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David chuckled. “We’ve got a great show for you tonight. And this weekend, for the first time ever, Goliaths of Wrestling is being introduced to the rest of the world through our new online pay-per-view service. Tell all your friends from out of town!”

As the audience roared with excitement, I quickly glanced around again, wondering if Rafe was in here somewhere with his laptop like he had been when they did the test run.

He wasn’t. I knew he’d have to be watching so he could react if anything went wrong, but he was probably in his office.

It was kind of a shame that he wasn’t out here seeing how excited everyone was. Well, I guessed he was seeing it through a screen, but it wasn’t the same as feeling it. Feeling the buzz in the air, feeling the floor rumbling under our feet from the roar of the crowd, feeling the anticipation for real.

“Please stay in your seats, folks. The show will begin shortly when our owner and manager, Holt Hector, makes a special appearance to introduce the launch of GO! Goliaths Online.” David cleared his throat and adopted a more clipped, refined tone. “Sponsored by Beef Teef, the jerky of choice for the Goliaths’ Tasselled Tussler.”

He turned off his mic and sat back, taking a swig from his water bottle. I glanced over and saw Corey talking to Paxton and pointing at the left walkway, no doubt trying to direct the entire show. He was also wearing a headset, and he kept delicately touching the earpiece while turning away and speaking into it. Larkin was helping Taylor with something on his phone, starting to fidget and bounce with excitement. I wondered where Seb was.

When the lights dimmed a couple of minutes later, the crowd roared again. The music got quieter, prompting the audience to gradually start simmering down in anticipation.

“Aaand now, folks.” David returned on the mic, pitching his voice lower to ramp up the excitement. “Here to introduce GO! Goliaths Online sponsored by Beef Teef, for the very first time… it’s… illustrious Goliaths owner and manageeerrr… Hooolt… Hectooor!”

A burst of loud music was accompanied by pink and green smoke billowing from the left walkway. Corey was speaking rapidly into his headset, and he pointed at the spotlights over the ring a split second before they started flashing pink and green in time with the music. He smiled in satisfaction.

The audience screamed when a tall, slender figure appeared in the colourful smoke, followed by two much larger and more muscular figures. My brows shot up when Holt came into view.

He was wearing a skintight, all-in-one leopard print bodysuit, complete with built-in platform high-heeled boots and gloves. I glanced over at Taylor with a tiny smile to see his reaction. He was blushing, looking a little flustered as he held his phone up to record his boyfriend’s big moment. That was kind of sweet.

“Damn, Holt looks gooood,” Vince muttered beside me as the boss waved at the crowd, making his way toward the ring. Seb and Ludo were flanking him a few steps behind, with stoic expressions behind their matching sunglasses, both dressed in sharp black suits.

“I don’t understand how he got that on,” Heidi said, sounding confused. “If he needs to pee, does he have to strip off his upper half completely?”

“He’s probably not going to be wearing it for that long,” Vince said, and Mads snorted, crossing her arms with an amused smile.

“He’s probably never going to take it off, actually. Look at him. He knows how good he looks.”

Holt had paused at the end of the walkway, preening and waving and flipping back his shiny dark hair as Ludo and Seb set down a glittery pink footstool. Then they leaped onto the very edge of the ring and pushed down the bottom two ropes with a foot each while grasping the top to stretch it up and out of the way.

Holt stepped delicately onto the footstool and took the hand Seb offered so he could gracefully duck under the top rope and enter the ring. I was kind of impressed. It was all very seamless. They must’ve practised a lot.

One of Paxton’s smoke tendrils snaked into the ring holding a mic, which Holt took with a smile, waiting for the audience to stop screaming and cheering. He didn’t look like he minded, though.

Taylor looked a little emotional as he kept filming on his phone. Larkin was filming now too, but he was definitely pointing his camera at Seb, not Holt. Corey mouthed something to Holt, then nodded emphatically as he pushed his finger into his cheek and smiled with lots of teeth like an overbearing pageant mom.

In the ring, Holt made his smile wider, clearly following Corey’s directions. He waved again and finally raised the mic to his mouth when the crowd began to quieten down.

“Good evening, everyone,” he said clearly, his voice only the tiniest bit unsteady with nerves.

I chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever noticed how polished Holt’s accent is.”

Vince snorted. “You saw his mom and sister at his birthday party, right? They were fancy as fuck. Kind of snooty.” After a pause, he added, “Pretty sure the sister was interested in Crossbody. Makes sense.”

I glanced back. Crossbody was standing beside Kenneth just behind us, but he either hadn’t heard or was choosing to ignore Vince as he watched Holt with his arms crossed and a haughty brow raised.

“I am delighted to introduce the start of a new era for Goliaths of Wrestling,” Holt was saying into the mic. “A bigger, better era that will see us grow exponentially. And you, our loyal fans, are the lucky ones who get to witness it in person.”

He smiled wide as the crowd cheered, his nerves gone now and his hot pink eyes gleaming with exhilaration.

“And to our new fans watching across the world”—he gracefully spun to face the camera Corey was frantically pointing at—“it’s my great pleasure to introduce to you the Goliaths in all their glory. I can confidently say that my wrestlers are the greatest supernatural wrestlers in the country.” As the crowd cheered again, he quickly added, clearly buoyed by his enthusiastic audience, “No—the world!”

The crowd screamed and whooped, standing up to stamp their feet and pump their arms.

“We have a fantastic line-up for you tonight to kick things off,” Holt continued, speaking a little louder into the mic to be heard over the roar. “So without further ado…” He paused for dramatic effect, then threw his arm up into the air. “Llllet’s get ready for the Goliaaaaths!”

In the commentator box, I saw David’s mouth drop open. He looked outraged that Holt had stolen his big line, but hastily tempered his reaction and got ready to speak as Holt wrapped up his speech.