Trinity reaches up and tickles her fingers over Hope’s ribs, making her laugh, and roll off her and onto the mat.

“See?” Trinity jumps up and holds out her hand to help Hope off the floor. “Doesn’t that feel better than if I just let you win?”

“Shut up,” Hope mutters. “Dammit, you’re strong.” She hugs Trinity once she’s standing and Trinity says something against her ear that makes Hope laugh.

The realization that I’m a little envious of how close they are slaps me in the face.

Heidi and Charlotte come down together on the weekends, so they’re pretty tight. I don’t get to spend a lot of time with them. Serena hasn’t returned to the clubhouse since the incident with Shadow. I haven’t managed to befriend any of the old ladies at the downstate club yet.

“Who’s next?” Jake asks.

Without thinking about it, I take a step back. No way am I letting anyone, even my friends, pin me down like that.

“We’ll go.” Heidi grabs Charlotte’s hand and tugs her up front.

“Wait, what?” Charlotte says.

Jake squats down next to them. “Heidi knows how to get out of this one—”

“Naturally.” Charlotte rolls her eyes. “So, I get to have my ass kicked by my boyfriend’s little sister. Fabulous.”

“It’s not a competition, ladies.”

It takes Charlotte a few tries, but she manages to flip Heidi over.

“Who’s left?” Jake eyes Mara and me.

I shake my head and back away slightly. Much to my embarrassment, Jake seems to recognize my reluctance and smoothly pairs Heidi and Mara together instead.

There’s a light brush against my arm. “You okay, Lilly?” Trinity asks softly.

“It’s a lot to take in. A different…mindset than how I grew up, I guess.”

She stares at me for a minute like she wants to choose her words carefully. “There was a time in my life where it seemed smarter to be passive so I wouldn’t get hurt even more than…” She sighs. “You can convince yourself of all sorts of lies when your options are limited. ”

I swallow hard and tears prick my eyes. I’m painfully familiar with those emotions.

Her expression hardens. “Now, I’d rather die fighting.”

I blink and stare.

“I think we’ll call it good, ladies,” Jake says. “We’re running over our time.”

Hope wanders over and curls her arm around my shoulders. “Have fun?”

“Sort of.”

A sweet baby’s screams pierce the air. “Oh no. That’s mine.” Hope’s easy, breezy attitude switches off and she runs out of the room.

“She lasted a whole hour,” Heidi says. “Not bad.”