Chapter 5 #3
My shoulders lift gently, hands tightening a little around the strap of my bag.
“Not exactly. My brothers made a bet that I wouldn’t try out when one of them saw the posting.
” I laugh, realizing how stupid the whole thing sounded.
“It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but the second I stepped in that ring…
I don’t know, it just felt right.” The words draw a genuine smile to his face, and I notice he takes a step closer, hands still restrained inside his pockets. “But these damn promos are killing me.”
“I’ve heard.”
“What do you mean, ‘you’ve heard?’”
“We all talk.” John shrugs, finally peeling his hands from his sides, folding his arms over his chest. “I was asking how the new people were looking, and Fata mentioned that you needed some help.”
“I think we all do, that’s why we’re here today.”
“Funny, so am I.”
The moment John and I walk into the training center together, I can see Raelynn and Bennett immediately enter a frenzy from their place on the apron on the other side of the room. Eyes bug out of their sockets before they start giggling like schoolgirls.
“Brooks!” Fata’s voice booms, and he slaps a hand on his back. “Glad you could make it. Am I interrupting something?” The legend looks between us, and I realize we’re standing closer than two people who aren’t supposed to know each other should be.
John clears his throat, but doesn’t move away. “No, I just happened to run into Savannah in the parking lot.”
Fata’s brow cocks, along with his mouth. He nods slowly before his tongue pokes out to wet his lips. “Well, I hate to interrupt, but I’d like to discuss the game plan for today. Do you mind if I steal him, Barbie?”
I force my mouth into a smile and shake my head. John offers me a small smile and a subtle wink before he follows the legend back into the lobby. When they’re gone, I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding before heading for the locker room with Raelynn hot on my heels.
“Did you guys…you know?” Her brows wiggle when we get inside.
“No, Rae. We did not ‘you know.’” I roll my eyes, tossing my duffel into the locker.
Barely six inches sit between us when I turn around.
“Ever heard of personal space?” I sigh when she doesn’t budge.
“Nothing is going on. We just happened to walk in at the same time. It’s not that deep.
Now come on,” I say, urging her back a few steps.
Her eyes narrow, as if she can tell a truth from a lie just by looking at me.
“C’mon, before we’re late. I don’t feel like going first.”
When Juliet initially told me the trainers were planning a full day of promo work, she said they were bringing in Luna Haze to help Sheldon coach us, but Fata had other plans.
The moment he saw John yesterday, he invited him to help the rookies with their delivery, and all the trainers agreed that if he was going to interrupt practice, they should put him to work.
In all my research last night, it became obvious that Brooks Taylor had a knack for solid promos and eleven-out-of-ten character development.
While he may not be the best wrestler on the roster, there’s a reason he’s at the top, and he can hold his own in the ring even with the best technical boys out there.
And that’s how we end up here.
The rookies surround the ring, watching and waiting for their turn to climb in and deliver a thirty-second promo in front of everyone.
John and Sheldon work with each person, taking time to go through where they went wrong and what they did well, sometimes making them start over until the veterans are satisfied.
When my name is called, I dig my nails into the palms of my hands and remind myself it’s only thirty seconds. I can do this.
And those thirty seconds feel like thirty hours, much longer than any other time I’ve delivered a practice promo.
My words are awkward and stilted, and the whole thing reeks of nerves.
I can only think of one reason why, and it’s sitting in the corner.
In the end, it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great.
At least Sheldon didn’t tell me to start from the top halfway through.
“That was better, Savannah! Much better. I can tell you’ve been working on it,” Sheldon says, his hands coming together in loud claps. His words of praise make a small swell of pride rise in me because he’s been working with me the most on promos. “But—”
“Do you want to know what your problem is?” John asks from the corner of the ring.
Elbows resting on the top of the ropes, he’s made himself comfortable, leaning back into the turnbuckles.
His hand scratches the small amount of stubble on his jaw as he stares straight at me.
He pushes off the ropes, taking one slow step at a time like a predator stalking its prey until he stands in front of me.
“You don’t believe it. You don’t believe what you’re saying. You don’t believe in yourself.”
“I believe in myself.” I cross my arms, but I know he doesn’t believe me any more than I believe myself.
“Maybe in a physical aspect, but not like this.”
“Because she thinks she’s better than all of us,” Harper says under her breath, and her eyes roll so hard they almost end up on the floor.
“Shut up, Harper!” Raelynn hisses across the ring.
“Tell me I’m wrong, Rae.” Harper doesn’t wait for a response, her glare turning back on me.
“Am I wrong, Savannah? You think you’re better than the rest of us because of where you come from.
But the reality is you got handed this opportunity because you have big tits and a nice ass, while the rest of us had to work twice as hard to get here. ”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Sheldon says before I can respond.
“Go on, Sav. You’re done for the day.” He shoos me out of the ring, but not before I catch John’s eye and his small headshake, retreating to his corner.
Climbing out of the ring, I take my place between Rae and Bennett as Colin Montgomery is called in for his turn.
John’s presence has made everyone act...
differently today. Okay, I take it back.
His presence has only made the other girls act differently today.
Every time I catch one of them gawking at him, drool pooling in the corner of their mouth, I remind myself no one can know how it affects me.
It wouldn’t take a genius to see the look in their eyes and know exactly what they’re thinking.
Instead, I dig my nails into my palms and force my attention on Colin, who delivers a heel turn promo in the center of the ring.
I hate that it makes me jealous. Who am I to be jealous, anyway? What he and I shared was a one-time thing. It wasn’t supposed to leave the walls of The Resort. Besides, let’s be real, he has probably slept with plenty of other women since then.
The mere thought of him in bed with another woman makes my skin crawl and sends a shudder down my spine.
A movement from the corner draws my attention away from the ring, and I find myself lost in a sea of blue. John smiles when I meet his gaze, and I only briefly return it before his attention turns back to the task at hand.
Fucked. I’m so fucked. How am I supposed to concentrate and work if he looks at me like that?
“Don’t look now, but someone is staring again,” Raelynn whispers, and the words earn a snicker from the man standing on my other side. Her hand reaches behind my back to slap Bennett on the arm, glaring at him for possibly drawing attention our way.
“You two seem to be having a good time over there.”
Shit. I roll my eyes, ready to take two steps away from them, because I am not about to get roped into this. I already endured my thirty seconds of hell; I’m not looking to go through it again.
Lifting my gaze from the mat, I expect to find Sheldon’s heated gaze on the three of us, but instead, he’s staring down at Harper and her crony, Ava, on the other side of the ring.
“Since you’re feeling chatty today, Miss Valentine, why don’t you get in here and show us how it’s done?
” Sheldon’s suggestion makes Rae snicker.
The way she always does when Harper gets called out.
It happens more often than not because she can never seem to keep her mouth shut, especially when it comes to me.
She hates me, and she’s never had an issue letting everyone know it.
Harper mumbles to herself the whole way up the stairs, stepping through the ropes Sheldon holds open for her.
“Okay, Harper. Let’s pretend it’s the Monday Night Rage right after Wrestlefest. You just won the championship the night before from our current champ, Ivy Jade. Now you have to go out in front of a pissed off crowd because their golden girl lost the title to you.”
“You could have at least given me something hard,” Harper says.
Sheldon takes a deep breath and shares a tight smile with John over his shoulder. John rolls his eyes, settling back a little further into his corner, waiting for the show to begin.
Harper takes a breath before she breathes out a soft chuckle.
“I feel like I’ve said it so many times, but I’m going to say it again.
I was right.” She smirks. “I was right, and you were wrong! I said I was going to walk out of Wrestlefest with this title, and I did.” Sheldon and John offer soft boos, playing the part of the audience.
Bennett, Raelynn, and a few of the others join them.
“You people are what’s wrong with this company!
No, I take that back. You don’t know any better.
You go along with whatever this company shoves down your throat.
Whatever they tell you to like because as long as she has boobs and an ass, you don’t care! ”
Another chorus of boos.