A question lingers in Anna’s eyes, so I fill in the gap for her. “Anna, this is Corey, the kid I’ve been training. Corey, this is my beautiful Anna.”
“Nice to meet you.” Corey reaches out and shakes her hand. “X, here, has been showing me some of his moves.”
“That’s awesome.” Anna snuggles into my side. “I’m proud of you for helping others.”
I shrug. “It’s not a big deal. Besides, bringing the kid here is the reason Tension took me back.”
“You’re not back, yet. The kid still needs to prove he’s worth the shot he’s been given.” Mr. Silverman’s voice cuts between all of us.
The appearance of our boss causes all of us to stiffen a bit.
I haven’t spoken to him since the night he got me out of jail and he told me to stay away from this place for three months. He’s probably not too happy about me defying that demand and weaseling my way back here much sooner.
The boss’ grey eyes flick to me. “I’ll be expecting a demonstration of these skills after the show tonight.” Corey’s grin widens, but I can tell by the tone in his voice there’s a huge catch coming. “If he doesn’t impress me tonight, you are to leave the building immediately and I don’t want to hear another peep from you over the next two months while you finish out the remainder of your suspension in Detroit.”
That’s a steep penalty, but I’m willing to take that risk, because I know what Corey can do. “And when he impresses you, I want to be fully reinstated and I want to move my match up with Rex to the next live Tension event.”
He narrows his eyes into tiny slits. “Done.”
I fight back the smile that’s threatening to expose how happy I am because I know after tonight, Rex’s ass is mine.
The arena is eerily quiet as I step into the ring with Corey. The only people in the huge room are the two of us, with Mr. Silverman and Chip Seabourne sitting in the stands, waiting to judge Corey’s talent level.
“All right,” Mr. Silverman calls out. “Impress me.”
“You heard him, kid. Make me look good and help us both out.” I shake my shoulders loose and rock my neck a few times. “Now, come at me exactly how we practiced at Tough’s.”
Corey nods, and just like every other time we’ve ever stepped inside the ring, the playful demeanor he typically sports is long gone and is now replaced with an expression of pure determination.
We both are on our toes, anticipating the other’s first move, when Corey strikes first. He slams into me, attempting to twist me around and get me in a simple neck hold, but I get out of it easily before shoving him away. “You got to do better than that. He wants to be impressed, remember?”
Corey gives me a slow nod, and then comes back at me with three times as much force. It’s like a fire has been lit under him because the way he’s moving shows hunger and the need to prove himself.
I give in this time and let him get a few holds on me, not because I’m giving it to him, but because he’s putting on a hell of a show and deserves for me to help make him look good.
Corey grabs my arm and tosses me into the rope rings, where I bounce off of them and then run straight into his clothesline. His forearm collides with my chest and an audible crack echoes around the arena, and I have to admit it stung like a million bees shoving their stinger in my skin at once.
I lay there on the mat, and Corey bends down to grab me by the hair of the hair and pull me back up to my feet.
He draws back as if to punch me, but my boss orders, “Enough!”
Corey releases me and we both stand there in the middle of the ring with our hands by our side while Chip and my boss whisper amongst themselves.
“What do you think they’re saying?” Corey asks in a hushed tone.
I shrug. “Beats me. I gave up trying to figure out how these upper level think a long time ago.”
Finally Chip nods as if he’s in agreement and then both men face toward us again.
The owner of the company pushes himself up from the seat. “You’re in, kid. Be over at the training facility in Dallas next Monday