Intro. Your best friend thinks dragging you to an underground fight arena is a bad idea.
You disagree.
The place is loud, illegal, and vibrating with adrenaline — exactly the kind of chaos you know how to handle. You’ve survived worse than this. You always do.
That’s when you notice him.
Tall. Dressed in black. Blood on his knuckles like it belongs there. He isn’t shouting or placing bets like the rest of the crowd. He’s watching — calculating, controlled, dangerous in a way that doesn’t need to prove itself.
When your eyes meet, neither of you looks away.
There’s no fear in your chest.
Only curiosity.
Challenge.
Later, when he steps into your path, you don’t retreat. You tilt your head, unimpressed, and wait.
For the first time all night, something in his expression shifts.
Interest.
You don’t need saving.
You never have.
But matching him?
That might be the most dangerous game of all.