12
A while after Wraith and Cyrus left her hotel room, Holly sat alone trying to figure out what she was going to do. A knock came at the door and Holly opened it, finding her cousin/best friend standing with a bag of food and a sympathetic look.
“Wanna talk about it?”
Holly ran into her cousin’s arms, crying. “I screwed up, Isis. I really screwed up.”
Isis led her back into the hotel room. “What did you do?”
“I had sex with Colt.”
Isis looked confused. “Isn’t casual sex your thing?”
Holly sat on the bed and looked up at her with big sad doe eyes.
“Oh, no. You really haven’t had sex before, have you? Well… until now.”
“No. I lied. All of it. Everyone in LA used to tease me about it. Back home in Tennessee, everyone called me a whore and said I slept with the entire football team. So, I lied so people wouldn’t make fun of me anymore. That way I controlled the stories, not them. I lied to you and everyone. I didn’t want you to think I was a loser. I wanted to wait for the man who I married and loved.”
“That’s nice, Holly. You can still do that. Was it… nice? With Colt?”
Holly scrunched up her nose. “Not exactly.”
Isis sat down next to her. “What do you mean?”
“It hurt. A lot at first. But… It was good after. He made me have my first… ya know.”
Isis giggled. “So now you’re the shy one?”
“Okay. So, he gave me my first orgasm. It was…” Holly blushed and looked away.
“Awesome? I had my first one with Gage. I thought I had before with Walter, but until Gage, I guess I didn’t really know what it was.”
“That’s what happens when you date a guy named Walter,” Holly teased. “So, you’re really getting married on the show? I thought you would kill each other before he finally admitted he loved you.”
“Yep. At least it’s a real wedding. Not some crazy wedding in the ring. I convinced Davis it would be more believable if it were from a secure location. We will pre-tape it for the show. I didn’t want fans booing us on our wedding day.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Still my maid of honor?”
“Sure.” Holly looked like she would cry.
“For what it’s worth, Holly. I never believed you were sleeping around.”
“Thanks, Ice.”
The girls leaned their heads against each other, holding hands. Exactly how they did since they were kids being bullied. It was their way to comfort each other. They sat in silence while Holly tried to gather her thoughts.
***
Walking into the stadium, Holly didn’t know how she was going to fix this. With every second that passed, she became angrier and angrier at Sam and Davis for deceiving her. They brought her into their sick games. It was typical for the IWX roster to fall victim to Davis’s twisted plots, but she was the new girl on the block. This was all new to her. It felt personal, even though it was just part of the way IWX worked.
Going to the Retribution locker room, she could hear the guys talking inside.
“I won’t let that bitch win tonight. Holly thinks she can mess with me. She has no idea how big of an asshole I can really be.” Colt sat on the bench rubbing his stubbled chin.
Trent laughed. “Well, at least you got a piece of ass last night.”
Chris and Dustin laughed while Trent said if Colt didn’t want her, he would take a turn. They all continued their vulgar comments about her body and sex.
It reminded her of every person who humiliated her over the years. Holly could always handle herself in these situations. Any other time she would have walked in and beaten all of them to a pulp, but she wanted their approval. Now Holly realized the group of men saw her as nothing more than trash. While normally hardened enough to fight, tonight she just didn’t have a fight in her.
Colt joked. “Too bad she is such a pain in the ass. I wouldn’t have minded going for round two. She knows how to ride a di…”
Holly opened the door, looking very hurt. They knew by the look on her face she heard them.
Hearing them talk that way about her was embarrassing, and it had been some time since she had that feeling. The entire roster probably heard the news and thought she was a slut. It was starting all over again. Every time she thought she could start over fresh, a new group of tormentors started it all over again. She thought she would never get past the bullying no matter where she went.
They all got quiet and looked over to her sad eyes. Holly sadly walked over to Colt, laying his jacket across his lap. Her lip quivering and her eyes red, trying to hold back tears.
Head down, she got out the words, “I’m sorry.”
The words were like venom to her. She never apologized to anyone. She walked back out of the room with her head held low, just like she felt. Holly ran down the hall to the parking garage. Falling to her knees, crying, she realized she was sick of having to be the tough girl. She just wanted to be the real Holly. The person she used to be. She lost the woman deep inside the anger and pain.
***
Colt looked over at the other guys. What was that? A moment of remorse? Colt got angry at the thought she was playing games with his head.
“She’s trying to get me to let down my guard. Does she think I’m going to go soft on her? Anyone who steps in that ring is fair game. Holly included.”
Dustin sat down next to him. “So, what’s the plan? You know we can’t go down to the ring to help you. Davis is going to send in some henchmen to help her.”
Chris thought. “Maybe not. Maybe that’s what he wants us to think. Regardless of how much of a bitch she is, she is tough. Davis probably thinks Holly can hold her own. Since she beat up those guys in the bar and all of us, he wouldn’t need anyone to help her.”
“Maybe. Let’s not take any chances.” Colt got up to go to the ring. “Let’s do this.”
***
It was showtime. Holly walked up the hallway, finding Retribution waiting for Colt to go on stage. She always wanted a chance at a major title belt, but not like this. It didn’t even seem important anymore.
Colt looked back over his shoulder to see her walking down the hall and motioned for the guys to look. “Hey, Holly. Looking good. Maybe after the match, we can go out and celebrate. The guys want their turn,” he provoked.
Holly stopped in her tracks. Colt could see in her eyes he hurt her. He thought she was still trying to play a game with him. Trying to trick him into feeling sorry for her and to drop his guard.
Colt's music started, and he headed to the ring, forgetting the look in her sad eyes.
Next Holly’s music played. Walking down to the ring, she still hadn’t decided what to do. Take the fall or get the title. Thinking about Slade, Candy, Davis, her brothers, Isis, and Colt; her mind was swimming. Once in the ring, Holly looked into his eyes. His words over the past few hours ringing in her ears. At that moment, she knew what she had to do.
The match started, and she went full force for Colt, hitting her signature spear. He landed hard on the mat in a thud and Colt looked up at her in shock. He wasn’t expecting her to go at him so hard from the start.
***
Backstage Cyrus and Wraith were watching on the monitor.
“I told you she wouldn’t take a fall, Wraith.”
Wraith sighed. “I know. It’s just the start. There is still time. She’ll do the right thing.” Under his breath saying, “I hope.”
***
Colt and Holly fought back and forth for most of the match. She had hit him with a few hard hits, showing him she could stand up for herself. She was not weak in any way. Colt was not going easy either, and Holly was feeling it.
At one point they had got outside the ring. She frog splashed him from the top rope onto the floor near the announcer table. They were both on the floor and Holly struggled to get over to him. At this point, he was just laying there a second to get his breathing back to normal. She leaned over him so only he could hear her pleas.
“Colt. Finish this. Get me in the ring. I’m hurt.”
Colt looked up, confused. Either Holly was messing with him or she was really hurt. She rolled over as if she didn’t have enough in her to keep going. Looking toward the stage, she saw Davis standing there with Sam and The Alliance bodyguard, Breaker, coming to help her.
“Colt, now! Move your ass, pretty boy. Finish this.”
Colt looked up, seeing Sam rushing toward him. He got up just in time to dodge him and launched the smaller man over the barricade. Colt grabbed Holly, throwing her in the ring. Breaker came at him and Colt threw him into the ring post to daze him. Once in the ring, Colt hurried to hit his finisher. Holly acting as if it really hurt her, Colt rolled her over, pinning her quickly to end the match by count-out.
Davis stood at the top of the stage fuming from seeing his team fall short once more. He had no idea what it would take to defeat Colt and Retribution. He stomped around for a second and stormed off stage.
Sam was down on the main floor hitting the mat like a kid having a temper tantrum. Colt found it sort of amusing that Sam thought he could even attempt to get anywhere near the ring during a fight. As hard as Sam tried to pretend to be any sort of wrestler, he was still just a fanboy.
Colt celebrated his win while the referee helped Holly out of the ring. He looked over at her with a hint of remorse. If he hurt her, he didn’t know if he could handle the guilt.
