Page 57 of Heartbreaker
That wasn’t part of the plan—at least not the one I was prepared for. Was I aware that Colin was going to win with some assistance? Yes. Was I aware this was setting up for a new storyline that included me and the impending corporate faction? Also yes. I never would’ve imagined they’d pit Savannah against me, but I should’ve known. I’m sure the idea spawned in Amos’s head the moment he found out we were dating. Honestly, I could’ve accepted it if someone had warned me…Come to think of it, why didn’tshewarn me?
I push through the curtain and immediately scan gorilla, but she’s nowhere to be seen. The least she could’ve done is wait for me here and look me in the face as I came back from getting my ass handed to me by none other than her. I had no idea what was coming—or who—just that someone would come out about thirty-five minutes into the match and lay me out. I was supposed to be ready for anything—chair, ladder, table, brass knuckles, whatever they had up their sleeve.
Amos waves to me from the corner, offering a thumbs-up when I finally look at him.At least someone is fucking happy. I shake my head and walk past him even though he beckons me his way, and truthfully, I’m just as shocked as he is. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I’ve walked right by him after a match like this. Amos wanting to talk for a second after a Wrestlefest match is normal, but he doesn’t want to know what I think about this. Not right now, anyway. Not before I’ve cooled off.
Every eye in my path avoids my glare, only stopping to look once I’ve passed them, matching the whispers of “Did you see what happened?” and “I thought they were together.” The only people who don’t avoid me are Wolf and Brody. They’re perched by a pile of black equipment boxes, talking in hushed tones that become even quieter when they see me, stopping completely once I reach them.
“Hey, man. Good match,” Wolf says, and I scoff in return.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where my girlfriend is, would you? She wasn’t in gorilla,” I say, rolling my eyes when they share a look. “What?”
“We were just discussing if you knew that was coming or not, and from your demeanor, I’m guessing not,” Brody says. “Why didn’t she tell you?”
I scrub a rough hand down my face before letting my fingers card through my hair. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Well, have you told her about—”
“No.” My jaw clenches so tight it could turn carbon into a fucking diamond. “And I don’t plan to.”
Brody scoffs, shaking his head. “That’s a bad idea, Brooks.”
“Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something here?” Wolf asks, his eyes flickering between the two of us.
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Brody says, planting a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll tell you when you’re older.”
“Assholes.” Wolf rolls his eyes, earning an amused chuckle from our friend. I can’t trust Wolf with the truth about the bet. He’d tell Savannah and not even mean to. It would just slip out, and that isn’t a mess I want to clean up.
“Have you seen her or not?” I ask.
“Sorry, man. We were all watching back in catering, and she snuck off about twenty-five minutes in. Haven’t seen her since. I just assumed she was waiting for you in gorilla.”
“What about Rae?” I ask Brody.
“Rae and Jo already left,” he says, shoulders lifting in a small shrug.
Breathing out in frustration, I turn on my heel to head for the locker room. If she wasn’t in gorilla and she’s not with our friends…she must have left for the hotel already. There’s probably a text waiting on my phone. I need to get my head checked by Doc first, and then I can change and worry about why my girlfriend didn’t tell me this was coming. I turn the last corner and see her standing outside Doc’s office.
She’s braced against the wall, arms crossed, and her eyes lift from the floor when she hears my footsteps. Her narrowed gaze travels over the line of blood on the side of my face and each red mark that litters my body before meeting mine. Her hands ball into fists in the crooks of her arms, like she’s trying to keep herself from reaching out to me. She doesn’t know how I’m going to react, and because of that, she keeps her distance.
“What in the hell was that?” I ask, not meaning to sound so harsh, but the longer my search for her went on, the more irritated I became. On the flip side, the longer it went on, the more I thought aboutwhyI was so irritated in the first place. If she had been honest with me, if she had told me this was happening, I wouldn’t have cared. It was the element of surprise, doing it without warning, that pissed me off.
Savannah’s only response is silence. She rolls her lips together and looks away.
“You didn’t even try to tell me, Sav. You just…did it. Just like that.”
She sighs, rubbing her face. “I couldn’t tell you, John.”
“You couldn’t?” I practically spit the words. “Savannah, I’m your boyfriend! A little warning that you’re going to turn on me would have been nice. And not just turn on me, you attacked me with a chair and then sat on me in said chair.”
“And as my boyfriend, who is also in this industry, youknowthe rules. You know that if they tell me not to say something, I can’t.”
“There are certain times that doesn’t fucking matter, Savannah.”
Savannah exhales. “It’s just business,Brooks.”
Brooks? I scoff. She doesn’t call me Brooks outside of the ring. “Just business?”
“Yes!” Savannah yells. “I wanted to tell you. I did. But Amos made it clear. No one was supposed to know. No one, but especially not you.” She shakes her head. “They wanted you to be surprised. They wanted it to be realistic. You knew this was coming, Brooks. You knew everything—”
