Page 23 of Heartbreaker
“Whoa!” A voice rings out—Theo. “Hey!Hey, Mox, chill out.Moxie!”
To the crowd, Theo is here to save the day for one of us. He’s the one making all the decisions, because out here there’s no Creative. Out here, this is allreal. He stands at the top of the ramp wearing his signature suit and tie—today’s color palette is navy blue and gold.
“Chill out?” She practically chokes on the words. “Theo, my title was just stolen!My foot was on the rope.”
He takes a few more cautious steps forward, but keeps a safe distance from the middle of the ramp.Theoglances my way before turning back to the distressed champion…sorry, distressedformerchampion. “I think we all need to take a deep breath.”
The referee tries once more to hand me the title, butMoxierips it from his hands. “This is my title.My foot—”
“I heard you,”Theosays. “Weallheard you.Your foot was on the rope.The problem is…” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “There’s no footage of your foot being on the rope.”
The crowd boos in response. How could there not be footage of her foot on the rope? How many fucking cameras are there around here? Did they magically forget how this match was supposed to end?
“You’re fucking kidding me, Theo!”Moxie’s shoulders slump, and even from here, I see the tears well in her eyes. I feel bad. She’s supposed to be walking into Wrestlefest as the champion on Sunday, notSavvy Skye.The now former champ clings to the belt, holding it so tight there are sure to be indentations from her nails on the leather strap.
“The only option is for you to enact your rematch clause, right here, right now.”
Another fucking match? You’ve got to be kidding me.
“My rematch?”Moxiescoffs. “Theo, I didn’t lose.”
He shrugs. “Take it or leave it, Mox.But it’s not really up to you, it’s up to thechampto accept it or not.” All eyes turn to me. “What do you say, Savvy?You open to a rematch?”
A glance around the outside of the ring proves that just about everyone here is interested in the idea. I know that I should say yes, it’s the right thing to do…right? Or I could just as easily say no and forceMoxieto accept this fate.
Something tells me if I do that, I’ll walk out of here tonight with more enemies than colleagues, and I don’t want to start issues this early. I don’t want to give Harper more ammunition to cause issues backstage for me. Pushing off the ropes, I glare straight atMoxieand say, “Let the crowd decide.”
“Let the crowd decide?”Theoasks, almost in disbelief, and I nod. He scratches at the scruff on his chin with a slight chuckle. “Alright then.What do you say, Nashville?Should we have a rematch, right here, right now?”
An overwhelming, thunderous sound erupts. It reverberates in my chest and the soles of my feet, shaking the ring beneath us.
“It looks like you get your wish, Mox,”Theosays. His eyes linger on me for a moment too long before he chuckles, turning back up the ramp.
When he disappears, I smile atMoxiewith a simple shrug. “Looks like we’re doing this.”
Moxieglares, shoving the belt back into the referee’s hands. Her words have an extra bite to them when she says, “Don’t fuck it up this time.”
The mental wall between Savvy Skye and Savannah Williams comes crashing down two steps before I reach the mouth of the backstage. My stomach is in knots at the thought of what I could face on the other side of that curtain. I’m probably going to get my ass chewed, maybe even fired, for screwing up the match. Did I screw it up, though? It wasn’t my fault the referee didn’t do his job; he forgot the spot that should’ve kept the match going. Something tells me that doesn’t matter. A fuck up is a fuck up, and I just fucked up my debut.
Gorilla is silent when I walk through the curtain, and the first person I see is Fata, his left leg crossed over his knee, sitting in one of the chairs that line the left-hand side of the room. He shakes his head with a low chuckle, turning his attention back to the television in the far corner of the room. Theo does the same when I meet his stare over his monitor, in his normal spot, two seats down from Amos. His sister, Chelsea, sitting beside her father, never looks my way. Amos’s gaze hasn’t left me since the moment I walked in; his eyes narrow, darkened by the shadows that dance across his features from the screen in front of him. Amos looks pissed, but he hasn’t beckoned me to his corner yet, so I guess that means he’s not too pissed. I’ve heard stories about people who get called over for a quick chat after their match, where either a verbal lashing or quiet words of praise await them. Since it doesn’t look like I’m in line for either, I take the opportunity to get the hell out of dodge before the man who signs my checks changes his mind.
“Holy shit!” Raelynn’s voice rings out when I step into the hallway. Her arms and legs wind around me in an embrace, practically knocking me back through the gorilla curtain. “You just won and lost your first title at the same time…and on your debut! You looked like a total badass.”
“I botched a few times, not to mention I almost cost Moxie her title.”
Bennett—orWolf, if you ask anyone else around here—approaches from my right with a slow clap. I roll my eyes as he drapes his arm over my shoulders, and we begin a light stroll down the hallway. “You didn’t do shit. That was on Mox. She’s gotten lazy. You did her a favor.”
Bennett shrugs when Raelynn shoots him a glare. I’m happy to be back with the two of them again; it was getting boring around NextGen without them. Bennett has been on the main roster for almost a year now, and he hasn’t had any issues fitting right in. I think it helps that he formed a bond with John and Brody after they met last spring—and yes, he continues to ask me what’s going on between me and John. I wonder if he does the same to John.
“Savvy!” a voice rings out from behind us. Moxie runs down the hallway, the title clutched tightly in her hands.
“Remember what I said,” Bennett whispers, and I elbow him.
“Good match,” Moxie says.
“You sure about that?” I ask, feeling a little hesitant considering how things just went down in the ring. Not to mention her comment before we restarted the match:Don’t fuck it up this time. “You seemed pretty upset.”
Moxie chuckles. “All part of the act, Sav.”
