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Chapter Twenty-Five

AURORA

“ I can’t tell if he was an overstepping asshole or really sweet,” Jules says as she jams her fork into her hashbrowns, bringing them up to her lips and taking a bite.

It’s a little past one in the morning. Today is a show day, but I haven’t been able to sleep. Knowing that I have to see Theo later today makes me nervous. Unsure. I don’t want to cause a scene and fight with him backstage.

So when Jules shot me a text and asked if I wanted to grab breakfast in the middle of the night, I jumped on it immediately. It’s a welcome distraction.

Except I didn’t realize that Hext was going to be here too. My interactions with him have been slim, so basically the chair spot and after. He’s intimidating. There’s something about his face that just…scares me. Not in a mean way. He’s an incredibly handsome man. He also looks like if you say the wrong thing, he’ll rip you limb from limb.

He crunches a piece of bacon before shrugging. “It’s Theo. Probably went for overstepping asshole and stumbled into sweet. The fact that you even think he could be sweet worries me, Goblin. ”

I haven’t asked about their relationship or even thought too much into it since Jules told me it wasn’t like it seemed. It just wasn’t my business; plus, I have my own shit to worry about. But sitting with them right now? It feels like there’s so much more there, despite the wedding band on his hand.

The nickname just adds to that theory.

Jules snorts. “I grew up with Theo. I—”

I cut her off. “Wait. You grew up with Theo?”

“More like…adjacent to Theo. His dad was always sniffing around mine, trying to get on his good side. I saw the Abrams like twice a year.”

There’s a quick debate on whether or not I should push for more information about Theo’s childhood. As much as I want to scream to the heavens that I don’t care…I do. I care a lot more than I want to admit. “What was…what was he like?”

“He definitely wasn’t a sweet kid,” Jules snorts. “Like his personality didn’t change as he grew up or anything. He’s always been a bit of a dick. But his whole family is that way. His parents are very Hamptons trips and stock market conversations. His sisters are bitches. They once spent an entire dinner giggling because my dress was ‘last season.’”

“His whole family sounds like a nightmare,” Hext chimes in.

“For sure. And they were always the toughest on Theo because he’s the only boy.”

“He was going to be a veterinarian before he got into wrestling,” I say, taking a sip from my orange juice. “He told me he did a few years in college for that before he decided to wrestle.”

Jules snorts. “Being a vet definitely wouldn’t have been good enough for Theo’s parents.”

I’m officially at the crossroads of whether or not I should press for more. I could easily leave it like it is, just take what Jules has told me already. But I’m curious, and I know that Theo won’t answer my questions—if we ever talk to each other again after our fight in the parking garage.

“What about Veronica?” I ask. My curiosity had been piqued by the idea of his former fiancée since the moment Theo entered my life. Jules has painted it out like there was more to meet the eye since the beginning. Theo makes it seem like he’s the huge fuck up. There’s a truth lying between those two options, and I want to find it.

As soon as I mention Veronica, Hext groans. His blue eyes look over at Jules before they settle back on me. “Please don’t get her started on Veronica.”

She gives his bicep a little shove. “I’m not going to ‘get started.’” She uses air quotes. “Veronica’s a bitch. We had a huge fight backstage a few months ago. The dirt sheets sorta picked up on it but it got glossed over when Theo had his whole argument with a kid at a convention or whatever.”

If I said I didn’t check the dirt sheets, I’d be lying. Before I got signed, they were the closest I could get to having insider information about the big leagues. Newsletters and websites were ‘journalists’ report on wrestling rumors, from who’s getting signed or fired, to who’s planned to win the title next. Half the shit is made up for clicks or overexaggerated, but I don’t remember reading anything about Jules getting in fight with Veronica.

“I had to pick her ass up and carry her away before she got fired,” grumbles Hext.

Jules seems to ignore him as she settles back in the booth, pushing her plate away from her so she can really dive into the gossip. “So, we were in Vegas a few months ago. Theo came up with the idea of having Vegas showgirls escort him out for his entrance, and Nathan thought it was pretty damn genius. Anyway, long story short, they did it. It looked great. Really fit him.

“On the same day, Veronica was backstage with him because she’d wanted to come to Vegas. She threw a whole ass fit when he came back from his promo. Like demeaning him, screaming at him. He’d touched one of the showgirls on the hip, which seems pretty fucking tame for Theo, right?

“I’m not under some belief the guy is a saint, but you don’t need to bring your shit to work. She doesn’t need to tell him what a piece of shit he is, what a shitty lay he is, etcetera, just because of something he did for work . And you know, not in front of his co-workers either. Theo actually apologized to her and gave her his card to go shopping. Although that was after I told her what a bitch she was being.”

Sawing off a piece of my syrup-covered waffle, I chew on that as I let what she said soak in. Does anything Veronica did justify cheating? No. No one deserves to be betrayed. That’s what the moral side of me says. But if I was in the same position as Theo, feeling stuck and demeaned, would I still be so morally high? I don’t know. It’s a slippery slope.

“He gave me his card to go shopping.” I slowly set my cup down as the realization dawns on me. “When we went shopping in Savannah on Theo’s dime.”

“That was probably Theo trying to win you over, make him like you more. Money rules everything in his eyes.”

I groan. This man is so goddamn complicated. He’s a dickbag, but he’s trying. He keeps trying, and I keep giving him nothing. I don’t owe Theo a damn thing, but…maybe he deserves for me to meet him halfway. Maybe I need to try more.

“I don’t like him being layered. He’s convinced he’s just an asshole.”

“Both can be true,” Hext adds. “He’s definitely an asshole, but maybe that’s not all he is. There’s more to him than his assholery. I guess. Jules is convinced of it. Personally? Undecided.”

“Have you talked to him since you blew up on him?” Jules asks.

“Nope,” I say, popping the ‘p’. “He hasn’t tried to talk to me either. ”

“Well, tomorrow’s his birthday. So…maybe try to talk to him at work tomorrow?”

I planned on giving him the silent treatment unless we were in front of a camera, but now I feel like a dick if I do that. It’s his birthday. Well, shit. “I don’t wanna talk to him,” I mumble. Thinking back to the conversation that we had the night of the thunderstorm, I get an idea. “Do either of you have a kitchenette in your hotel room?”

“Hex does,” Jules volunteers. I don’t push to ask how or why she knows that. One thing at a time. Deciphering what relationship my work bestie has with her older, married mentor is not at the top of my to do list right now. It feels a lot like the less I know about it, the better.

“Can I come to your room tomorrow morning?” I ask.

Hext shrugs. “Don’t care.”

This plan is either a great idea, or it’s going to come back to bite me in the ass. So far, I’m not convinced it won’t be the latter.