Page 39 of No Holds Barred

Hope’s lips pulled upward in a small smile. “Do you want to quit?”

Before she knew what she was doing, Angelica was shaking her head. “No. No, I don’t.”

“Then what do you want to do next?”

“I don’t know.” Angelica shuddered. She flipped her hand and grabbed onto Hope’s, tightening her grip. “I don’t know what I want.”

Hope sighed. “Is this about what you said before the car accident?”

“No.” But it was. It was about that and so much more. “No, yes. It is. In part.” Angelica licked her lips, trying to steady herself and figure out what she wanted to say and what she didn’t. “Sometimes, it feels like the whole world is against me.”

“And today is one of those days?” Hope asked.

“Yeah, it is.”

“But I’m here,” Hope whispered. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, Ange. I promise you. I know we didn’t end well, that we haven’t talked about any of that, but I’m here.”

Angelica nodded, her lips pulling tight. She finally raised her gaze from their joined hands to meet Hope’s gaze again.

“If you want to quit now, I’m not going to try and stop you. I think that’s only fair, to let you go like you wanted to let me go. That’s your decision to make.” Hope lifted Angelica’s hand to her lips, pressing a sweet kiss to her knuckles. “But if you want to stay and fight, know that I’ll be standing right next to you the entire time. I won’t let Josef bully you any longer.”

Oh how Angelica wanted to believe that.

She’d fought so long to make space for herself here on the set, and she’d never managed to do it. Every step of the way, she’d had to fight, even with Hope. And this time, she wasn’t sure if she could believe Hope, if she could trust Hope’s commitment.

“Trust me, Ange. Let me make this right with you.”

Hope’s words wrapped around her, pulling her deeply in. Angelica shook her head, those same tears filling her eyes. “I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m scared of what it’ll mean.” Angelica bit her lip. “For us.”

“It doesn’t have to mean anything for us. We work together, and if we don’t have each other’s backs, then we know what’ll happen. We saw that in season one, remember?”

Angelica nodded.

“Then, for the rest of this season, and any other season we get renewed for, we have each other’s backs. It’s us against them. Got it?” Hope squeezed Angelica’s hand tightly.

“Okay.” Angelica nodded, calm settling into her chest and her heart. “Okay. So tomorrow, I go down, and I film.”

“I…” Hope’s lips parted. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“How else do you expect me to fight? From this bed?”

“No, I just meant… are you feeling up to it?”

“It doesn’t matter if I do or don’t.” Angelica breathed in relief. The feelings she’d had before were too convoluted. It was much easier to think now, to plan. She had a show to fight forand take back. At least for this season, but she wanted it. She wouldn’t let Leanne take one more thing from her. “I need to be ready to film tomorrow.”

“All right.” Hope grinned at her, her cheeks tightening. “What can I do to help?”

“I, uh…” Angelica fell back into the pillow, cold rushing through her. “I can’t believe I’m going to ask this.” Angelica’s cheeks burned, and she couldn’t bring herself to look into Hope’s eyes. “But I can’t ask anyone else.”

“Anything, Ange…” Hope touched her leg again and brushed her fingers on the inside of Angelica’s thigh. “Name it.”

“I need help brushing my hair. The cut and the bruise on my arm are bad, and I can’t keep my arms above my head long enough to get the tangles out. I’m afraid if I show up looking like this for Ansel, he’ll boot me right out.”

“Yeah.” Hope laughed a little. “How do you want to sit that’s most comfortable for you?”