Update: He just threw a shoe at the TV. He keeps muttering about a blonde bitch and I think he’s trying to bribe housekeeping for a key to your room. If you value your life, hide. Also, tell him he owes me a remote.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose while a headache started to form.
“He’s not just spiraling,” I told Lena. “He’s reached terminal velocity.”
Knock. Knock. Knock.The sound was sharp, rhythmic, and demanded attention.
My phone buzzed again. A final warning from Silas.
CALLUM IAN KINCAID DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR.
Lena and I exchanged a long, dread-filled look. “I’ll get it,” she sighed as she marched to the door. One check of the peephole and she groaned, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “Oh God, we’ve been found.”
“Found?”
The door opened, and there stood Cora Smith, beaming like she was posing for a corporate headshot. She was a new backstage interviewer for the UWF. A young, blonde, and ambitious woman, who was currently holding a cardboard drink tray with two coffees and a white bakery box filled with pastries.
Cora had only been around a few months, hovering in the background of segments, trying to find her footing like everyone did in this brutal business. But ever since Wrestle Empire and her spectacularly failed attempt to sleep with Evan of all fucking people, her gaze shifted and locked entirely on me. God, she was a persistent pain in my, well, Silas’s ass.
When Lena started paying attention to me, it was out of adoration and a need for someone to protect her. Cora, on the other hand, wanted something purely physical. I knew she did, as she never tried to hide it. She didn’t seem to care either that everyone picked up on her vibe.
“Good morning!” Cora chirped, breezing past Lena like she didn’t exist. “I come bearing gifts! I got these from that famous bakery down the street. Pastelitos, I think they’re called?”
She set the drink carrier on the desk right next to my phone, which was vibrating so hard it was physically walking across the damn table.
She turned to me, flashing a smile that was all teeth, lip gloss, and calculated strategy. “I figured you might want some company. I know you and Si typically stay together when you’re on the road, so I’m sure you’re lonely up here all by yourself.”
I stared at her, trying my absolute best not to laugh, while also hiding my clear, burning annoyance with her presence. It was fucking hilarious that to the locker room and everyone else we worked with, Silas and I were just two dudes that preferred to travel together rather than separate. For the veteran wrestlers, itwas a normal occurrence. The road gets intensely lonely when you spend three hundred days a year on it, and having a friend on the roster who can be company in the silence was always better than fighting it alone. The fact that Silas and I had perfected the image to the point nobody batted an eye at the way we were was still strange to me. Surely, there had to be someone who raised a brow. I guess, if I really think about it though, anyone who did was probably too damn scared of voicing it for it to ever be prevalent.
Wait a minute. Who the fuck did she think she was calling Silas,my Silas, Si? That was a strict no-fly zone for me. Why? No clue, it just was.
That’s when realization smacked me right between the eyes. Blonde. Knocking on my door. Bringing pastries.
The psychotic texts suddenly made perfect sense. Silas had probably tried to sneak up to see me, and somewhere in the treacherous journey from his floor to mine, he had crossed paths with Cora.
“Did you…happen to see Silas?” I kept my voice perfectly level, though my internal alarm bells were going off at a deafening volume.
“Oh, yeah!” She laughed, flipping her blonde hair confidently over her shoulder. “He was in the lobby at the little coffee shop. I think it’s so funny. Everyone says you’re the intense one, but him? He’s just as scary. He was staring at everyone like he wanted to fight, and was either totally lost, or ridiculously nervous.” She giggled, twirling a strand of hair around her finger as she grabbed one of the coffee cups out of the drink carrier.
“I tried to be nice and ease his mood. I told him I was coming to check on you. To make sure you were taken care of and ready to go, since you guys couldn’t hang out and all.”
My stomach dropped into my shoes. Taken care of? Jesus Christ, this woman had just stepped into literal hellfire. And the worst part? He probably hadn’t even had a coffee yet, so he was truly going to be a fucking delight when he did wind up sneaking into this damn room.
“And how did he take that?” Lena chimed in with a snide laugh. She knew damn well how Silas took that.
Cora’s gaze narrowed on Lena, clearly annoyed by the interruption, but softened her expression instantly when she looked back at me.
“He got so jealous.” Cora beamed, looking utterly delighted that Silas probably thought of twenty different ways to say “fuck you” to her before she walked away from him. “He turned bright red under that tan! His veins were even popping, and he actually growled at me.”
She leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, as if the next sentence contained a juicy secret. “I think he was mad I wasn’t bringing him any treats. He’s totally got a crush, right? He’s like, the good boy to your bad boy kind of thing. Wants the girl who likes the bad-boy best friend? It’s cute.”
Lena made a choking sound that turned quickly into a violent cough. She looked at me from behind Cora, her eyes wide and screaming:She has no idea she just walked into a bear trap. I felt a laugh bubbling in my chest. A chaotic mix of hysteria and pure, unadulterated affection for the psycho fuck I was deeply in love with. Cora thought Silas was jealous ofme? She had absolutely no idea how he’d tear through this hotel because the idea of anyone else “taking care of me” made him slightly homicidal.
“You have no idea how lucky you are,” I said, standing slowly to my full height.
She blinked her long fake eyelashes at me in confusion. “Lucky?” “Lucky that there are security guards between each floor.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Because Reed is most definitely in a mood now. And when he’s in a mood, that means my life is hell.” My lips curled, partially because he was insane, and I loved it. Partially because it kind of turned me on when he got fiercely territorial.
“What do you mean?”
