’t MMA.”

“Oh. I thought it was similar?”

“Mixed martial arts is still pretty controlled. Underground fighting is dirty. It’s physical and psychological. You have to be aware of everything. The most important part is your mind. Not your muscles.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Maybe I can take you out to di

“Yeah, that would be cool.” I nodded and looked around the room. I saw Justin motioning for me to come join him and I nearly cried out in happiness that he was saving me. “But let’s talk later, yeah? I think Justin wants to talk to me.”

“Okay.” Cha

“Hey, how can I help you, Justin?” I almost ran up to him, and he laughed.

“You’re fu

“Thanks. Is he always this intense?” I paused and blushed. “I hope you don’t think I’m offending him.”

“I’m not concerned if you offend him or not.” He laughed again. “Cha