"Where are we?" Isobel asked, looking up at the warehouse Tanya had taken her to. It looked less like a bar or a club and more like a place where clandestine drug deals would happen. Actually, come to think of it, it probably was where that kind of stuff happened.

"Work."

"Wait, what?" she asked, as Tanya climbed out of her green SUV. "Your work? Evan's work? Oh my God, this is where Evan works, isn't it? You double-crossing whore!"

"Trust me, I'm doing you a favor. Evan is going to be in a fight tonight and that means several things. One, that there are going to be tons of rich guys in there who will buy you drinks and say nice things to you. Two, that Evan is going to be pumped up on testosterone and overconfidence, and that is the most aesthetically pleasing version of him. Trust me, I got this."

"But I don't want men to buy me drinks. I would rather not drink. What if they spike my drink?"

"Then KC will break their spines. Also I will watch out for you."

Isobel got out of the car. She was wearing her own black boots, but a stretchy, skin-tight dress of Tanya's that revealed a lot more of her than most people normally got to see. Isobel's hair was down. She felt, for all practical purposes, naked. She also felt, for all practical purposes, powerful.

There was a bright red light outside of the door. This was the back door that Tanya had told her not very many people used. Normally, there was a bouncer here.

Inside, the place smelled of cheap cologne and alcohol. Loud music blasted and people were drunkenly swaying to it.

Down in the middle of the dance floor, which was slightly lower than the bar, Isobel saw Evan fighting.

It was like a dance, in a way. His fists were up to defend his face. The other guy wasn't quite so smart, so when Evan's fist flew, quick as a blink, his nose was a victim. It broke with a faint, sickening thwack!

All around them, the crowd was thrilled. Evan was starting to get back into a rhythm as the other guy, who was significantly larger and way meaner-looking, was recovering from his broken nose. Evan let himself get knocked to the ground, and Isobel gasped, but Tanya snorted.

"Relax, kid. He knows what he's doing."

There was a struggle, but Evan wriggled his way out of it, only to literally kick the other guy in the butt. The crowd laughed and jeered, and Isobel relaxed a bit. She looked at Tanya, who was grinning.

"Is this why you brought me here? To watch him fight?"

"Well, no, it's mostly because the alcohol is cheaper. But hey, you'd be safe blaming me if you decide to watch. What do you like? I'll bring you a drink. We can pretend to be lesbians."

"I like that plan. I want the fruitiest, least masculine drink."

Tanya laughed. "Got it. You want something pink."

While Tanya went to go fetch the pink drink, Isobel watched Evan fight. It was violent, and it hurt to watch, but Isobel gritted her teeth and watched anyway. The other guy was twice Evan's width—possibly more—and a head taller. But he was also big and slow, and kind of stupid. When he went in for a punch, Evan was already moving out of the way and getting a few hits in himself. The crowd loved it. Isobel saw actual paper money flying out of people's hands and into the pockets of a large bald man. Tanya reappeared with the drinks, and saw Isobel watching.

"That's KC. He does all the boss's accounting."

"Accounting?"

"That’s what he calls it. As a joke. Don't rub him the wrong way."

"I wasn't planning on rubbing any men in here."

Tanya grinned, then said, "You know what I mean."

Isobel took her pink drink. It tasted pink, like grapefruit. The flavor of the vodka was gone, being nothing more than a sharp smell and a boozy aftertaste. Isobel looked at Tanya. "How much vodka is in this?"

"More than you think. Drink slow."

Isobel had already drank half the drink, but she did as Tanya advised, and slowed down. Someone shouted, "Quit swinging at the boy and just beat him down already!"

She looked down into the ring, and saw Evan looking up at her. She blushed, and hid her face in her glass. She took a little sip. Evan grinned, and turned his attention back to his opponent.

The big guy rushed at Evan. Evan slid out of the way, but the other guy was already too invested in his charge and tripped when he tried to stop himself from hitting the crowd. He hit the ground with a loud slam, and Evan laughed. "Come on, man! You can do better than that."

Tanya sighed. "Showoff," she muttered.

The big guy got up and turned around, and went for Evan again. This time, Evan was ready. When the big guy came at him, Evan braced for his punch, then slipped out of the way, grabbed the other guy's arm, and twisted so that Evan could leverage the guy's own weight against him. He flipped the guy over his back, and he hit the ground with a single hard, heavy thud.

Isobel's hand went up against her mouth. She watched other guy lay there and groan for a minute, before rolling off of his back and onto his side.

"Tap out?" asked Evan, grinning.

The other guy looked up at him, and nodded.

The crowd went up in a roar. Evan looked up at Isobel and grinned even wider than he had before. He took a water bottle from KC and left the ring, walking up the steps and up to Isobel and Tanya. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

He was breathing heavily, and covered in sweat.

"Isobel wanted to party."

Evan looked at Tanya with a wary expression. "So you brought her here?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Cheap drinks."

Evan was clearly suspicious of Tanya's motives, but so was Isobel. Tanya smiled and said, "Okay guys, have fun," and turned to walk away.

"Hey, wait—dammit, Tanya," Evan sighed, and he touched Isobel's arm, saying, "Hang on, I'll see if she'll take you somewhere else."

Isobel watched him walk away, and sighed. She felt like a child, and like tonight had been a mistake.

* * *

Evan couldn't believe it when he had looked up to see Isobel there, in his club, watching him fight. He was sure she hated him for it, but there she was, watching. Once the fight was over, he felt that perhaps she was being kind of a hypocrite. And then he saw Tanya, and started to wonder just what the hell was going on.

Of course, he kind of had a sneaking suspicion of what the hell was going on.

When he caught up to Tanya, he grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Getting her off her high horse."

"What? Tanya, Isobel doesn't like that I fight."

"And how much longer will you be fighting?"

"What? Tanya, dammit," he sighed, and he let go of her arm. "I am not having this discussion with you."

"Fine. Don't."

Tanya was looking past him at Isobel. "Um, Ev."

"What?"

He turned too, to see Rodney walking up to Isobel. She set down her drink as he was greeting her, and Isobel was obviously less than impressed.

Evan kind of felt like he was going to rip Rodney's arm off. Tanya watched quietly, and said, "Dude, he doesn't stand a chance."

"No, he doesn't."

Evan walked back over, to hear Isobel say, "Actually, I have a boyfriend. But thanks anyway."

When she heard him walking towards her, she turned and said, "Oh, there you are, honey," in a tone that he somehow managed to recognize as alarm. He winked at her, and said, "Hey sugar. Oh, Hi, Czerny. I see that you've met Isobel."

Isobel backed into Evan's side, and let him kiss her on the forehead.

Rodney grinned. "Yeah, I have. She's a cutie. Where'd you find this one, a kindergarten?"

Isobel was suddenly indignant, but he could really only tell because her spine went hard as a stick and her cheeks went furious red. "I'm a grad student."

"Oh, sorry, my bad," said Rodney, with a layer of sarcasm laid on his words so thick Evan was sure it could be eaten with a spoon.

Rodney wouldn't hold still. He was always either tapping his foot, or dancing around, or rubbing his ear. It was obvious that he was tweaking pretty hard. He smelled like he'd bathed in tequila and bad cologne. Granted, Evan didn't smell much better.

"So, Lockwood, when are we gonna throw down again? I miss it. I really want to break that fancy nose of yours."

"Oh, sorry, I can't, man. I'm too busy being better than you."

"Ooh, that smarts."

Rodney took a minute to chug half his beer. Evan was nudging Isobel to turn and leave, and she was about to turn, when Rodney opened his mouth again. Because Isobel was a good girl, she paused to hear what he had to say, but Evan wished she'd just left.

"Heard someone broke into your house, Lockwood. Heard they trashed the place. Heard your little attack bitch here almost shot one of them. Shame."

Evan had to grab Isobel before she walked up and smacked Rodney, even though it was hard for him to resist the urge to kill him first. Rodney leaned a little closer to Isobel, and said, "Here's a tip. Next time, don't miss, Lil’ Miss."

Isobel's leg shot up and hit Rodney right in the knee. She was aiming for the crotch, and would have hit it too, if Rodney hadn't been just as fast as Evan. Rodney hissed, and Evan turned and pushed Isobel away. Tanya was nowhere to be seen, and so Evan had to drag Isobel away by himself. She was bright red with anger, and Evan was sure she would kill someone if she locked eyes with them.

He ended up just picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, and carrying her out. Once they were outside, he set her down. Steam rolled off of his bare chest, and Isobel's breath was a fog.

"GOD! What a prick!" she shouted.

"Yeah. He's one of those little douche bags that thinks he's God's gift to the rest of us. You alright? He didn't say anything actually gross to you, did he?"

"No. He didn't. Before you got there, all he asked was what my name was."

"Wow, that's downright charming for Rodney. I don't think he even knows that all girls have names," he joked, even as his own fists shook. He was cold and angry, and both were putting a knot in his gut that was hard as a rock.

"He was so high I'm amazed he even recognized his own name."

"He only recognizes anything directly pertinent to himself."

Isobel snorted, chuckling with her arms crossed. Evan's own anger mellowed when she did. Seeing her smile made it a little better. But then he was serious again. "Isobel, what are you doing here?"

Isobel sighed, and leaned against a concrete pole. "I don't know. I kind of wanted to just . . . Get drunk. You know. Party. Maybe run into another guy with no attachments. Y'know."

"Forget me."

It hurt. It hurt badly. He was so useless.

"Forget that we slept together. I don't want to forget you, I just want things to stop being awkward."

Evan walked up to her and tucked her loose hair behind her ear. He was very careful to be gentle. "I don't want to forget."

She looked up at him. Her big eyes were sad, but she was trying not to look it. "You don't?"

"No. I don't. And I don't want it to stop. I don't want to stop sleeping with you."

Isobel looked startled.

Evan bit on his bottom lip to stop himself from smiling. "Was it that bad?"

"No, it was great. That's not why I want to forget. I just . . . You're only the second person I've ever had sex with. And I just wanted to . . . I thought maybe if the list got longer, it wouldn't be such a big deal. I just don't want it to be a big deal anymore. I think that's the worst part. I caught some feelings."

Evan smiled. "Why is it a big deal? Because it was just the one time?"

"I don't know. It's not like I have a lot of experience with this shit."

"Well," he said, moving in slowly. He tucked her hair behind her other ear, and plucked a bit of stray glitter off her dress. He put his hand on her chin, lifted her face toward him. He was already starting to get hard. "If things are already awkward, maybe just one more time wouldn't hurt?"

Isobel eyebrow quirked up. She tried to fight a smile.

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"I don't know if it's not a good idea."

He leaned in and kissed the edge of her jaw. "I think it's a pretty good idea. I usually get what I want around here, and what I want right now is to get you out of that dress."