Page 20 of Botched

Aurora’s been ringside for most of the match, playing up that budding mentorship she has going on with Jules. She’s supporting her friend, who’s supportinghermentor. During the right moments, the girls are huddled together in panic, looking shocked. Whenever I knocked Hext down, Aurora banged her hand on the apron to rile up the crowd to cheer for him to get back up.

You’d believe that the pretty redhead isn’t on my side.

My feet hit the ground outside of the ring, and I begin to walk up the ramp. My right hand grips my left shoulder, selling the idea that I’m hurting. To some extent, I am. My body is sore. It’s been a fifteen-minute high-intensity workout. Just because the fighting may not be real doesn’t mean that it hurts any less.

Hext comes storming up the ramp to grab me and throw me back into the ring. His hand rests on the back of my neck, guiding me back to the ring. For a moment, my eyes meet Aurora’s and I wink.

Jules’s face contorts in disgust at the gesture, but Aurora looks back at me wide-eyed before I roll back into the ring. I know I should be on my back, but I want to see how this all plays out. I’m hopeful that it looks even better than I’ve imagined, so I roll onto my stomach, keeping my head low but eyes open.

Hext goes to get back into the ring and finish it up, but Aurora grabs his arm. Jules is shouting, asking what she’s doing. Hext pushes her away from him, making her stumble backward.

“What is your problem?” he shouts loud enough for the microphone to pick up what’s going on, for the people in the front rows to hear it.

He turns to get back into the ring. As he climbs up onto the apron, Jules cries out his name, “Hex!”

A crack rings out as Aurora brings a steel chair down on his head.

Hext’s body slumps as he sells the hell out of that chair shot.Taking the opportunity, I scramble up to my feet. My eyes meet Aurora’s and I try to sell the moment—the eye contact, the realization. I want everyone to see how I look when I realize what she’s done forme. She looks up at me and drops the chair, taking a step back and holding her hands up in front of her.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity given to me, I grab Hext and pull him into the ring. It takes me seconds to hit my finisher with a snap. My arms slip underneath his, lifting him into the air, rotating slightly, and then slamming him back onto the mat. The referee counts the pin as the boos rain down.

One, two, three.

Jules scrambles into the ring, worrying over Hext as the referee raises my hand in the air. I don’t care how goddamn scripted it is. Nothing feels better than winning.

Aurora climbs into the ring. She looks down at Jules and Hext, the former too worried over her mentor to acknowledge the betrayal by her friend.

I take the opportunity to observe how gorgeous Aurora looks today. Her makeup is all dramatic. Her hair is pulled back, showing off that angelic face. She’s wearing a dress that makes her look like a goddamn goddess. It’s black, off the shoulders, and flowy…except there’s a very high, verysuggestiveslit up her thigh.

All I want to do right now is follow that slit up with my tongue.

She looks at me before she drops to her knees in front of me. It takes a solid five seconds to remember that we’re live on TV right now and in front of a crowd of thousands. My cock twitches and I’m so damn thankful for my cup. Even I don’t want to get a hard-on on TV. I don’t need the internet fussing over my dick.

I get exactly what she’s going for, though once the blood stops rushing south. She’s under my spell, here to worship me. Reaching down, I run my fingers through her ponytail in an almost affectionate way before they slide down to cup her cheek. My callousedfingers splay along soft skin, stroking it gently as the camera gets the shot.

That’s the last shot before the PPV goes off the air. The world sees Aurora on her knees for me as I treat her like she’s my pretty little pet.

Gotta admit, it’s a lovely sight.

Chapter Sixteen

AURORA

Don’t ask because I don’t know where the kneeling thing came from. The last thing I want is to hear his opinion on it. I know he’s going to get it all twisted and jump to the conclusion that I want to blow him. That’s definitely not the case. It was just something that felt like it would sell the angle we’re going for.

After the PPV, there’s a press conference. Things are even more hectic backstage. Producers are collecting the talent who’s going to be featured. I’m not important enough to deal with all of that yet, but Theo is. So, thankfully, I don’t have to hear him lament about me on my knees.

I seek out Jules. Unsurprisingly, she’s with Hext. The two of them are off in a corner together and I make a mental note to ask later about what’s going on between the two of them. Hext is her mentor, I get that, but it’s pretty obvious that something else is bubbling under the surface.

I never took Jules as the homewrecker type. I’m not one to judge but…okay, so I’ll judge a little bit if she’s hopping on a married man’s dick.

“Are you okay?” I ask Hext as I approach.

He shoots me this lopsided grin, and yeah, I get what Jules would see in him. He’s the type of man who only got hotter as he aged. Young Hext was nothing compared to this older version. “Five by five, Red.”

The confusion must be obvious on my face, because Jules laughs. “It means he’s good. Hex is a very bigBuffyfan.”

‘Understanding him on that level is doingnothingfor the homewrecker rumors,’ is what I want to tell her. Instead, I look back at Hext. “Didn’t expect that from you.”

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