Page 65 of Botched

A heavy groan leaves me. How am I getting blamed for this?! I didn’tdoanything. Before I can tell her that, Aurora comes to my defense. “It was a combination of the heels and me falling wrong. Theo didn’t do anything.”

My look turns smug.

“Falling is like half your job,” mutters Juliette. She comes over, kneeling by me and looking over Aurora’s ankle. “It doesn’t look too bad. Hex, what do you think?”

He runs a hand over his buzzed head. “I ain’t a damn doctor, Goblin. Probably a sprain. Should definitely get her to medical though.”

“Should we go get someone else to weigh in?” I snark. “Maybe Clara’s free. Think she knows anything about injuries?”

“You’re the dumbass who hasn’t taken her to medical yet,” she shoots back.

Sometimes, I think of Juliette as a sister. I like her better than the sisters that I have. She’d kill me if I said that she wassofterthan them, and maybe softer isn’t the right word, but she’s more…caring. Less obsessed with money and status, which considering who Juliette Stanton is comes off as the funniest shit.

Aurora looks over at Hext, who still stands in the doorway, guarding the group of us like a rottweiler. “Are they always like this?” she asks, gesturing between me and Juliette with her index finger.

“From what I’ve seen, they absolutely are.”

“Jules,” she says with a sigh. “I’m sorry. For getting hurt. I know we’ll probably have to put off our match for another PPV cycle.”

She shakes her head, standing up. Leaning down, she brushes her lips over the top of Aurora’s head. “No worries, Rory. Seriously. I’ll be fine. We’ll just figure out a way to build this up even better, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she agrees.

She smacks my shoulder before walking away. “Get her medical,” she orders. Pointing to Aurora she adds, “Text me what you find out. I want every damn detail from the doctor.”

After Aurora gives her a mock salute, she heads off. Hext trails after her. The rottweiler turning into a pathetic puppy.

Chapter Forty-Three

AURORA

It’s later than usual when Theo helps me back to my hotel room. He presses the key into the reader, pushing the door open before stepping aside so I can hobble into the room. It’s going to take a while to get used to using crutches. I’ve never had to do it before, and I keep feeling like I’m going to fall flat on my face.

That’s where Theo comes in.

He closes the door behind us, eying me carefully as I hobble over to the bed and sit down on the edge of it. I wince slightly as I rest my ankle up on the bed. It’s wrapped. A simple sprain. The doctor said it’d be healed in about a month. So, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a setback. It’s an annoyance.

“This has been the shittiest month of my career.”

“The shittiest month of your careeryet,” Theo corrects. He kicks off his shoes and comes over to sit on the other side of the bed, carefully avoiding jostling my ankle. “Look at it this way, baby doll, you have a long career ahead of you. Plenty of time for it to get worse.”

“Was that supposed to be motivating?”

“Eh.” He shrugs. “Back on the indies, I got kicked so hard I pissed myself during a match. I thought that would be the worst moment of my career. Then I got caught cheating on my fiancée.”

“Sort of your own fault. You didn’t have to cheat,” I point out. Feels like it needs to be said. I sit back against the headboard as Theo grabs the pillows from his side of the bed, stuffing them underneath my ankle to try and prop it up some.

He tilts his head toward me in agreement. “I didn’t.” Silence washes over the two of us before he continues. “On paper, Veronica is perfect for me. Gorgeous, professional cheerleader. Comes from a good family—which is important to my parents,” Theo adds. “But Veronica cared about money. Everyone is my life cares about the damn money.”

He’s doing that thing where he opens up again. It always leaves me with an uneasy feeling. Unsure of exactly how to react. Scared that if I say too much, he’ll shut down or if I say too little, he’ll think that I don’t care.

“Everyone?”

He snorts decisively. “Everyone. My parents. Veronica.” Theo shakes his head. “That’s about all the people in my life. Don’t really have friends or anything. I’m kind of a bastard.”

“I’m your friend. I don’t care about your money.” I slip my hand over the multi-colored duvet on the hotel bed, letting my fingers brush over his.

“Aren’t you a sweet thing?” Theo purrs. He flips his hand over, letting my hand rest in his calloused palm. His thumb glides over my knuckles before a smirk overtakes his full lips. “But we’re not friends, Roo. You know that.”

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