Page 13 of Ten Kisses

Salem shrugged, feeling like he knew less about all this than she did.

"Everyone's going for AJ Styles!" the guy next to us said. "He'll be out next. Boooooooo!" He put his thumb down and held it out at Rey.

But that didn't deter Molly. She knew Salem was there to see Rey. He and his brother had been huge fans when they were kids. They had masks and everything. On more than a few occasions, they had gathered pillows and couch cushions from all over the house and made a wrestling ring in the den. There had been a few injuries. Salem had told Molly a few of the stories over dinner, and it seemed she took to heart his desire to high-five the man.

"Reeeeyyyy!" Molly cupped her hand to her mouth and leaned over the rail, yelling directly at him as he began to walk their way. "We loooooove youuuuu Reeeeyyyyy!" she yelled as he began to walk, moving toward the ring. "Whooooo! Reeeyyyy! Yessss! Over here!" She waved and yelled loudly, and then she celebrated when Rey Mysterio heard her and started coming their way. "Look!" she said. "Here!" She took Salem's hand, bringing it up and waving it for him.

Rey came to her call. He had been on the other side of the aisle, touching hands on his left, but he heard Molly yelling and he headed their way. Somehow, over all the noise, (and there was a lot of noise) Rey heard her.

He came right over and stood in front of them. Salem made eye contact with Rey Mysterio under that mask and fist-bumped him. It was a surreal moment. Rey Mysterio, the man in the mask, gave Salem a split-second conspiratorial glance. It was only for a second, but they shared a glance.

"We love you Rey!" she yelled after he turned.

"I love you too," Rey said, glancing at them and smiling.

He kept walking, and Salem stared at his back, covered in those familiar tattoos. Rey hadn't stopped in front of them for any length of time. He had kept his momentum going. But he had come over there, and they encountered him. He had fist-bumped Salem and they shared a glance. It was Rey Mysterio—the man, the myth, the legend.

Salem had played with figures of the guy and worn his mask during actual wrestling matches with his brother. Maybe it was silly, but Salem could appreciate how much that moment would have meant to his ten-year-old self. And since he was still that same person he was when he was ten, the moment meant something to him now. Molly patted his back excitedly, and everyone around them reacted to the fact that she had called him over to them.

Just then, the lights flashed and there was a crashing boom, announcing that AJ Styles was coming to the ring to fight Rey. The crowd began reacting to that, but Salem took a step back, watching Molly's back and letting someone else get next to the rail.

The arena was loud and chaotic, and Salem did his best to appreciate what had just happened.

He shared a glance with Rey Mysterio.

Phillip would never believe this. Salem and his brother had been acting like men for a long time. Their dad was hard on the boys, and Salem and Phillip had both become stoic men as a result of their father's example and guidance. Normally, he didn't have to suppress the urge to tear out and go whooping and hollering like a little boy, but this time, he was close. He felt like an excited kid again. He imagined himself letting it all hang out. He could see himself growling and flexing his muscles. He stifled a smile, amused with himself for being so pumped about it.

He had shared a glance with a total legend.

They sat in their seats and watched the match, and Molly cheered from her seat, never wavering from cheering for Rey despite the hostile crowd.

The match went back and forth with some exciting twists and turns, but Rey fell to AJ Styles in the end, and he was carted off by some medics.

You would think that Molly watched the show every week with how she got into it. She continued to react until Rey left the arena.

The show went on, and the following matches were considered the main events. Salem and Molly cheered for whoever the crowd was with, and they high-fived and celebrated with those around them when something exciting happened.

It was a world of difference from the experience he would've had with Phillip. He would've had fun with his brother, and he was sorry Phillip couldn't make it, but Molly was a total blast. If he had been there with Phillip, they would have had a more jaded approach to the whole thing, but Molly had embraced it, and gotten into it. Salem had a wonderful time. She was a kid sister to him in the best way possible. He took pleasure in seeing her happy.

"Can I help you with that order for tomorrow?" he asked a while later as they were leaving the arena.

"What order, oh, my chocolate?"

"Yes."

"Uh, no, but th-that's so sweet, Salem. You have work tomorrow, anyway."

"I know, but so do you. You have that chocolate order, and I kept you out late. What about school?"

"It's fine, really. Thank you, though. The stuff I have to do tonight… it's just putting everything together and packaging it, so I'm probably able to do it faster myself than even explaining to you how to do it."

"You have two hours of packaging to do? That must be some fancy packaging. Or a big order."

"Both. It's my rent, actually. My landlord, Darren, his law firm, they place an order with me once a month. All of their employees have an order that I fill individually. There's twenty-two of them."

"Whoa, how much chocolate is that?"

"It only costs about two-hundred dollars in supplies and my time, and my rent is made for the month."

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