Nerdy Girl Nation (Nerdy Girl #1) (31 page)

“Bobby, a minute please?” Aaron asked Rob when he entered the secluded dressing room with Chance.

“Sure.”

Aaron and Chance sat on the couch across from Rob and got comfortable. “There are going to be a few changes tonight.”

The way Aaron spoke made Rob feel uneasy. “And?”

“After your match, win or lose, you and Chance will be in the ring when Emma enters. Instead of a gracious defeat or being presented with the belts, you are going to grab Emma and kiss her.”

“What? I don’t think she’d be comfortable—”

“I discussed this with her. This is what we’ve been building up to for weeks. Emma will take it from there.” Aaron winked at him.

Emma admitted to Rob, even before the attack, public displays of affection were difficult for her.

Why didn’t she tell me about this?

“Now, you won’t need to sneak around anymore.” A wide grin spread across Aaron’s face. “I happened to see you slip into a different room late last night.”

Rob had no response except to grin right back.

“Tonight will all work out for the best.”

“You are one lucky man, my friend,” Chance said then took a swig of water.

“Don’t I know it?”

Emma spent the majority of the night at the announcers’ table with the commentary team. Once a championship match was decided, she presented the winner with their championship belt.

A video montage and a segment with Aaron gave Emma enough time to get backstage to get ready for her match.

Emma met Millie and Cherry in the hallway. She loosened the ties to her dress and slipped it off while she flipped her heels from her feet. Millie took the dress. Cherry pushed Emma down on a chair and helped her into her boots.

“Nervous?” Cherry asked while she forced Emma’s foot into the boot.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up if I don’t get out there soon.” With the realization her match would actually happen, panic began to set in.

“You’ll do fine. You’re ready. You know. I know. Most of all, Lazlo knows.”

Emma nodded. Cherry was right. All of their training sessions flipped through her mind like an old filmstrip. They
would
do it.

“You’re right.” Emma got her other boot on and secured the ties.

“Come here.” Cherry pulled Emma up from the chair and put their foreheads together. “Tonight, Betty and Wendy are all those bitches who doubted us. We are here to show the world never to underestimate us. You ready?”

“Yes,” Emma said with a note of confidence she didn’t expect.

I can do this. I will do this.

“Cherry!” a stagehand called.

“I’ll see you out there.” Cherry brought Emma into a quick, tight hug and went to make her entrance.

Cameras were arranged in front and behind Emma to catch every possible movement.

“Here. This will help.”

Emma turned to find Kelly with a phone in her hand.

She took the phone and brought it to her ear. “Hello?”

“How you doin’, Princess?”

“Dad,” she sighed. She felt the tears well but tipped her head back to halt the fall. “I’m waiting to go out.”

“You’re gonna be wonderful. Remember to use your momentum. Don’t waste any opportunity.”

“I know, Dad.” She wiped her eyes with her fingertips. “Lazlo has drilled it all into me. I’ll do my best.”

“I love you. Call me as soon as you can.”

“I will. Give my love to everyone.”

“Just a second.” She heard the sound the phone made when switched over to speaker mode.

“Good luck, Emma!” The sound of the whole bar yelling at the same time filled her with the jolt of confidence she needed.

“Be safe. I love you.”

“I will, Dad.”

She heard her brother, Annie, and Nell yell out their love before she hung up and handed the phone back to Kelly.

“Thanks.” Emma smiled, her nerves left behind her.

“So, what you gonna do now?” Kelly asked with a wicked twinkle in her eye.

“I think I have some ass to kick.”

The familiar sounds of the electric guitar rang throughout the arena and there was no turning back.

Emma went out and stopped at the top of the ramp. The crowd erupted in a hail of cheers and hollers. She did a little spin to show off her new gear and they all seemed to approve. Her music continued while she basked in the energy ricocheting off the walls of the arena.

Instead of her usual casual walk down to the ring, she decided the time had come to show the world she meant business as a member of the Bombshell division. Emma ran down the ramp at full speed and slid under the bottom rope into the ring. She rolled and flipped herself up to stand next to Cherry. They held their hands up and played to the crowd for another minute before Emma’s music faded out.

“Go time,” Cherry said while she pulled Emma into a tight hug. “We got this.” Cherry moved back to grasp Emma’s chin and turned her head toward Wendy and Betty. “They got nothing on us. Those bitches are going down.”

“Hell yeah!” Emma squeezed Cherry tight before she slid between the middle and top ropes to stand on the apron of the ring.

The bell rang.

The match started out as planned. Cherry attempted a pin within two minutes of the start. Betty took out her fury on Cherry after a kick to the face. Things went south after that. Betty put Cherry in a submission hold she wasn’t supposed to until further on in the match. Cherry got out of the hold and tagged Emma in.

Betty tagged in Wendy and Emma realized their original plan wouldn’t work.

Time to fight dirty.

“This is how it’s gonna be?” Emma asked while the two of them stalked each other around the ring.

“I told you we wouldn’t hold back because you’re the boss.” Wendy cracked her knuckles in an attempt at intimidation.

Emma laughed. The sound didn’t go over well with Wendy, who lunged at Emma full force. Emma side-stepped and let Wendy bounce off the ropes. She wrapped her arm around Wendy’s neck from behind and threw her down hard.

“Just because I’m the boss, doesn’t mean I’m not gonna kick your ass.” Emma gave her a kick to the ribs for good measure.

Wendy got back up and they went at it. Emma got her bell rung when Wendy threw her down face first into the ring floor. When she had the strength to get up, Betty had taken Wendy’s place.

Emma didn’t let the urgency of the match dissipate and went at Betty with an unspoken rage.

Kick.

Jab.

Punch.

Slap.

Pull.

Push.

Bounce.

Jump.

One last dodge had Wendy eager to tag Betty’s outstretched hand.

Emma changed Wendy’s attitude toward her. She wondered if Betty might be impressed at Emma’s performance so far.

Their back and forth was more than a little brutal and Betty got Emma into a strong submission hold. Emma was able to reach for the rope and the referee pulled Betty off.

Emma did a quick roll across the ring and tagged Cherry in.

She caught her breath while Cherry did her best to overtake Betty at every turn. Emma turned to the crowd and raised her arms to get them hyped up. She began to stomp her foot against the apron while the crowd did the same in their seats.

Betty made a mistake and threw Cherry into the corner instead of the ropes like intended.

Cherry tagged Emma in. “Take. Her. Out.”

“Got it.”

Emma went in to spear Betty in her midsection. She bounced her hefty opponent off the ropes and clotheslined her underneath the chin when she flew back toward her. Emma flipped Betty on her stomach in the middle of the ring and set her up for the very same submission hold she put Emma in moments before. Emma twisted Betty’s legs around her own and sat down to force Betty to stretch in a way God never intended. With a secure hold under Betty’s chin, Emma pulled to force Betty’s head back. Betty’s muscles quivered beneath her and Emma bounced on her body once to increase the pressure. Betty clawed at Emma’s hands around her neck, but Emma kept her hold. A loud screech hurt Emma’s ears before Betty’s hand slapped the ring to tap out.

The bell sounded the end of the match, but Emma didn’t release the hold until the referee pulled her off.

Cherry ran into the ring and jumped into Emma’s arms. “You did it!”

The referee handed the championship belts to Emma and Cherry and raised their arms high while Emma’s music blasted over the speakers.

Betty and Wendy slunk out of the ring and Cherry followed a few minutes later.

With the belt secured around her waist, Emma went over to the announce table to commentate for the men’s tag team match.

The ringside doctor came over to ask Emma a couple of questions. Once he deemed she was fine, he handed her a bottle of water and congratulated her.

The commentators didn’t get a chance to ask her any questions when the ring announcer began to introduce the next match.

Emma took a swig of water and waited to see her man fight for a belt of his own.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Introducing the champions. From Las Vegas, Nevada at a combined weight of four hundred and sixty-seven pounds. Nick and Rick Beeeeeeeson!” The ring announcer tried his best to be enthusiastic, but everyone could tell he wasn’t thrilled to be introducing the Beesons.

Nick and Rick appeared at the top of the ramp when their music blared. The crowd gave them a mixed reception, boos and cheers came in varied waves.

“Hold on. Turn off the music!” Rick waved his belt high above his head and the music stopped. “We wouldn’t be where we are tonight without one man and we invite him to accompany us to the ring tonight. Mr. Curtis Sharp!” Rick screamed into the microphone.

Sharp walked in from the crowd, not from backstage and joined the Beesons. The three strutted to the ring like their shit didn’t stink.

Chance turned to Rob where the two were waiting backstage. “He won’t distract us. We’ve got this, boy. We’ve come too far to let this son of a bitch intimidate us.”

Chance hoped his confidence would rub off on his partner. Sharp’s presence was another challenge they would overcome.

“Introducing the challengers. First, from Atlanta, Georgia, weighing in at two hundred and forty-two pounds. Chance Rooooobiiiiicheauuuuuuuuuux.”

Chance walked out to the top of the ramp to deafening applause. He took his time walking up to the ring, high-fiving fans and taking pictures. Once in the ring, he took the microphone offered to him.

“Some of you might have noticed my partner has been missing in action this last week.” Chance turned his attention to Curtis Sharp. “There seemed to be some sort of a mix-up on whether my good buddy, Bobby, had broken the company drug policy.”

Shock wove through the crowd and within a few seconds, anger burst through. The crowd began chanting at the top of their lungs, “Bullshit!” over and over again.

Sharp held up his hand. “We know your buddy isn’t here and you can’t fight by yourself. Just forfeit the match now so we can get on with our night.” Sharp grinned and lowered his microphone.

Chance laughed and brought his microphone up to his mouth. “Every fan in this arena knows Bobby would never risk his nine years of sobriety right before a match like this. They all know the time he has devoted years to developing outreach programs and given speeches in schools across the country. His past is in the past. I for one believe in Bobby and his sobriety. Thankfully, so does Aaron Russell.” The crowd roared their approval. After a few seconds, Chance waved his hand to get them to quiet down. “Another round of tests were done and wouldn’t you know it, every single one came back negative.” The grin dropped off Sharp’s face. Chance turned to see the mile wide smile on Emma’s face from where she sat at the commentators’ table. “Mr. Announcer, I will let you introduce my partner now.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen. From Baltimore, Maryland, weighing in at two hundred and twenty pounds. The Baltimore Bruiser. Boooobbbbby Breyeeeeeeerrrrrrr!”

Bobby’s music blared louder than it ever had before and the crowd loved it. Chance noted some of the female reactions to Bobby’s new appearance. The beard suited him, made him look a bit older but also a bit meaner. The ladies would love it.