Xavier Cold (Hard Knocks #2) (17 page)

I wonder where he could be?

When the tone sounds, I leave a quick message. “Hey, it’s me. I’m at the show and really missing you. I’ll try to call you again later. Love you.”

My heart sinks a little. It would have been nice to hear his voice and find a little encouragement or last-minute pointers from a guy who’s been through this hundreds of times.

I sigh and then quickly dial Quinn’s number, desperately needing the sound of a friendly voice to help me not feel so alone right now.

Quinn answers on the second ring. “Hey, chica! Nice to see you’re taking my threat of calling me every day a little more seriously now.”

I smile but roll my eyes. “When have I missed a day of talking to you?”

She clears her throat. “I can think of a few when you were with Mr. Sexy all the time. Speaking of, how did it go with him dropping you off at the airport?”

I nibble on the corner of my bottom lip as I fight back some tears. “It was rough. I hate fighting with him all the time. It’s been extra hard, being here and knowing that there’s this weird tension between us.”

“When you get home, I’m sure he’ll finally come to his senses and figure out how to be more open with you.”

“I hope so,” I mumble.

“He’s not an idiot, Anna. He knows you mean business now because you set your foot down. You’re demanding respect from him. He’ll come to his senses. He’s a man, and sometimes, men are a little slow at figuring things out. Hell, look at how many times Brock and I fought over when we should get married before he came around and compromised with me.”

My eyes widen as she lets me see a glimpse of something they fought over. She was always so secretive about it before, so it takes me aback that she blurted it out like that.

“Wait a minute,” I say as things click. “Are you telling me that all the fighting between you and Brock that I witnessed at Larry’s was over setting a wedding date? Quinn, I didn’t even know you were engaged then.”

“We weren’t engaged until recently. Our fights were about that very thing though. I left him there for a while to pound it into his head that if he wanted to keep me around, he would need to really commit to me. That’s when we got back together, when you first got here. I give you props, Anna, for standing up to X and sticking to your guns. We women need to stand up to our men and make them understand what we need in order to be happy.”

The mention of Xavier causes me to wonder again where he might be. We haven’t spoken, except through our texts, since he dropped me off at the airport. I miss him terribly, but if he needs some space from me, I have no choice right now but to give it to him, seeing as I’m on the other side of the country.

I shake my head, trying to rid myself of thoughts of Xavier before I break down into a puddle of tears with Quinn on the other end of the line.

I need to change the subject. “I got an interesting text last night.”

“Oh?” Quinn says. I can tell her interest is piqued. “From whom?”

“Jorge,” I reply simply.

“What? Oh my God. What did he want?”

“He somehow knew I was in Seattle and asked to meet while I’m close to home. He says we have things we need to discuss.”

“Are you serious? You’re not going to see him, are you? X will shit a brick if you’re out with your ex-fiancé.”

I run my fingers through my hair, pushing it back from my face. “I know, but I feel like I owe it to Jorge to hear out whatever he wants to say to me. He was my friend, one I was promised to marry, and then I ran out on him without any explanation. He has a right to be upset with me.”

Quinn sighs into the phone, and it’s not hard to tell that she doesn’t exactly agree with me. “You’re a better woman than me, cuz. The best I would’ve agreed to would’ve been a phone call. I don’t think I could bear to see an old boyfriend face-to-face, but your situation is different. Jorge wasn’t just some guy you dated for a while who cheated on you or something.”

“He’s actually a great guy. He’s just not the man I’m meant to be with, and I should’ve had the guts to tell him that before I left, but I didn’t. I need to make things right between us. I need that closure.”

“That’s what makes you such a good person, Anna. You really do care about people.”

“Thank you. I don’t always feel that way about myself. Father always made me feel like I was the evilest thing in the world.”

“Pfft,” Quinn huffs. “Uncle Simon needs a reality check. By being his crazy, uptight self, he’s missing out on what an extraordinary woman you have become. It’s his loss, Anna, and you have to stop believing that what he said is true. He’s the one who’s wrong when it comes to how strict he’s been with you. Hopefully, one day, he’ll wake up and give you the apology he owes you.”

I release a slightly bitter laugh. “That’s never going to happen, Quinn. You and I both know Father doesn’t work that way.”

“You never know. He might surprise you after he realizes that you’re not going to bend to his will anymore.”

I open my mouth to repeat again that Father will never apologize, but the sound of my name being called over the low murmurs in the catering room catches my attention.

“Anna Sweet?”

“Right here.” I raise my hand and then whisper into the phone, “Got to go, Quinn. I’ll call you soon.”

“Okay, love you,” she says before we end the call.

I shove myself out of the seat and then follow the guy wearing a
Tension
T-shirt out of the room. I recognize the man as one of the stagehands. When the show goes live, he is responsible for fetching the talent to get them ready to head out and face the crowd.

We make it back to a set of closed blue double doors, and the man raps his knuckles on the steel just below a piece of paper that says
Writers
.

He twists the knob and then pops his head inside. “Anna Sweets for you.”

“Send her in, Al,” a female voice on the other side calls.

I instantly know I’m about to face Vicky.

Al turns to me with an expression on his face that can only be described as worry as the corners of his mouth pull down. “Good luck.”

I lift my chin and step through the door, unsure of what I’m walking into.

The writers’ room is set up identical as it was in Atlanta with the folding tables side by side and four writers sitting next to each other, typing furiously.

“Have a seat,” Vicky orders. She doesn’t bother to glance up at me from her computer.

My eyes flick to the blue plastic chairs in front of Vicky, and there, with a smirk on his face, sits Rex.

I sigh as I note he’s strategically placed himself in the middle seat, leaving me no choice but to take a chair next to him.

He wiggles his eyebrows and pats the empty seat to his right. “Saved you a seat.”

I roll my eyes and plop down on the edge of the seat next to him, doing my best to scoot the further away from him. He throws his arm around my shoulders, and my skin crawls.

“Ugh.” I throw his arm off me. “Please don’t touch me.”

This amuses him. He leans in toward me and whispers, “Come on, Anna. You need to get used to me touching you because I’ll be doing it a lot on camera.”

I want to argue with him and tell him that there’s no way that’s going to happen, but Mr. Silverman has already made it perfectly clear that a romance with Rex on camera is in the cards for me.

I twist my head away from Rex, and he chuckles darkly as he settles back into his seat.

“Okay, Anna,” Vicky says as she swivels her chair to face me. “I’m sure you know why you’re here, so let’s get right down to the storyline, shall we?”

“Okay.” I fold my arms across my chest, knowing full well that I’ll absolutely hate whatever comes out of her mouth.

“Tonight, we’re going to send you out with Rex and another lady we’ve brought on as an employee. Rex informs me you’ve already met Deena.”

Great.

When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Deena gets thrown into the mix.

Vicky awaits a response from me, but when she sees that she won’t be getting one, she adjusts her black-rimmed glasses and continues, “The two of you ladies will accompany Rex out to the ring, and you both will be a part of the Fire Phenomenal X support group, being sympathetic to Rex. The three of you will be leading a fictional protest to get Phenomenal X out of
Tension
for good.”

My mouth falls open. “That’s the most absurd idea I’ve ever heard. The fans will hate that, and I will not—”

“Need I remind you, Ms. Cortez, that you are under contract? You must follow the script we provide, or we will have cause to remove you from the company.”

Her threat is clear. I need to go along with this or get fired. And if I’m fired, Mr. Silverman will not allow me back into the building when Xavier’s suspension is lifted.

I take a deep breath. Being a part of a group in this scenario is better than being in a fake relationship with Rex.

I clear my throat. “So, I just walk into the ring with Rex and Deena and stand there? Is that all I do?”

“For now,” Vicky replies coolly. “Feel free to improvise if you think something will strengthen the plotline for the rivalry between X and Rex. We need to get the fans excited about an epic showdown between the two.”

“Got it,” I answer solemnly. “Anything else?”

She eyes me over the top of her glasses for a moment and then shakes her head. “That’s it. You may go.”

Without another word, I hop up from the chair and race through the door, relieved a little that I won’t be kissing Rex tonight like he threatened, but I still have this looming feeling that I’ve only temporarily escaped it.

M
y cell vibrates, alerting me to a new text, so I quickly check the message folder.

Pearl: Your costume is ready. Come see me to get fitted.

My heart sinks when it doesn’t end up being Xavier responding to my earlier attempts of reaching him. I know we’ve been bickering a little, but he’s never gone this long without contacting me. The last time I heard from him was last night when he responded with the message that he was going to bed.

I fully expect him to call me before I go out solo on my first show, but so far, he hasn’t, so I decide to try him again one more time.

Anna: Checking in. Hope you’re all right. Super nervous about the show tonight. Would love to hear your voice before I go out there.

I stuff the phone into my back pocket as I head down the long hallway in an attempt to find where Pearl is set up backstage.

“You lost, Anna?” Brian’s voice cuts through my thoughts as I pass by him, half-dazed.

I grimace. “Wardrobe?”

“Come on.” Brian motions with his hand. “Pearl’s set up right down the hall.” He casually tosses the championship belt over his shoulder as he walks with me. “How are you holding up without X being around? Anyone giving you any problems?”

Rex’s and Deena’s faces both immediately come to mind, but I decide to keep my run-ins with them to myself. “It’s been tough without Xavier, but everything has been fine. I’ve had no issues.”

“That’s good.” Brian raises his eyebrows.

I can tell he doesn’t exactly believe me, but with me giving him nothing else to go on, he has no choice but to roll with what I’ve told him.

As long as I remain strong, Rex’s and Deena’s words are only words, and they can only do damage to me if I allow them to. If I let Brian in on them harassing me, he’ll report it to Xavier and get him all riled up, causing him to do God knows what when I can control the situation by remaining levelheaded. If Xavier gets involved, knowing his temper, all hell will break loose, and I can’t allow that to happen since he’s already on thin ice when it comes to his job at Tension. Mr. Silverman doesn’t seem like a man who gives many third chances.

As soon as Brian and I round the corner in the hallway, Pearl comes into view. She doesn’t get an office to set up, like most of the other behind-the-scenes people do. Instead, she simply has her sewing machine propped up on a folding table with a couple of suitcases of fabric next to her.

“I’ll leave you to it. Good luck out there tonight, Anna. Try not to stress too much. Filming Tension on the weekends is never televised, so they’ll save all the crazy stunts until Tuesday when the show is live to the world,” Brian informs me.

That’s why I don’t have to kiss Rex tonight. Vicky and Rex are saving that for when it’ll be on live TV, and X will be sure to see it along with the rest of the world.

Brian notices the expression on my face, which I’m sure is a look of horror, and then he pats my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Don’t panic.”

I take a deep breath, resolved to keep my anxiety to myself the best I can. “Thanks, Brian. I appreciate the words of encouragement.”

“Anytime.” He starts to turn away but holds in his tracks. “Liv wanted me to invite you to dinner at the house Monday since it’s our day off. She’s making meatloaf.”

I smile. “Sounds great. Thank you for the offer, but I actually have plans. I’m from Portland, and I’m meeting a friend from home that night.”

He nods. “No worries. I’ll let her know. She didn’t want you spending the day alone, so she’ll be happy to hear that you’ve got family close.” He takes a step back. “Catch you later, Anna. Break a leg tonight.”

“Thanks,” I call down the hall after him. Then, I step up beside Pearl. “You wanted to see me?”

After a few adjustments, the outfit Pearl designed on her sketchpad in the hotel room is the exact outfit that’s on my body right now. It really does fit my personality, and it’s not too far of a stretch from what I would actually wear—jeans and a T-shirt—except this outfit is skintight and made of some sort of spandex material.

“Looks good,” Pearl says while appraising her work. “We’re all finished. Let me know if you have any problems with the outfit tonight, and I’ll make changes if needed.”

“All right. Thanks, Pearl.”

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.