Freddy grins when he notices me. “What’s up, X? I saw your name on the roster today. I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay gone too long. It’s good to see you. Rex is about to get on my last damn nerve bragging on how he’s taking the belt from Brian, and now that you’re here, hopefully he’ll shut his damn mouth.”
I laugh. “Don’t even trip, Freddy. Rex may have the belt for a minute, but you know I’ll be coming for his ass as soon as I’m allowed back in that ring. I didn’t quite get to finish the job last time.”
“We’ll see about that,” Deena cuts in as she passes by Freddy and me with a wicked smile as she makes her way inside the building.
“She’s such a fucking bitch,” I mutter when the door closes behind her. “Why in the fuck did I ever mess around with that?”
“Beats me,” Freddy answers. “No piece of ass is worth her shit.”
God is he ever fucking right about that. She’s been nothing but a fucking headache since I slipped her my dick.
“Yo? You tapped that?” Corey asks as he flanks my side with an expression of awe on his face. “Bro, she’s a fucking ten.”
I lift one eyebrow. “Easy, kid. That one may look good, but her bite is pure venom. Stay far away from that one.”
Corey nods with a suddenly serious expression on his face. It’s nice to see he takes my words as gospel. While I have his attention, I feel an introduction is in order. “Kid, this is Freddy, the eyes of Tension. He knows everyone and he’s an excellent judge of character. Freddy, meet Corey Trulove.”
Freddy chuckles as he shakes Corey’s hand. “I’m only about ninety percent right when it comes to people. Occasionally, I misjudge young punks from Detroit calling themselves Phenomenal X. I had that guy pegged as a douchebag, and he proved me wrong.”
I laugh. “Ninety percent? You admitting Rex was your other mistake when you told me he was a good guy?”
“He was until he got so hung up on having the world champion attached to his name.”
I shake my head as I remember when I actually considered Rex to be a friend—until he started playing dirty, and cheating his way through matches. “He changed big time, which is why I owe him another ass-kicking to bring him down a couple of notches.”
“Careful, X,” Freddy warns. “Don’t go fucking up your career. Mr. Silverman may have pulled some strings to make shit disappear for you once. I highly doubt he does it again. He’s not exactly known for being the forgiving type.”
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