No matter what the media and the rest of the staff at Tension are led to believe about what happened in the ring back in Atlanta, Freddy knows all too well how real shit was between me and Rex. He was the guy always breaking us up.

I pat Freddy on the back. “I’ve got myself under control now. Fighting for real—I’ve tried to tame that shit. My temper has fucked a lot of good things for me.”

“Good,” he says and then rubs the scalp on his bald head. “I’m getting too old to keep breaking up your fights. You’re a strong son-of-a-bitch.” Freddy checks his clipboard and then allows a couple of more wrestlers who I recognize into the building as we stand there. After they pass, he turns to me. “You going inside or what?”

I nod toward the door and even though I need to keep my distance, I can’t help asking, “Anna already in there?”

Freddy shakes his head. “Not yet, but she typically only comes in a few minutes early—not hours like most of you others who want to get workouts in before the show.”

I smile, knowing Anna isn’t into pumping iron with the rest of us in the weight room because of how she only sat and watched me. “Then if it’s all the same to you, I’ll wait out here with you. The kid can go in and explore if he wants though.

Freddy nods and then pulls a backstage pass out and hands it to Corey. “Go ahead, kid. Knock yourself out.”

“Fuck, yeah!” He doesn’t have to tell him twice. Corey slips the rope of the lanyard over his head and heads inside.

I stand next to Freddy as I await Anna’s arrival. If I’m honest, I’m nervous as fuck about what she’s going to say when she sees me after I ignored her calls the way I did. She’s going to be pissed—that’s a given—but I pray to God that it’s not too late to earn her forgiveness and at least let me back into her life as a friend. I need her in my life some way, even though I’m not the right man to claim her.

Freddy glances down at his watch. “I’m sure she’ll be here any minute. She’s been showing up a little early to every show.”

I nod, knowing Freddy’s sensing my tension and attempting to calm me down, but it does nothing to curb my anxiety.

I lean back against the wall and fold my arms over my chest as a dark blue Audi pulls up to the back entrance. At first, I don’t pay it much attention because it’s not a Tension owned vehicle that shuttles the talent to and from the hotel, but when the passenger shoves her dark brown hair over her shoulder, it immediately catches my attention.

Anna sits inside the car, speaking animatedly with the driver. I squint my eyes to focus better on the driver, and that’s when I realize it’s guy I saw her hugging in the photo. I curl my hands into fists and march over to the car—my jealousy completely taking over and throwing my promise to myself to control my goddamn temper right out the fucking window.

Chapter 27

Anna

Jorge is definitely due some credit. He’s been a good friend to me since I’ve been hanging around this part of the country. He’s texted me a few times to check on me, and tonight he’s picking me up from Liv and Brian’s to take me to Tuesday Tension so he can watch the show.

We pull up to the arena, and Jorge asks. “Am I going to see you actually wrestle tonight?”

I laugh. “No. I’m what they call a valet. I only escort wrestlers out to the ring.”

“Will you be with Phenomenal X again?”

“No. He’s actually been suspended for the past few weeks, so I’ve been assigned to Assassin.”

“Oh, is he any good?”

I shrug. “He’s the current champ. He won the belt when we were in Seattle.”

“Wow. The champ? Impressive, Anna.”

“Not really,” I mumble. “He’s an asshole. I can’t wait until Xavier comes back and kicks his butt and takes the belt away from him. I’ll be cheering like this—” I pump my arms in the air as if I’m lifting the roof.

Jorge chuckles. “Not a fan, huh?”

“Definitely no—” I can’t even get the words out because his driver’s door flies open and two large hands reach inside.

“Xavier, no!” I shout, but it doesn’t seem to faze him as he curls his finger into the fabric of Jorge’s once perfectly pressed polo shirt.

Xavier leans down in the car so he can get face to face with Jorge, who is pinned to his seat by both his seatbelt and fear. “What the fuck are you doing with my girl?”

Jorge’s eyes widen as he holds his hands up defensively and his voice shakes as he says, “We’re friends.”

Xavier pulls him up and then slams him back on the seat. “Don’t lie to me. I know there’s more than that going on. You fucking her?”

“Xavier! Stop it! You’ll hurt him.” My plea for him to end this before it gets any further out of control seems to fall on deaf ears. It’s as if he’s lost in a rage haze—unable to recognize anything outside of the focus of his anger. I need to do something drastic—something to snap him out of it. “I’m pregnant!”

That does the trick because Xavier’s eyes snap to me. “What did you just say?”

Tears stream down my face as I lock my gaze on his. “I’m pregnant.”

“No, you’re not.”

My mouth drifts open as his words feel like a slap in the face, but I refuse to let him make me feel bad about this. He may not want this baby, but I do.

“I am,” I whisper. “And it’s yours. And . . . I’m keeping it. You can either be a part of it’s life or not—up to you—but I’m going to be a mother.”

Xavier releases Jorge’s shirt from his grasp and his eyes soften. “Anna . . . I. I can’t. I’m sorry.”

He steps back, and I realize he’s running from me yet again because things are hard, but I refuse to let him walk away from me so easily this time. I jump out of the car and chase him down to the edge of the gated lot where I grab his arm.

“You can’t keep walking away from me,” I tell him.

“You don’t understand, Anna. This changes everything. I came here to beg you to come back to me because I’m selfish bastard who can’t stand the thought of losing you, but now, I know I was doing the right thing to let you go. It’s one thing for me to ruin your life because you can leave me any time you want, but a baby—if it’s stuck with me, it has no choice. I won’t ruin my kid’s life. I’m too much of a fuck up to be a father.”