“I have a lot to tell you, Luke. And you won’t be happy about any of it,” she admits reluctantly.
“Yeah. I’m already getting that impression. Talk fast.”
She tells me the whole sordid story of how she and Katelyn conspired to get Andi to leave the tour. Katelyn had Syndi assigned to me, to get close to me, and to make Andi jealous so Katelyn could have Travis to herself. One little hiccup threw a monkey wrench in their whole plan.
Syndi really fell for me and had to find a way to keep Andi and me separated.
“First, I had to make sure you stayed busy so you didn’t have much time to talk to her. Then, when I was afraid you’d call her in the middle of the night, I went in your phone and blocked her in your contacts,” she confesses and then hesitates.
I immediately know the next admission will be even worse than the others.
“You made the fake pictures?” I ask.
“No, that was Katelyn. A few were altered to look like they were Andi, but they weren’t. The picture on the playground is real, but they weren’t really kissing. It’s just how it looked from the angle the photographer Katelyn hired was in when he took the picture,” she says as she wipes away a tear.
“Then what else did you do?” I ask. If it’s worse than the pictures, she may not want to be in the same room with me for the next decade or so.
“I wore her necklace and her ring when I knew the press would see them. You were secluded for your fight training, and you’d been avoiding the news anyway, so I knew there was little chance you’d see it. According to Katelyn, Andi saw it, though, and that’s when her relationship with Travis really took off,” she says quietly. “That’s when he started sleeping on Andi’s bus instead of his.”
Turning to walk away from Syndi before I explode, I put the velvet box back in my dresser drawer. When I start to walk back to the living room, she’s standing in my doorway, waiting for some kind of reaction from me.
I’m completely drained and deflated from hearing Travis has been sleeping on Andi’s bus. I know what that means. No further explanation is needed. I can’t sing her to sleep with love songs. I can’t compete with the sexiest man in the universe. She’s with Travis now, and I’ve lost her for good.
“Is there anything else I need to know?” I ask, gripping the dresser so hard I may break it.
“Yes,” she says hesitantly. “I made Katelyn believe I may be pregnant. I’m sure Travis and Andi know by now.”
“Get out,” I say flatly to Syndi. This fiasco isn’t all her fault, God knows I added plenty to it, but a lot of it is because of her. I don’t want her anywhere near me ever again.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I really do love you, Luke. If it doesn’t work out with Andi, you know how to find me,” she says sadly as she leaves my room.
An alert on my phone has me scrambling to see if, by some miracle, it’s Andi replying to me. Disappointment seems to be a way of life when I realize the message is from John, telling me to get my ass back down there for our meeting. Replying to let him know I’m on my way, I put my fighting face back on and leave my room.
All I really want to do is just stay here and wallow in my self-pity.
When I walk into the locker room, the first thing I notice is that Charlie and Artie are here. They’re both smiling at me like the Cheshire cat who just ate the canary whole. I get a really bad vibe from these two men, and the way they just cut in on Joe solidifies my opinion of them.
“Luke, we have good news for you, son,” Artie starts.
“Yeah? What’s that?” I ask, unenthused.
“We’ve decided to pick you up as one of our fighters.” Charlie beams.
Mack immediately jumps in. “Over my dead body!”
“That can be arranged,” Artie replies without any humor in his tone.
Stepping in front of Mack, I pierce Artie with my gaze. “Don’t you dare fucking threaten him. I will tear you limb from limb.”
Shane and Brandon step up, flanking me, and display their solidarity in my threat.
“I don’t think you know who we are, Luke,” Charlie boasts.
“I don’t think Icarewho you are, Charlie,” I clarify. “If you or Artie threaten Mack again, you’ll find out who I am, without a doubt,” I promise.
“It’s that very bravado that we want to capitalize on, Luke.” Artie smiles appreciatively. “You don’t back down from anyone. You’d take on thebaddestman in boxing just out of sheer grit and determination.”
“We know you’ve had a little problem with your girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend now. Trust me, when we’re finished promoting you, there will be plenty more mermaids in the sea, just begging to be your own personal love slave.” Charlie grins lasciviously. “You won’t even remember what’s-her-name before long.”
