Sucker Punch

Noah

As hard as Noah tried to push away the anxiety about tonight, he couldn't help but tense up the moment he saw Roni walk into the front room. Seeing her had nearly sucked the air out of him.

Her makeup was a little heavier than the norm, her curls seemed even curlier, and what she wore was enough to have every guy there staring at her now, threat or no threat. Noah glanced at Hector who was the most blatant and nudged him. "Take this outside," Noah said roughly and shoved the two six-packs of beer he'd been holding at him.

Gio and Abel were more discreet, but Noah hadn't missed the way they took Roni in from top to bottom. Noah stifled a growl.

"Is anyone else here yet?" Roni asked, stretching her neck out to look through the kitchen window as she passed by Noah, shocking his senses. Unbelievably, she smelled better than she looked. It was completely intoxicating, and Noah had to close his eyes for a moment in reaction.

"The sound guy and his crew are here," Abel said, "and I saw a few cars drive slowly past. I think they were looking for parking."

Gio suddenly smiled and opened the back door. "Girls are here." He stepped out before Noah or Abel could even respond to that. Abel went after him and walked out, leaving Noah alone with Roni.

He was done holding in his feelings for her. She turned to him and he smiled. "You look amazing."

She smiled, lifting her delectably exposed shoulder. "Thanks to you, I was able to go shopping."

He took a few steps toward her, inhaling the smell of her citrusy perfume with a touch of her fruity breath—watermelon maybe? "It's not just the clothes, Roni. It's you. You're beautiful."

She stared at him for a moment as the smile she worn just a second earlier withered down to a somewhat staggered expression. Then her eyes were on his lips. "Thank you, Noah. You look good too."

Even though the smile was gone, Noah noticed her breathing picked up a notch. She wanted his lips on her as much as he wanted hers on him. He leaned into her, and she didn't move. Instead, she stared at him. Her eyes spoke a thousand words. He wasn't alone in this struggle. She was struggling just as much as he was to hold back.

The kitchen door swung open, and Hector walked in with a guy Noah didn't recognize. Holding in the primal growl that nearly escaped him this time, Noah turned and glared at them. Just then, Abel walked in behind them. "Hector, who the fuck are all these people coming in? Didn't I tell you not to say anything about this at your school?"

"High school kids?" Roni asked.

Knowing what she was probably thinking, that this was turning out to be a backyard party full of kids, Noah hated to but walked away from Roni and toward the kitchen window. The backyard was half-full but filling up fast.

"They're not from my school. Someone at the gym heard about the party, and since you and Noah are going to be fighting in the coming weeks, there's a dance crew that was hoping maybe they can get some time in the ring to show off their moves before or even after the fights. So, they decided to come here tonight, sort of audition for you guys. I guess they spread the word, but I didn't say shit." He tapped the guy next to him. "This is Little Robo. His older brother is head of the dance crew. He wanted to come in here and ask for permission to do a three-minute show a little later."

Noah turned back to look at the guy in all black except for his red beanie and matching shoes. "Little Robo?"

The guy's arms fell flat against his side then came up slowly and stopped sharply as his entire body went into a robotic motion, and then he froze pointing at Noah. "My brother is Robo." His hand snaked back toward him again in a vibrating motion. "He taught me everything I know."

Before Noah could respond, Roni's voice practically chirped. "That is so cool. And you guys are gonna do a show here tonight?"

The guy smiled big and satisfied. "Yeah, if that's okay with you. Are you Roni?"

"Who wants to know?" Noah barked.

The guy looked at Hector then back at Noah cautiously. "Well, he said the owner of the house was Roni and we'd have to double check with her."

"Yeah, I'm fine with it." Her eyes met Noah's. "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Noah frowned and exchanged glances with Abel. "How many people are out there?"

"A lot," was Abel's only response, but he seemed as unsure about this as Noah did.

"I don't want things getting out of hand." Noah walked to the back door and opened it. "A crowd this big can get rowdy, Roni."

"We've danced for bigger crowds, and we've never had issues," Little Robo said. "And once we're done, we have a couple other places to dance at, so anyone that came with us will leave with us."

"What about the guys that look like thugs?" Abel asked. "With the bandanas and shit?"

Little Robo shook his head, lifting his hands in front of him. "I don't know about them. They're not part of our crew."

"What guys?" Noah began to ask then stopped. "Never mind I see them." He counted quickly—five. He turned back to Hector. "You know them?"

"I've seen one of them around school, but I think the rest are older."

"They can stay for the show, but once it's over, they better leave, or they'll be asked to leave."

"Sounds good to me," Abel said, walking past Noah and out the door.

Noah told the dancer to get his crew together and get the performance going as soon as he could. They all walked out, and, as expected, Roni turned heads immediately. Noah slipped his hand in hers as they walked by the five thugs. She glanced at him but didn't protest or pull her hand away.

Noah had seen the likes of these types of guys many times. They thought nothing of crashing parties where they knew no one and drinking up whatever free booze they could get their hands on. He made a point to stare them down, one by one, calling them out if they dared. But as expected, just like the cowards most of these thugs usually turned out to be, none of them took the bait.

The dance crew took forever to get their shit together, but when they finally did and put on their show, Noah had to admit they were badass. The crowd went wild. Even Roni cheered loudly. They even did a short encore dance for the chanting crowd. The entertainment added a cool element to the party, but Noah was still relieved when he saw the crowd begin to thin out as the dance crew made their exit.

As fun as that had been, Noah had been to too many backyard parties in East LA to know that all it took was one dumb drunk for things to go sour real fast. The fewer number of strangers at this party, the better. This wasn't what he'd had in mind when he decided to ask Roni about having a New Year's party here.

Abel, who stood at the driveway looking a little concerned, motioned for Noah to come over. Gio was already with him. Noah hesitated for just a second then turned to Roni. "I'll be back." He glanced at Gio's sisters and their friends. "Just stick with them until we can get everyone we don't know out of here, okay?"

He hurried toward Abel, but not before glancing back at the thugs who still stood in the same corner they'd been standing the whole night. The biggest guy was about Noah's size and he smirked. Noah was certain the liquor was making him brave now, because earlier when Noah had stared him down, he'd looked away. This time not only did he smirk but he very obviously turned to look at Roni and said something to the guy next to him who laughed. Noah stopped in his tracks, his insides lighting up immediately.

"Noah!"

Still busy glaring at the idiot who was laughing obnoxiously now, Noah ignored Abel.

"C'mon dude," Gio tugged at his arm. "Those fuckers are next. But we gotta clear out the front before someone calls the cops." Noah forced himself to stop looking at the guy whose face he'd soon be in. "These kids are stopping in all your neighbor's yards just hanging out. We gotta make them leave unless we want our party shut down early."

Noah started down the driveway with Gio and Abel at either side. Hector caught up to them and offered to help. They made their way around the neighboring houses, telling all the small groups of partygoers they had to leave. When they finally cleared it up, they walked back up the driveway toward the backyard again.

The group of thugs was still there minus the asshole who'd been ogling Roni. Roni wasn't with Gio's sisters either. Noah scanned the backyard quickly and stopped cold when he saw Roni by the back door. The asshole thug was there with his hand on the door. Roni's defensive stance made Noah nearly jump as he rushed toward them.

"So what am I supposed to do, piss in your bushes?" The guy said to Roni with a stupid laugh. "Come on, sweetheart. I'll just be in and out, unless you'd like me to hang around in there with you."

Roni's eyes met Noah's. His hands were already fisted and ready to beat the shit out of the guy when Roni's eyes opened wide, and she began to yell something. Something hit him on the side of the face with so much force that before he even had a chance to lift his arm in defense, everything went black.