Page 9

Chapter Nine

THEODORE

M y feet are propped on Nathan’s desk. Occasionally, his eyes shoot me a look of complete annoyance, but he doesn’t open his mouth. His eyes flick away from me and go back to his computer, likely reading emails or planning to jerk off to the praise people shower him with online: Nathan’s such a good booker. Nathan’s been amazing at making sure stories have a payoff .

What-the-fuck ever. As if any of the good ideas belong to him. They all belong to us. Nathan just approves them and takes all the damn credit.

We’re in Burlington, Vermont this week. It’s Aurora’s first show. I’m surprised Nathan went ahead with it that quickly. I know she’s good, but I didn’t think she was ‘put on national television without a tryout’ kind of good. I also don’t really care too much because this works better for me in the end. My feet tap against the hardwood of the desk, my dress shoes shining under the fluorescent lighting.

Then a knock echoes through the small, make-shift office. Both Nathan and I perk up .

“Come in,” he calls.

The door swings open and Aurora walks in. She’s being a suck-up, wearing a GRW t-shirt that clings to her curves and a pair of leggings that do the same. She knows exactly what she’s doing.

I don’t pull my feet off of Nathan’s desk, but I let the shitty chair turn towards her so I can offer a little wave.

It throws her off. Those intense green eyes look briefly confused, but she tries to push past it. She focuses her gaze on Nathan instead of me.

“Hi, I’m Aurora.”

“She prefers ‘Rory,’ which just sounds very dumb, if you ask me,” I chime in.

Nobody asked me.

They both ignore me. Nathan takes her hand and smiles. “It’s nice to meet you, Aurora. Please, have a seat.”

She sits in the chair next to me and subtly tries to scoot it a few inches away from mine. How cute. She really doesn’t like me, does she? Considering things I’ve said to people before, what I said to her was tame. Maybe she’s a sensitive thing. She’s not going to make it far in the business if she is.

People are constantly torn down in this world. Nobody hates wrestling and wrestlers more than wrestling fans. Not even in the fun ‘oh, this person plays a bad guy, I’ll boo them’ way. They spend hours writing novels online about how untalented we are and why five other people deserve the spot we’re given. The female wrestlers are picked apart even worse. They aren’t allowed to make mistakes and they absolutely have to be fuckable.

At least Aurora doesn’t have to worry about the latter.

“I know how we’re doing things is rather unconventional,” Nathan starts, gesturing vaguely. Out of the corner of her eye, Aurora keeps looking at me, trying to figure out why I’m here. She’s going to love the reveal. Nathan continues. “Normally, you’d have a few try-out matches, work some dark matches, all of that. However, I saw you wrestle and felt like you had something special. What kind of promoter would I be if I didn’t capitalize on that?”

He’s stroking himself off again and taking credit for ideas that aren’t his. Shocking.

When neither of us adds to his ego, Nathan keeps speaking. “You play unhinged very well. I noticed that in some of your older matches. That could work to our advantage. I want to pair you with Theo. Over the next few weeks, we will introduce you to our audience: Bubbly, happy-to-be-here, white meat baby face, Aurora Dawn. People will love you.”

Her lips scrunch. As soon as Nathan mentions pairing her with me, Aurora’s body tenses up. She looks like she’s a second away from bolting, but she stays planted. “And…how does that pair me with Theodore? If I’m a face and Theodore is…” An asshole, the person she hates the most, the furthest thing from a baby face, “not,” she finishes.

“Through backstage segments and subtle interactions, we’re going to hint at a pull between you two. He’s magnetizing, enticing. He’s going to wrap you around his finger, and the audience is going to be screaming for you to run like this is a horror movie. At our next pay-per-view, you’re going to help Theo retain his belt, setting up your partnership going forward.”

My eyes are obviously glued to her face. I’m trying to read her expression and figure out what she’s thinking. I see the briefest flickers of disbelief and annoyance. I didn’t pull these strings to get her a job out of the goodness of my heart. A challenge was presented to me, and who would I be if I didn’t try to overcome that challenge? She pretends that she doesn’t want me. She doesn’t even like the fact that I exist.

In three weeks, she’ll be underneath me, begging for more as I slide between those luscious thighs. Mark my words .

Aurora steadies herself and nods. “...All right, yeah. Sounds…fun.” She says the word ‘fun’ like most people say the word ‘moist,’ with complete and utter disgust. My sweet little Roo; what a good actress she’s trying to be.

Nathan reaches across his desk and clasps Aurora’s hand again. They shake, sealing the deal.

“Theo, show Aurora to the locker room. Make some introductions for her. Help her get comfortable, understood?”

Nathan should know better. I’m not going to hold her hand like she’s the new girl at school. Aurora can make friends all by herself. I’m getting what I want out of this, nothing else matters.

Aurora stands and leaves Nathan’s office with me following after her. The door slams behind us, and we’re in an unusually quiet hallway. The tiles are white with blue speckles. It almost makes them look moldy. The walls are white with a freshly painted blue line running horizontally across them.

“I don’t like you,” she says, finally looking up at me. I wonder if that’s supposed to hurt my feelings.

“I know, but it’s going to be fun working with you.” I glance down, my eyes meeting hers.

She rolls her eyes. “Fun is not the word that I would use, Theo.”

I take her chin in my hand, keeping our eyes locked. “You hate me, Roo. That’s fine. By the end of this little storyline, you’re going to crave all of the terrible things that I can do to you. You’re going to soak through your panties just thinking of me.”

Her nose wrinkles and she fakes a gag, slapping my hand away from her. “You fucking wish.”

“I know.” God, she’s impossible. Acting like she doesn’t want me, doesn’t want this. When I know all she wants to do is drop to her knees and suck my cock like a good girl. I can see underneath the disgust. She’s lying to me, lying to herself. I don’t think she even realizes how badly she wants me yet. “Anyway, your first match is with Juliette. I’m sure you know her already. All you indie darlings like to flock together, right? Good luck finding her and talking that out. I have things to do.”

I don’t. I’m going to sit in my locker room until the show starts, but Aurora doesn’t need to know that. She’s a big girl. She’ll figure this all out by herself.