Xavier Cold (Hard Knocks #2)

by Michelle A. Valentine

  This amuses him. He leans in toward me and whispers, “Come on, Anna. You need to get used to me touching you because I’ll be doing it a lot on camera.”

  I want to argue with him and tell him that there’s no way that’s going to happen, but Mr. Silverman has already made it perfectly clear that a romance with Rex on camera is in the cards for me.

  I twist my head away from Rex, and he chuckles darkly as he settles back into his seat.

  “Okay, Anna,” Vicky says as she swivels her chair to face me. “I’m sure you know why you’re here, so let’s get right down to the storyline, shall we?”

  “Okay.” I fold my arms across my chest, knowing full well that I’ll absolutely hate whatever comes out of her mouth.

  “Tonight, we’re going to send you out with Rex and another lady we’ve brought on as an employee. Rex informs me you’ve already met Deena.”

  Great.

  When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Deena gets thrown into the mix.

  Vicky awaits a response from me, but when she sees that she won’t be getting one, she adjusts her black-rimmed glasses and continues, “The two of you ladies will accompany Rex out to the ring, and you both will be a part of the Fire Phenomenal X support group, being sympathetic to Rex. The three of you will be leading a fictional protest to get Phenomenal X out of Tension for good.”

  My mouth falls open. “That’s the most absurd idea I’ve ever heard. The fans will hate that, and I will not—”

  “Need I remind you, Ms. Cortez, that you are under contract? You must follow the script we provide, or we will have cause to remove you from the company.”

  Her threat is clear. I need to go along with this or get fired. And if I’m fired, Mr. Silverman will not allow me back into the building when Xavier’s suspension is lifted.

  I take a deep breath. Being a part of a group in this scenario is better than being in a fake relationship with Rex.

  I clear my throat. “So, I just walk into the ring with Rex and Deena and stand there? Is that all I do?”

  “For now,” Vicky replies coolly. “Feel free to improvise if you think something will strengthen the plotline for the rivalry between X and Rex. We need to get the fans excited about an epic showdown between the two.”

  “Got it,” I answer solemnly. “Anything else?”

  She eyes me over the top of her glasses for a moment and then shakes her head. “That’s it. You may go.”

  Without another word, I hop up from the chair and race through the door, relieved a little that I won’t be kissing Rex tonight like he threatened, but I still have this looming feeling that I’ve only temporarily escaped it.

  Chapter 20

  Anna

  My cell vibrates, alerting me to a new text, so I quickly check the message folder.

  Pearl: Your costume is ready. Come see me to get fitted.

  My heart sinks when it doesn’t end up being Xavier responding to my earlier attempts of reaching him. I know we’ve been bickering a little, but he’s never gone this long without contacting me. The last time I heard from him was last night when he responded with the message that he was going to bed.

  I fully expect him to call me before I go out solo on my first show, but so far, he hasn’t, so I decide to try him again one more time.

  Anna: Checking in. Hope you’re all right. Super nervous about the show tonight. Would love to hear your voice before I go out there.

  I stuff the phone into my back pocket as I head down the long hallway in an attempt to find where Pearl is set up backstage.

  “You lost, Anna?” Brian’s voice cuts through my thoughts as I pass by him, half-dazed.

  I grimace. “Wardrobe?”

  “Come on.” Brian motions with his hand. “Pearl’s set up right down the hall.” He casually tosses the championship belt over his shoulder as he walks with me. “How are you holding up without X being around? Anyone giving you any problems?”

  Rex’s and Deena’s faces both immediately come to mind, but I decide to keep my run-ins with them to myself. “It’s been tough without Xavier, but everything has been fine. I’ve had no issues.”

  “That’s good.” Brian raises his eyebrows.

  I can tell he doesn’t exactly believe me, but with me giving him nothing else to go on, he has no choice but to roll with what I’ve told him.

  As long as I remain strong, Rex’s and Deena’s words are only words, and they can only do damage to me if I allow them to. If I let Brian in on them harassing me, he’ll report it to Xavier and get him all riled up, causing him to do God knows what when I can control the situation by remaining levelheaded. If Xavier gets involved, knowing his temper, all hell will break loose, and I can’t allow that to happen since he’s already on thin ice when it comes to his job at Tension. Mr. Silverman doesn’t seem like a man who gives many third chances.

  As soon as Brian and I round the corner in the hallway, Pearl comes into view. She doesn’t get an office to set up, like most of the other behind-the-scenes people do. Instead, she simply has her sewing machine propped up on a folding table with a couple of suitcases of fabric next to her.

  “I’ll leave you to it. Good luck out there tonight, Anna. Try not to stress too much. Filming Tension on the weekends is never televised, so they’ll save all the crazy stunts until Tuesday when the show is live to the world,” Brian informs me.

  That’s why I don’t have to kiss Rex tonight. Vicky and Rex are saving that for when it’ll be on live TV, and X will be sure to see it along with the rest of the world.

  Brian notices the expression on my face, which I’m sure is a look of horror, and then he pats my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Don’t panic.”

  I take a deep breath, resolved to keep my anxiety to myself the best I can. “Thanks, Brian. I appreciate the words of encouragement.”

  “Anytime.” He starts to turn away but holds in his tracks. “Liv wanted me to invite you to dinner at the house Monday since it’s our day off. She’s making meatloaf.”

  I smile. “Sounds great. Thank you for the offer, but I actually have plans. I’m from Portland, and I’m meeting a friend from home that night.”

  He nods. “No worries. I’ll let her know. She didn’t want you spending the day alone, so she’ll be happy to hear that you’ve got family close.” He takes a step back. “Catch you later, Anna. Break a leg tonight.”

  “Thanks,” I call down the hall after him. Then, I step up beside Pearl. “You wanted to see me?”

  After a few adjustments, the outfit Pearl designed on her sketchpad in the hotel room is the exact outfit that’s on my body right now. It really does fit my personality, and it’s not too far of a stretch from what I would actually wear—jeans and a T-shirt—except this outfit is skintight and made of some sort of spandex material.

  “Looks good,” Pearl says while appraising her work. “We’re all finished. Let me know if you have any problems with the outfit tonight, and I’ll make changes if needed.”

  “All right. Thanks, Pearl.”

  Unsure of what to do with myself now, I weave my way around the hallways again and find the catering room. The same women are still sitting there, only Deena is now mixed up with them. I’m not in the mood to deal with her right now, so I lean against the wall in the hall and check my phone again.

  There’s still no message from Xavier. Why is he avoiding me? Was our fight that bad that he’s resolved to give up on our relationship?

  The last thought hurts, and a weight settles over my heart while I entertain the possibility that we might not be together anymore. When I threatened he would lose me if he didn’t change, I didn’t think he would opt to be done with me instead of controlling his temper.

  You don’t so easily dismiss someone you love, do you?

  I glance up from my phone, and my eyes land on Al, the stagehand, as he marches toward me at a brisk pace.

  “Anna, you’re up next.” He pokes his head inside the catering room. “Deena, you�
��re up.”

  The sound of her chair scraping against the tile floor echoes into the hallway. “Excuse me, ladies. A star is about to be born.”

  Hearing Deena make a smug statement causes me to roll my eyes hard. You’ve got to be kidding me.

  Deena struts out of the room in one of her typical too tight body-hugging dresses and smirks when she spots me. Her eyebrow lifts as she takes in my outfit. “You look like a toddler.”

  I glance down at my sparkly shirt and shrug. “At least I don’t look like an uptight bitch.” The words leave my mouth before I realize I’ve said them out loud. Normally, I would never speak up like this, but being around Quinn, who constantly pushes me to stand up for myself, coupled with how Deena gets on my last damn nerve have caused me to deviate from my overly sweet good-girl personality.

  Deena’s eyes widen, but I don’t give her time to say anything in response.

  Trying to find the quickest way out of the situation, I immediately turn to Al. “Lead the way.”

  When Al takes us to the black entrance curtain, I spot Rex. He’s not wearing his typical wrestling getup tonight. This time, he’s dressed in a suit with a white dress shirt that’s unbuttoned halfway down, so his chest is exposed.

  The only things that ruin the somewhat sophisticated look are the still yellow marks under his eyes from where his nose was broken.

  Deena immediately cozies up against his side and then kisses his cheek. I, on the other hand, stand back and fold my arms.

  Rex chuckles. “Well, at least one of you has your part down pat. Anna, if you want to make it in Tension, you’d do well to take some notes from Deena. She understands how the game is played.”

  “No, thanks. Being trampy isn’t my thing.”

  Deena narrows her eyes at me. “I’m sick and tired of your shit, Anna. Call me a slut one more time—”

  I resist the urge to do as she asks, but Rex interjects.

  “Ladies, ladies, save it for the ring. The tension between the two of you will make an entertaining show, so don’t unleash it on each other until we get out there, and make sure the fans perceive it as the two of you fighting over me.”

  “That’s never going to happen,” I snap.

  Rex levels his stare on me. “It has to. It’s scripted. We are all actors, remember? You’d better follow the script if you don’t want your pretty little ass canned.”

  His words bring forward a bit of a reality check for me.

  He’s right. Damn it, I hate that he’s right.

  I have to figure out a way to stand my ground yet coexist with these two assholes if I want to be with Xavier when he goes back on the road—that is, if he still wants me around.

  It’s hard to know what’s going on between Xavier and I, seeing as how he has yet to respond to any of my attempts to contact him. If he doesn’t answer me by the time I’m finished with my portion of the show, I’m going to be pissed.

  Rex’s entrance music blasts through the arena, and he extends his elbow to me. “Shall we?”

  I lift my chin and then hook my arm through his. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Rex leads Deena and I through the black curtain and out onto the steel grating stage. When we’re facing the audience, the crowd ignites in a roar of applause and cheers.

  Rex’s expression is smug as he walks us down the ramp and then up the steps leading into the ring. He sits on the ropes, holding them open for me and Deena to squeeze through.

  Stepping into the square ring without Xavier is a surreal experience. I don’t want to be the center of attention. It was much better when I was out here with Xavier because all eyes were on him.

  A stagehand runs up to the ring, hands Rex a microphone, and then dashes out of sight.

  Rex takes a moment to stare out at the crowd while Deena struts around the ring, showing off her legs, eliciting catcalls from some of the men in the crowd. I do my best to be invisible.

  “Well, well, well. I bet you all didn’t expect me to be back so soon. Thought Phenomenal X messed me up real good, didn’t you? Well, as you can see, I’m doing quite well.” Rex waves his hand up and down in front of himself, as if to say, Check out my body. “In fact, I’m doing so well that I’ll be back in the ring when we film Tension live on Tuesday night.”

  This statement causes the crowd to go nuts.

  “So, this Tuesday, live, right here on Tension, you all will get the pleasure of watching me go one-on-one with Brian ‘Razor’ Rollins with the championship on the line!”

  The decibels shoot up tenfold at this announcement.

  My eyes widen. I didn’t expect for him to say that at all, considering I was told he had some broken ribs.

  Rex smiles as he gives the crowd a few seconds to calm down, but instead, they all begin chanting the word, “Tonight,” over and over again.

  He brings the mic back up to his lips. “I would love nothing more than to take on Razor tonight, but where’s the fun in that? I want Phenomenal X to witness me taking something that he wants so much. Speaking of...” His voice trails off just before he reaches over and hooks his arm around my waist, drawing me to his side. “You all remember Phenomenal X’s lady, Anna Sweets, don’t you?”

  Whistles erupt around the crowd—approving the way I look, I suppose. Never have I felt so much like a piece of meat on display.

  “Mark your calendars, people. You won’t want to miss the fireworks that are coming because I’m about to crush Phenomenal X’s dreams live, right before your very eyes, by taking everything in this world that’s important to him.” Rex laughs darkly into the mic before dropping it on the blue mat.

  “Come on, ladies.” He extends one elbow to Deena and the other to me. He escorts us out of the ring and to the backstage area, much in the same manner as when we came in.

  The moment we’re away from the eyes of the crowd, I jerk my hand away from Rex, causing Deena to snap her head in my direction.

  She narrows her eyes at me. “You’d better learn how to be a team player. You did absolutely nothing out there to sell the idea that you are Team Rex now.”

  “That’s because I’m not on it. I’ll walk out there with him because I have to in order to keep this job. Doesn’t mean I’ll be lovey-dovey with him—pretend or not.”

  I turn to walk away, but the second I pivot, something catches my feet, sending me flying forward. Pain shoots through my hand as I land awkwardly on my left side.

  I glance up, only to see an evil snarl showing up on Deena’s face, and it’s clear that she caused me to fall.

  What is it with all these bitches tripping me?

  “Anna?” Brian bends down next to me. “You all right?”

  I stare at the pinkie finger on my left hand, and it’s beginning to bruise already.

  Brian grimaces. “Let’s get you to a trainer. Someone needs to take a look at that.” He helps me to my feet. “I’ll show you where it is. I’ve got a little time until my main event.”

  “Don’t worry,” Rex chimes in. “You won’t be the main attraction for much longer. Come Tuesday, I’ll be taking that belt.”

  Brian’s lip curls back, and it’s easy to tell that he’d like to rip into Rex.

  But Brian exhibits perfect self-control and simply says, “The only reason you’ll be getting it is because I’ll be giving it to you willingly. If this were a real fight, you and I both know you wouldn’t have a shot in hell against me.”

  Rex’s nostrils flare, but he doesn’t argue with Brian.

  “Come on, Anna. Let’s get you looked at.”

  Brian’s quiet as he walks me to the trainer, and as soon as we get there, he alerts the doctor to our presence. “Looks like a busted little finger, Doc.”

  The tall redheaded doctor stands up and walks over to me before gingerly inspecting my hand. “How the hell did this happen?”

  “I fell backstage,” I answer, leaving out the details about Deena tripping me.

  Doc sighs. “All right. Let me get you so
me paperwork to fill out. We’ll need to take a urine sample to test for drugs and pregnancy—you know, the standard workplace accident protocol—and then we’ll get you X-rayed.”

  “Good luck,” Brian says before he ducks out of the room.

  After I complete all the paperwork and pee in a cup, Doc checks out my hand. “Well, you want the good news or the bad news first?”

  “Bad news,” I answer firmly, wanting to get the worst part of whatever he’s going to tell me out of the way.

  He sighs. “Your little finger is sprained.” He opens a kit and lays out a few supplies. “We’ll need to splint your finger, so you won’t be able to wrestle for a couple of weeks.”

  I laugh. “I highly doubt Tension ever planned on me doing that, considering I’ve never been trained.”

  “Okay then, I guess that news wasn’t too horrible for you.”

  “Nope,” I tell him. “So, what’s the good news?”

  Doc gets busy wrapping my finger in some gauze. “You’re pregnant.”

  My eyes grow wide, and I slightly shake my head. “Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly. Pregnant?”

  He nods as he keeps working. “I’m not an OB/GYN, but that’s what the test says. I highly recommend you make an appointment to confirm it.”

  My mouth falls open, and all I can think of is telling Xavier.

  How is he going to react?

  One thing’s for sure, this isn’t the kind of thing you leave a message about. Suddenly, I’m anxious to call him because I need help digesting the information myself.

  Doc secures the gauze tape around my finger. “Okay, that should do it. Ice on for fifteen minutes and then off for swelling. Take some Tylenol for pain and swelling, and you should feel better in the next few days.”

  “Thank you,” is all I can manage to get out because I’m still reeling from the shock of the news of being pregnant.

  I walk out of the training room, and the world around me floats by in a fog as I make my way through the maze of hallways to find the women’s locker room. I quickly change into my street clothes and carry my ring outfit outside with me.