Page 15 of Botched

He chuckles. “Yeah? I’m sure every single thing you’ve heard is true too.” His gaze never leaves me, drinking me in. It’s like Clara doesn’t exist—like it’s just the two of us on screen. “I’ll see ya around, babydoll,” he says before he slips out of frame with all the swagger and charisma in the world.

Clara looks at me, and right before the camera cuts, I slip off screen after him, leaving her looking bewildered into the lens.

Chapter Twelve

THEODORE

Rise

Episode 569

Toledo, Ohio

Over the last two weeks, I’ve watched Aurora get more comfortable. That first time in front of the camera?Yikes. She may be a natural in the ring, but she’s not a natural in front of the camera. She’s getting better, though. It takes only two or three takes for her to nail it instead of eight. The narcissist in me wants to attribute that to the sage advice that I gave her. That’s what good teammates do, right? Even if Aurora isn’t happy about it, we’re teammates.

In the ring, she’s good. She lost her first match against Juliette. She won her second, which was only a squash to get her some wins—a way to turn her into someone that people care about. People are starting to care. The bubbly way she bounces down to the ring, the way she smiles and waves…that ass. The cheers are getting louder every week. Last week, they even chanted her name.

She has another match tonight. She’s scheduled to score a winover one of the veteran wrestlers in our locker room, Pearl. It’s a major thing. Beating veterans gives you a good rub. It gives people another reason to care about you and what you’re doing.

I’m watching her match backstage, when I suddenly feel someone next to me, standing so annoyingly close that I can feel their radiating body heat. One glimpse and, of course, it’s Austin.

His eyes are locked on the TV too. “She’s hot,” he says, like that’s not an obvious fact.

I can’t agree with him. That would bring me down to his level, and I would look pathetic. Simping for a coworker is not who I am. “Mm,” is all I give him as a response.

“Do you think she’d say yes if I asked her out?”

I give him an unimpressed look. “Leave her alone. She’s new. You don’t want to scare her away because you can’t keep your dick in your pants.”

The irony of me being the one to say that isn’t lost on me. I don’t want Austin to get any ideas. He doesn’t need to think he even has a chance with Aurora. She’s mine. She just doesn’t realize it yet. No one’s getting a piece of her before I do.

Whatever Austin responds with, I tune out. My eyes flick back to the screen, and I smile as I watch the referee count the pin.One. Two. Three.The crowd cheers as Aurora hops to her feet. Her hand is raised as she’s announced the victor.

I knew she’d do fine here.

When Aurora comes back through the curtain, I go to slide up to her side. We have a backstage segment to get to, but Austin gets to her before I do. My lip curls back in disgust as he smiles at her and introduces himself. She smiles back at him in a way that she’s never smiled at me.

I can’t watch this go on any longer.

Stepping forward, I wrap my hand around her bicep. She fixes me with a glare, annoyance flashing in those green eyes as she yanks her arm away from me.

“Can I help you?” The snark in her question is beautiful.

“We have a live segment to film. Come on. You can flirt with Austin later.” No, she can’t, but I don’t need to tell her that part.

I wrap my hand around her arm again and physically drag her away from him. Austin stares after the two of us as annoyance continues to radiate off Aurora. This is the last thing we need before we go film alivesegment. I feel like she’s not wrapping her head around that part.

Whipping around, I fix my eyes on her face. “Pretend you don’t hate me for five fucking minutes, okay? It’s your job. Do it or don’t. This islive. No retakes when you fuck up again and again.”

“I know what live means. Thanks, Theodore.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ll act when the camera’s on. Not when it’s off.”

The way she says my name like that shouldn’t turn me on like it does. The annoyance, the emphasis on the last syllable, I live for it. “You’ll learn to act when it’s off too. If we’re doing this, we’re doing this right. Keeping it kayfabe.” Make it look real. Make the fans buy it.

“Theodore, we are not pretending—”

I cut her off when we reach our marks. “We’ll talk about that part later. Let’s go to work.”

She’s going to learn to pretend. I’m not half-assing this. I have never half-assed anything in my career. I’m not going to start just for her.

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