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Micah looks amused but doesn’t say anything about it. “Somethin’ on your mind? I don’t mind listenin’.”

I must be a lot drunker than I originally thought because I hear myself saying, “Theo.”

“Right. That bastard.” Micah chuckles. There actually sounds like there’s a bit of fondness in his voice. Is he close to Theo? No, right? The only people I know Theo talks to are me and sometimesAlex. “I know workin’ with him can’t be easy. Did he say somethin’ especially asshole-y today?”

Yes. No. He told the truth. I think that’s what I’m more pissed about. All Theo’s done is told me the truth. Over and over again. I keep sipping through the plastic straw. The drink is basically gone on this point. It’s making an obnoxious sound as I slurp at the still melting pieces of ice.

Reaching out, Micah pulls the drink away from me, a smile on his face. His eyes wrinkle in the corners when he smiles. That’s cute.

I pout when my drink is gone.

“You’re a cute one, sweetling. If things were different…”

“What things?” Okay, officially drunk. Why do I care? Because you can’t just say riddle-like shit to people and expect them to not to ask for more.

Micah boops his pointer finger against my nose. “Your heart is taken, eh? So is mine. You deserve to be more than a body to keep someone warm.”

I pop my lips, fully prepared to argue. My heart isn’t taken, but that would be a lie. It is taken. Maybe that’s what I sacrificed when I made a deal with the devil, my heart and my damn sanity. “I can’t love him,” I admit quietly.

“And why not?”

“Because he’ll get bored and toss me aside. He’ll break my heart.”

“Don’t let the fear get in your way, Aurora.” The way Micah says my name makes it sound like poetry. If I wasn’t drunk off the liquor, I could get drunk on that. “Trust me on that one, all right? Fear will ruin everything if ya let it.”

He has to know that I’m too intoxicated to press on about whatever he’s getting at because he drops it there. I want to push. I want to know more, but I also don’t know if I’m going to remember this conversation in the morning.

“I need another drink,” I murmur. I try to stand from the booth, and my body teeters, the alcohol definitely hitting me. Fuck.

I’m not a big drinker. Usually when I go out, I sip a drink or maybe have a glass of wine. I’ve only been allowed to legally drink for a year so it hasn’t exactly been high on my list of things to do.

“Aye, I think ya might be done, Aurora.” He reaches up to steady me, and I plop back down in my chair.

Instead of arguing, I pout again. “Probably. But I don’t wanna think about Theo.”

He snorts. “So you admit it, yeah? Once your head hits your pillow, I don’t think you’ll be thinkin’ about much. I’ll get Austin to take you back to your hotel.”

Instead of arguing about how I don’t want Austin anywhere near me or taking me to the hotel, I just nod and grab my empty cup, sipping at the faintly peach flavored melted ice as Micah gets up to grab Austin.

He says something to him, his face stern and serious. Austin doesn’t look like he’s as serious about it and waves Micah off. It’s too loud in here to hear what they’re bickering about, but it looks serious.

When Austin goes to walk past him, Micah roughly grabs his arm and says something again, to which he nods.

Curious.

Chapter Thirty-Three

AURORA

The ride back to the hotel with Austin is quiet. Uncomfortably so. I have no idea how to talk to Austin, and I’m not even sure that I want to. The alcohol is heavy in my system. I let my head lean against the window as he drives, starting to fade a little bit. The gentle hum of the car is slowly putting me to sleep.

“So, did Theo tell you what he did?” Austin asks, pulling me from my near slumber.

I blink a few times, feeling a little dazed. My mouth feels dry before I manage to speak. “What did he do?” I don’t even know what Austin’s talking about. But it’s Theo. He’s always doing something that makes people talk. Meddling. Conniving.

His silhouette is dark in the car next to me, hands gripping the steering wheel as he turns into the hotel parking lot. “He went and threw a fit to Nathan about that promo I cut. The one where I called you a slut. I got fined and pulled from the match. That’s why things are pivoting straight to Micah.”

Maybe it’s because I’m drunk, but it takes longer than normal toprocess all of that. Theo complained to Nathan because Austin called me a slut? It was a promo. This is wrestling. People call each other shitty names all the time—in and out of the ring. I wasn’t offended.

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