Xavier Cold (Hard Knocks #2)(46)

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 *s 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!”