Windswept Read online

  Liar.

  We waited in line for a good twenty minutes before we reached the door and the bouncers just glanced at us as they let us in, one of them frowning at what I was wearing. The building was packed full of people, and the bass of the music vibrated through the floor. It was the loudest, most chaotic place I’d ever been to.

  Couples were grinding each other on the dance floor, moving with the beat and lights. Their limbs seemed to move separately from their bodies, and the only thing I could focus on were their shoes. A lot of high heels and boots mixed with expensive loafers cluttered the dance floor. It made me feel even more out of place with my worn Vans.

  The air itself smelled like alcohol and sweat mixed with a strong scent of cologne and perfume. I wrinkled my nose— another reason never to go to these places.

  “Sam!” Nella yelled into my ear, but I could barely hear her. “I’m going to go find Luke, okay?” I nodded. “I’ll text you when I find him.”

  I sighed as she walked away, leaving me to the elements. I could have gone with her, but it would have been harder trying to follow her through the crowd. I looked around and saw nothing I wanted to do. The bar was not an option, and I knew I would be repelled by everything over there, including the guys who scouted every girl that walked past them.

  I leaned against a pillar and simply watched the chaos. Out of a dozen people, one guy walked by wearing a pair of skater shoes. I gave him a mental smile. Another guy glanced at me as he walked by, and then he backed up with a hopeful smile on his face.

  “No.”

  His eyes flashed at my abruptness, but he continued walking. I hated being here, and every time someone looked at me, I thought of Reid. Of how nothing but butterflies attacked my stomach when he looked at me, and how differently I felt about him than anyone else. How could I miss someone I barely knew?

  The music stopped abruptly, and people made their way off the dance floor, forming a loose circle around the large area. I craned my head to see why, but I couldn’t get a glimpse. A few more lights turned on, making everything brighter, hinting at something about to happen.

  I pushed my way through the crowd to get a better view and finally made it toward the front. A girl stood in front of me, but I could see just over her shoulder. A man stood in the center of the former dance floor, listing rules into a mic. He wore a tight T-shirt that barely contained his biceps.

  This must have been the fight club Nella mentioned. Everyone seemed excited for it, while I was afraid the cops were going to burst through the doors at any moment and arrest everyone. Maybe I watched too many movies, but still, it seemed plausible enough for me to believe it could happen.

  The man stopped yelling, and an even bigger guy walked out onto the floor, taking off his shirt and shoes and throwing them aside. He wasn’t really huge, but he had a way about him that made me feel sorry for whoever was going to fight him. The man speaking into the mic looked into the crowd behind him for the other fighter. When he saw someone, he yelled at him to come up, only with harsher words than I would like to repeat.

  The crowd became impatient. I tried to spot Nella and couldn’t see her anywhere. Then a few of the people around me chuckled at something. I turned my attention back to the floor and everything just stopped—the noise, my breathing, maybe even my heart for a moment.

  The second fighter was Reid.

  SAM

  NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

  HE SLIPPED FROM THE CROWD LIKE A SHADOW, and I stared at him as if someone had slapped me. My heart was the only thing I could feel, because every other part of me seemed numb with shock. He pulled off his T-shirt, along with his Vans, leaving me looking at a boy with loose-hanging jeans around his hips and an expression that made my blood run fast.

  I finally blinked and took a deep breath. I thought I would never see him again anywhere, let alone here.

  People yelled, eager for the fight to start and to see some action. Girls eyed the two fighters while their dates busied themselves making bets, exchanging cash over people’s heads. While the referee spoke to the bigger man, a stranger walked up behind Reid and talked into his ear. He was probably a few years older, with a stylish man-bun and sporting a black leather jacket.

  Reid stared at the floor as his friend spoke, nodding at whatever he said. I found satisfaction in watching him— the way he spoke and nodded, interacting with his natural environment.

  I forced myself to look away—mostly to give my heart a break because it just wouldn’t stop pounding. People pressed in around me and it was almost claustrophobic, but my want for escape disappeared when I heard the sickening thud of a punch.

  Everyone yelled for more as I looked up to see the other man wearing an angry scowl, ignoring the cut along his jaw-line. Then everything happened quickly. Reid came at him again, fists held close to his head like he actually knew what he was doing—wearing an evil little smirk on his face. That’s when his opponent came at him like a storm. He wasn’t just big—he was fast.

  His first punch to Reid’s jaw made me cringe. The blow snapped his head back, almost knocking him off-balance. The fight didn’t seem to be in his favor. The man was all over him, hitting him over and over in the ribs and then again in the head. I hadn’t realized my own fists were balled until my palms started to hurt where my fingernails had dug in. I didn’t want to watch him lose, and I didn’t like seeing him get hurt.

  Reid took one more hit, then stepped back to wipe the blood off his mouth. Between his last hit and before the other man came forward, I thought I saw something. Reid glanced to his nameless friend behind him, lifting the corner of his mouth, which baffled me, because why would someone smile while losing a fight?

  The man came up behind him, and I worried Reid wouldn’t see him in time. But then he turned as the man’s fist drove toward his face. He moved so quickly that I didn’t even see it happen.

  It was like he was there, and then magically, he was just four inches to the left.

  I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but it seemed I was alone in my confusion. Maybe nothing had happened; maybe he was just that fast.

  The man tried to punch Reid again, almost immediately, probably thinking he had just missed, but the same thing happened. Reid evaded him like it was the simplest thing in the world, and my mind kept trying to catch his movements.

  If he was just fast, I should have still been able to see something, a shift of his feet, a tug at his shoulders, anything. But each time, like a blink, it was as though space and time simply adjusted him slightly out of the path of his opponents’ fists. Like a glitch in a video game.

  The fight shifted, and Reid took back control. Every time he swung, he was dead-on, making the other man stumble, and I wondered what had changed in Reid to make him suddenly so good. Everyone else noticed the change, too. They were surprised with the suddenness of it but welcomed it all the same. More entertainment. Everyone screamed for more. Reid stepped around the guy’s punches, hitting him every time in return, but his movements were too quick, so effortless. It was almost unnatural.

  My eyes trailed away from the fight, and I found his friend on the other side of the circle. For some reason, he didn’t look happy about the direction of the fight, which puzzled me. His arms were crossed over his chest, watching the fight like he wanted Reid to lose. He turned his head, looking up toward the balcony, and I followed his gaze.

  Three men looked down on the fight, and just from one glance, I knew they were trouble. They looked angry, and not angry like my parents were when Levi pooped in the house as a puppy—these guys looked murderous. They were the type of people, if I ever saw them walking toward me, I’d cross the street to get away from. The cheering suddenly became louder, and my attention was dragged back to the fight. Reid was the only one left standing. The other man lay unconscious on the floor.

  He had won.

  Reid finally smiled and turned back to his friend, who didn’t return the gesture. People still yelled and
screamed; a few even passed money to each other, paying out their bets. I couldn’t help but smile, too; he’d been more than amazing.

  Reid, somehow, eventually caught sight of me in the crowd and he froze. His wide grin slowly turned downward, like he couldn’t believe what he saw. I wanted to somehow cross the room full of people to get to him, but my feet stayed planted where they were. Reid gave me a quick, secret smile before finally breaking eye contact.

  It wasn’t enough.

  He pulled on his shoes and T-shirt while people patted his back. The next fight was about to start. Everyone was ready for more, but I couldn’t watch another fight knowing he was here. I wanted to go to him and talk and maybe apologize. I wanted to start over, to go back to the ease of what we’d shared on the train. He disappeared through the crowd, and I started to push my way toward him as people gave me dirty looks.

  “Sam!” I turned to see Nella coming toward me with Luke right behind her. I tried to smile, to hide my disappointment—I wanted to find Reid—but Nella’s joyful face made me ashamed that I would put my best friend on the back burner for a guy. All she wanted to do was have me meet Luke officially. I could do that . . . and then I would find Reid.

  “Sam, this is Luke, but I think you already know each other.” Nella barely glanced at me—the boy beside her had her undivided attention.

  Luke nodded at me. “We have English together, right?”

  “Yeah.” I tried to smile, but I couldn’t stand there a moment longer being a third wheel. “Actually, Nell, I think I saw someone I know. I’ll catch up with you later, all right?”

  She looked at me, unsure of my words because we both knew that I didn’t know very many people. But she let it go, because the boy who clung to her arm was too irresistible to give up. “Okay, I’ll text you when we’re ready to go.” They walked away before I could even nod.

  I took off in a fast walk, heading toward the opposite wall. I was too nervous to breathe properly, and I had to remind myself how to keep my legs moving. What if he still didn’t want to see me? We had parted on such bad terms that I wished we could start over. But the smile he’d given me moments before made me think maybe there was hope.

  Maybe I still had another chance.

  The new fight must have been at a high point, because everyone started yelling louder. People pushed past me to get to the crowd from the bar, and it got easier to move when I was closer to the outer wall where fewer people stood. I started glancing around for him, knowing he should be there somewhere. What would I say when I saw him?

  I didn’t have any time to think of an answer before I found him. He fit in here, with his black T-shirt and hair that would make any girl blush. People talked to him like he’d just won the lottery, and a few girls hung around him, trying to gain his attention.

  The group of people finally left him alone, but after summoning up enough courage to start walking again, I stopped short. Three men approached Reid, and the smile was wiped from his face. They were the same men who’d been watching the fight from the balcony. One of them grasped Reid’s shoulder a little too hard and whispered into his ear. Before Reid could respond, they turned and walked toward the side exit, Reid between them looking all too small.

  My stomach churned as they disappeared through the door. Nobody else seemed to notice them leave. Nobody but me. I glanced around, thinking if I could find Reid’s friend he could help, but there were so many people, and I had a bad feeling in my gut that everyone second I wasted was one second too many.

  I moved without thinking about what I was going to do, took a deep breath, and opened the door where Reid and the men had disappeared. The shouting from inside the club disrupted the quiet night, and I quickly shut the door, hoping the noise wasn’t loud enough to carry too far. A dim light shone above the door, making me feel exposed, so I quickly stepped into the shadows in case anyone was looking.

  Voices drifted from my right and I tentatively walked forward. It wasn’t long before I saw them under another floodlight. I couldn’t move another step or they would be sure to spot me. What was I doing?

  Their voices drifted to me again, but the man’s voice was too low and hushed. I shouldn’t be here. I took a step back, and my shoe knocked a rock aside, just loud enough for someone to hear.

  “Hey!” A voice rang through the night, and I did nothing but freeze in response. A man I hadn’t seen before—way too close for comfort—came toward me, and all the others, including Reid, turned to look in my direction. I caught Reid’s eyes and saw something in them that confirmed I shouldn’t be there. I took another step back, ready to make a dash for the door.

  The guy stood about twenty feet away, just enough distance between us so I could get to the door, but the moment I turned, a large hand grabbed the back of my jacket. It tightened and spun me around, his other hand wrapping around my arm so I couldn’t move.

  “Well, look what I found,” he said into my ear. “Lost?”

  “Bring her over here, Wallace,” the other man called, a little older than everyone else, maybe somewhere in his thirties.

  Wallace shoved me into a walk, so I had no choice but to comply. He stopped me in front of the man. I stared at his jacket and tried to keep my breathing normal.

  “Who are you?”

  I hesitantly opened my mouth, but the man, Wallace, shook me hard from behind, obviously impatient. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come out here. The club was just too hot and I was trying to find Reid.”

  “She’s nobody, Buck,” Reid’s voice echoed from where he stood. I quickly glanced at him. His body was stiff beside the other man, and after my eyes trailed down, I saw why. There was a knife pressing against his ribcage.

  I had to force myself to breathe. Don’t freak out, don’t freak out.

  What was Reid doing with these people? Was he in a gang? I shouldn’t have followed him outside. I should have called for help or told Nella where I was going or taken the time to find Reid’s friend.

  “Do you know her?” Buck asked, glancing at Reid.

  “I just met her inside. We barely know each other.” After a moment of silence, he added, more hushed, “She doesn’t know anything.”

  Buck turned his attention to me again, and I could smell the cigarette smoke on his clothes. I didn’t know what Reid was talking about, but whatever he said was true. I didn’t know what was going on, and clearly, I knew even less about him than I thought I did.

  When the man spoke, he wasn’t talking to me, which was a relief because my mouth was too dry to form any sort of response.

  “Reid, if you’re lying to me, and she’s one of you, things could get very ugly.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  Soft footsteps came from behind us, and Buck shifted his eyes to the newcomer. Wallace didn’t move, so I couldn’t see who it was, but I hoped it was the police, even though something told me I wasn’t so lucky.

  “Causing more trouble, Buck?” The voice had a thick Australian accent and its words didn’t even hold a hint of fear.

  “I wondered when you would show. Reid has trouble staying in line, and if you didn’t have horrible timing, I would have shown him a thing or two.”

  The Aussie appeared in my peripheral vision. I recognized him as Reid’s friend who had talked to him before the fight. He kept his distance, and Reid stared at his feet, like he was ashamed that his friend had to come pull him out of trouble. I wasn’t going to complain though; relief flooded through me at the sight of him. Maybe things were going to be okay.

  “Trust me, Reid’s telling the truth. She’s nobody. Just bad timing, yeah? I don’t think there’s a drifter in this entire city that you don’t know about, isn’t that right?”

  “You talk too much, Jake. This isn’t your problem.”

  “But it becomes my problem if you’re going to hurt my friend.”

  Buck smiled over at Reid. “He deserves what he gets.”

  Jake was suddenly serious, his mouth formed into
a hard line instead of an easygoing smirk. “Just let the girl go back inside. She’s not part of this.”

  Buck nodded to Wallace, who shoved me in the direction of the door and then pointed over my shoulder with a knife I hadn’t even seen until then. I shuddered, glancing at Reid again. He wasn’t looking at me.

  “Get walking, girl. Be more careful where you wander next time . . . and maybe pick your guys better.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. My legs were shaking as I left. I hated leaving Reid, but my fear of staying was stronger, and at least he wasn’t alone anymore. His friend seemed to know how to get him out of trouble.

  But as I left, I still stupidly couldn’t help but wonder:

  Would I see him again?

  REID

  NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

  AS I WATCHED SAM WALK AWAY, I KNEW THE SEC-ond chance I’d almost gotten with her had been blown. There was no way she would want to see me again, not after what she’d just seen. Besides, what girl would want to date a guy who rode the subway for fun, took part in illegal fight clubs, and ended the day with a knife held to his ribs?

  No wonder she didn’t look back.

  Dempsey roughly smacked the back of my head, bringing my attention back to Buck. I got the feeling he’d been staring for more than a moment.

  “Now, where were we?” Buck gave me a wicked smile. I knew exactly where we were before Sam had come along—they were about to show me a good time. Dempsey put more pressure on his knife and it broke skin, making me flinch. Buck seemed to enjoy it, as always.

  “In my defense, you never told me that I couldn’t come here,” I said hurriedly. “I didn’t know it was yours.” The first part was true at least. I was just hoping they wouldn’t be here tonight. I risked it because I needed the money.

  “You should know that we own every fight club from here to Chicago. What do I have to do to get that into your brain? Must I drill a hole and shove a note inside?”

  Somehow, I hid any reaction. “I hate to correct you, but you said to stay out of Chicago, not New York. And I haven’t seen you guys since then, so I figured it was fair game here.” True, true, and false. I really should have stopped lying before I got myself into even more trouble.