It was a pretty generic motel room off the Strip—although Zeph hadn’t stayed in Sin City for a couple of years, it was exactly as seedy as he remembered.

No way was he hanging around this dump when he could be at a gym.

Zeph cast his mind over his phone contacts. Who was likely to be in town and want to meet up? He considered a group text, but he didn’t want to be That Guy rolling into town, expecting the red carpet unrolled in front of him.

His gaze landed on one name: Rhino.

Yeah, Rhino was a good guy, and he trained here in one of the rural counties with legal brothels by the fake ranches for tourists. The two of them had fought a few times, and they’d trained together when Rhino visited Chicago.

More importantly, they could watch tonight’s fight together and get a sense for each other’s reactions, ahead of his fight with Rhino not even two months from now. Wouldn’t hurt to get on better terms and pick up a few hints while letting him see a few tricks, too.

Zeph typed a quick text.

You in Vegas? Here for a week.

The response was quick.

Hey! Yeah come watch fight night. 1385 W Chestnut.

Score. Zeph changed into his fighting trousers and a light t-shirt, casting a quick glance at the door.

Right. He was sharing. He’d have to get used to sharing space with someone. He didn’t even share a room with his trainer, Bo. They’d tried and nearly killed each other a few years back at 2am over B-list movies.

When Zeph stepped into the gym, a shiver ran down his spine. On instinct, he straightened up, walking like one of the pros, not the audience who shuffled in with their beer and popcorn, breaths bated, eyes fixed on the cage.

God, he loved the sport. Not just his own fights, but the atmosphere in here that was so thick you could taste it. The excitement. The respect between the guys who were getting ready to beat each other up in a hopefully fair, clean fight.

Sometimes it was neither, but there was no fake shit going on at their level. Audiences didn’t want that, fighters didn’t want that… nobody did.

Zeph’s mind was still half on River, who’d be waiting for him back at the motel by the time he got back. He’d said he wouldn’t have a late night, and the fight probably wouldn’t run that long either.

That thought didn’t dispel the excitement thrumming under his skin, like something of its own that sparked to life every time they touched.

There was Rhino, in the front seats, an arm stretched casually over an empty seat next to him, presumably keeping it for him. Zeph grinned and headed down to join him, walking quietly over the boards until he flung himself into the seat.

He made Rhino jump, then smack the back of his chair.

“Asshole,” Rhino greeted.

Zeph grinned at him and clapped his hand, pulling him in for a half-hug, half-back pat. “As always.”

“How you been, man? Been forever since I was up in Chi-town.”

“You won’t find me there no more,” Zeph countered. “I’m out in L.A. these days.”

“No shit! Living?”

“Trying,” Zeph laughed. SoCal cost of living was brutal. He couldn’t do it if it weren’t for the cheap apartment he’d found not far from his gym, in a pretty industrial part of town. Hell, if he lost the next couple fights, he wouldn’t be able to keep doing it.

But there, he had a better chance of getting spotted by a gym owner who needed the equivalent of mid-list talent, sort of like his friend Tris. Thinking about his career sucked, so he stopped.

“First one… who’s your money on?”

“Hayden. No doubt.” Hayden was from Rhino’s gym, so he’d expected the answer, but Rhino sounded like he meant it.

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. Man, you should see how hard he’s been training. BJJ every day, too. And he’s gone some kind of plant-powered raw vegan, eating pounds of bananas or something.”

Huh. Not to be underestimated, then. Zeph had learned that the hard way: the young ones might not have experience in the cage, but they sure as hell had the endurance to train 24/7, even when they weren’t getting ready for a fight. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was a good style for him, from what Zeph knew about him.

“Jesus. It’s all I can do not to inhale In’n’Out and a six-pack.”

The first fight was fast and clean. Like Rhino had predicted, Hayden won, and he did have some explosive moves Zeph hadn’t seen from him before. They were both new, essentially opening for the fight everyone was waiting for.

Tex and Danny were both big names—bigger than even Rhino and Zeph. By the time Zeph checked over his shoulder again, he found the seats filled.

“Jesus, they pulled a big crowd.”

“You ever seen them live?” Zeph shook his head, and Rhino raised his brows. “Really?”

“Just never made it to the right place at the right time. Why?”

“They both have that kind of…”

“Zing.” Zeph nodded. There was something electric about watching certain fighters live that TV could never capture.

The charge in the air, the taste of victory, the inevitable rebound from the underdog, the give-and-take until they both decided they were going for the win… but that was common to every fight.

Some guys had something more—the magnetism like glue, keeping the audience focused on them against all the odds. Rhino had it. He was smart, cagey, aggressive in the corner but playful in the middle of the ring. Zeph hoped he did, too.

Just as Rhino predicted, Zeph found himself sucked into the fight the moment it began. His eyes flickered between them both, trying to measure them up as they sized each other up.

Rhino leaned in and murmured, “You hear Midtown’s folding?”

“Isn’t that—”

“Where Danny trains.” Rhino nodded. “Uh huh.”

“Where’s he going?”

“Depends how he does today.”

Zeph winced. If he felt desperate, this could turn ugly fast. He kept his fingers crossed that Danny remembered how good he was—how easily he’d get sponsorship somewhere else. He racked his brain for their records lately. He’d missed Danny’s last fight, but Tex had to have won three, four in a row now?

“That’s new,” he murmured when Tex started with a few short, sharp jabs toward Danny’s solar plexus. Normally he went a little higher, trying to knock the opponent off-balance.

Danny easily avoided and countered with a leg sweep, but Tex side-stepped it as they circled.

The fighters were getting the crowd warmed up while testing each other. Both of them recognized it, and they swapped smiles as the two traded easy blows to dodge before closing in on each other.

“You hear Danny lost by TKO last fight?” Rhino murmured.

He winced. “No. Didn’t the fight before…?”

“Yeah, he’s had two in a row now. This could be the third. But last time was really a KO. Got listed as TKO.”

“Fuck.” A chill went down Zeph’s spine as he watched them trading real blows now, the thudding of gloves on bodies sending a bloodthirsty cheer through the crowd. “He looked conscious?”

“Yeah. He told me later it was worse than it looked.”

“He hasn’t gotten a medical suspension yet?”

“No, but if he—ouch,” Rhino hissed as Danny took a blow to the chin and stumbled to the mat. “If he gets KO’d today…”

He better get out while he still has a good head on his shoulders. Zeph winced, trying not to think about his own record this year. He was only in three fights this year, and he’d won two, but the third had nearly put him out of commission all summer.

Talking shop while sweat and blood tinged the air was nothing new to them, but it kept his mind off the upcoming fight they had together.

It was no surprise when the referee called it against Danny. The crowd went wild, but Rhino and Zeph stayed seated, applauding Tex’s win.

It had been clean, all things considered. Would have been cleaner if Danny hadn’t tried a desperate rush at the last minute, when he knew he was going to lose.

With the adrenaline still pumping, Zeph clapped Rhino’s shoulder and hugged him tightly goodbye before slipping out the gym door, hoping to beat the crowds through the parking lot. Last thing he wanted was to be recognized and stopped for autographs or something.

Zeph was more on edge on his way out than when he’d walked in. All the way back to the motel, he replayed the critical moments in his head, and Rhino’s hints.

BJJ… was Rhino taking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, too? Or was that a red herring? That would be a total departure from his usual training routine, but it was worth mentioning to Bo. See if Bo could dig up anything on Rhino’s routine leading up to their fight.

That was the problem with going to others’ fights—by the time Zeph left, he was aching to be in the cage himself.

He had a lot on his mind he needed to sweat out.