Page 44

“Beef Teef is the proud sponsor of GO! Goliaths Online,” he was saying pleasantly into the mic. “Beef Teef—the jerky of choice for the Goliaths’ Tasselled Tussler.”

Paxton quickly swung one of the cameras around to focus on Corey, who made a big show of looking humble yet pleased—a look he’d perfected—as he waved regally.

Seb and Ludo held the ropes apart again and helped Holt back out of the ring. Ludo picked up the glittery footstool and moved it to the side before he and Seb followed the boss back up the walkway. Holt was smiling demurely up at the audience members cheering and waving down at him from their seats.

Taylor fumbled with his phone, looking a little choked up and adorably proud. He said something to Larkin, then hurried out of the arena. Larkin wasn’t even paying attention. Too busy lifting his phone high to try and zoom in on Seb’s ass as the werewolf followed Holt up the walkway.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” David said over the mic with a slightly terse chuckle. “Llllet’s get ready for the Goliaths!”

Chapter Twelve

Larkin Calls Rafe a D-bag

Rafe

By the end of Sunday night’s show, I was dead on my feet.

It felt like I’d had a headache for three days straight from staring at my screen without breaks. My back ached, making me feel like an old man, and my eyes were dry and burning even though I’d put on my glasses.

As the loud closing music blared out of my speakers to mark the end of this week’s final show, I sat back with a sigh, took off my glasses and rubbed my sore eyes. But a tired smile stretched my mouth, because it had all gone off without a hitch. I was damn good at my job.

My desk chair creaked as I spun it to stretch out my legs. This part of the building had been quiet all night, because Holt and Taylor usually watched the shows in Holt’s private box, and Seb and Larkin often joined them.

I hated crowds and a lot of noise and people in general, but as I sat there alone in the quiet, I had a brief moment of wondering what was going on in the wrestlers’ backstage area now that the big launch weekend was over. Was everyone happy with how it had gone? Were they celebrating?

It had been a long few days. I’d ended up coming into work earlier than usual each day to spend hours making tweaks and adjustments so that the live streams were even better than the night before. Fiddling with volumes, tightening up the timings of onscreen graphics so they appeared at just the right moment, making notes for Paxton so he could get better shots as the wrestlers performed.

My jaw cracked with a huge yawn. I scrubbed my hands down my face, then sighed and heaved my tired body up out of my chair.

It all felt kind of anticlimactic now that it was over. Once again, I found myself wondering what all the wrestlers were doing as I leaned over to turn off my PC, then grabbed my jacket to slip it on.

A sudden knock on the door had me jumping out of my skin, but before I could move, Larkin was bursting inside.

“Yo, yo,” he chirped. How this guy was always so full of energy, I had no idea. “Holt wants everyone backstage.”

I hesitated with my jacket in my hands. “What, even me?”

Larkin gave me an odd look. “Uh, yeah, broseph. That’s why I’m here.”

I sighed and grabbed my bag, hoping this wouldn’t take too long. I was tired, and I knew that right now, too many voices and too much noise would set me on edge.

Larkin waited in the hall as I turned off my office light and shut the door behind me. Hands in his pockets, he gave me a cheerful smile and started sauntering down the corridor.

“Awesome job, man.” He nudged me with his elbow, not seeming to notice when I flinched. Even though I’d been here a while now, we barely knew each other. I barely knew anyone here.

It was weird to think that of all the people at Goliaths, it was probably Ewen I knew the best.

I’d even seen his dick. And what it looked like inside his own mouth.

That was pretty intimate and unique information to know about a person.

“It all seemed to go off without a hitch,” Larkin continued. “Looked really good. Seb and I watched on my phone.”

My chest warmed with pleasure, but I refused to show it. “Good.”

“Holt is, like, happy happy, dude,” Larkin told me. “As in, the morning after he hooked up with Taylor for the first time levels of happy. He’s smiling so big you can see all his teeth. It’s creepy.”

“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t surprised. I’d been emailing Holt our online audience numbers every morning after pulling all the data, so he already knew they’d practically doubled each night, with a huge spike on Saturday when Corey performed.