Wrestling Desire 2 (A Contemporary Romance) (2 page)

“Em, what the hell?” Holt protested with his arms held out.

“Derek is hurt,” she replied.  “Get back in the ring.”  With this match being no disqualification there was only one way for it to end…by pin fall.  Which meant, even injured Derek would need to finish what they’d started.  For a moment, Holt didn’t move. “Please,” she begged.

Holt frowned, but stepped away from Derek and slid under the bottom rope back into the ring to wait.  She turned her attention to Derek, where Bryan was already talking to him.  “What happened?”

“My knee,” Derek grimaced as he held his leg.  “Something gave.”

“Do you think you can walk?”

Derek shook his head.  “I think it’s really damaged. Just laying here the pain is incredible.”

“What are you going to do?” Bryan asked.

There was only one logical answer, but one thing Emma knew about wrestlers…they weren’t always logical creatures.

After several moments Derek let out a long suffering sigh.  “Lose.”

His one word statement brought tears to Emma’s eyes.  He had to be in a lot of pain for him to make such a decision.  “Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.”

“No, it’s bad.  I felt the tear.  There’s no way I can win on only one leg. Now help me back into the ring,” Derek instructed.

With Bryan, Emma helped Derek up to one foot.  “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

He looked down at her with resolve in his eyes.  “I don’t have a choice.  I don’t know what I did to my knee, Em, but I know it’s bad. Even if we stop the match I’ll end up having to give up the title because I can’t defend it. I’d rather lose to someone who deserves it and can defend it than to have to walk away from it.”

His statement created a mix of emotions inside her.  For the first time ever Derek made his respect for Holt known.  Too bad it happened under these circumstances.  Never in his career had Derek thrown a match.  For him to do so now, with the championship on the line meant he knew the seriousness of his injury.  With Bryan’s help she eased Derek forward and helped him roll back into the ring.  Holt looked up at her, confusion in his gaze.

“He’s injured. Finish him now,” she mouthed.  It didn’t matter that there was still another ten minutes to this match.  Derek couldn’t put weight on his knee as it was.  No way would he manage an
o
ther ten minutes.  With a nod of understanding, Holt turned his attention back to Derek and Emma raced around the ring to Paul the show coordinator.  She leaned up and spoke directly in his ear.  “Derek is hurt and Holt is going to pin him.  Tell Jill to find a couple of wrestlers to volunteer for a quick bonus match.”

A brief moment
of
panic lit in his eyes before he began speaking into his headset.  Emma turned back just in time to see Holt pin Derek and take the championship.  A cheer went up from the crowd and the bell rang.  Holt raised his hand in victory then walked to the corner of the ring to accept his championship belt.

Ignoring him, Emma hurried around the ring and stood waiting as Bryan helped Derek out under the bottom rope.  She slid beneath his arm, taking some of Derek’s weight as he eased down onto his good foot.  His face a mixture of pain and sorrow, he turned to her.  “Thank you.”

She gave him a sad smile.  “You’re welcome.”  Bryan joined them, sliding under Derek’s other arm.  No matter what transpired between them for the sake of the show, they were still a family when it really counted.

They’d only made it a few steps before Holt yelled.  “Wait.”  Emma glanced up in time to see Holt appear next to her. He looked from her to Derek and Bryan, then slid the championship belt off his shoulder and held it out.  “Emma, you carry this and I’ll help Derek.”

She stepped away from Derek and accepted the belt and with pride in her heart watched as for the first time ever, her boyfriend and her brothers worked together.  Depending on the severity of Derek’s injury it might be a long time before this type of event happened again. Worse yet, his injury meant he might be off the circuit for weeks or months.  While she loved Bryan they’d never been all that close.  If Derek had to leave it meant that for the first time in her life she’d be without her safety net.  

Emma glanced out
the
window and tried not to cry. This couldn’t possibly be happening.

She’d spent most of the past week on airplanes, bouncing between work and the hospital and was more than a little exhausted from the stress.  She’d been with Derek for the diagnosis on his knee.  She’d flown back to work for the live show, then the next day flown home for his surgery. 

Now less than a week later she sat in the living room of the home she’d grown up in and stared at her brother in disbelief.  “You’re just in shock.” 

Derek shook his head.  “This isn’t shock, its reality, Emma.”

Tears welled in her eyes and she did her best not to cry like a little girl.  “But Doctor Ericson said you could eventually return to wrestle if you wanted to.”

Derek rested with his knee upon the couch.  His gaze dropped away from her to the cast on his leg.  “Maybe I don’t want to.”

She didn’t know who this person was in front of her, but it wasn’t her brother.  He might look like Derek and sound like Derek, but he wasn’t acting like the Derek Cruise she knew and loved.  She pushed off the chair, crossed the room and dropped to her knees beside him.  “Why, Derek?”

“There are a lot of reasons why, Em.  The biggest one being that I’m not happy there anymore.”

She closed her eyes and worked to steady her nerves.  Even trying to imagine her life without Derek around every day made her heart hurt. “You’ve been unhappy before and it’s passed.  What’s different this time?”

He sighed.  “Mostly I don’t feel like there is room for me anymore.”

She took his hand in hers. “You’re the world champion.  How can there not be room for you?”

“I was the world champion.” He gave her a small smile.  “Now I’m just another in a long line of former world champions who is past his prime.  Besides, you heard how the cr
owd responded to me at the Al
Hollow’s
Eve match.  I’m vilified.”

“So?”

“So, I’ve spent my life being the good guy, the hero.  I’ve never wanted to be the villain.”

“You’re not a villain. Fans still love you.  I love you.”

He squeezed her hand.  “I know you do, bug, and maybe I do still have fans, but I also have some integrity left.  It was hard enough deliberately dropping the title to Holt without having to return to watch him flaunt it in my face.  I’m sorry, I know you love him and all, but I abhor everything he stands for.  What kind of role model is he for the fans?”

“He’s been the champion before, Derek.  Just like you.  As much as you may not want to admit this, the fans love him.”

“I know
. W
hich makes this situation even worse.”  He shook his head.  “In order to keep up with the competition Gene is letting the company slide away from its founding principles. I can’t abide by the lower standards or morals that are taking place there. Besides-” He let out a sigh. “Let’s be honest here, Em. This is a profession for the young and I’ve been doing this a long, long time.  Most of the guys I wrestled with have either retired or moved on.” He took both her hands in his and gave a small squeeze. “I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching over the past few days and as much as you may not want to hear this, I don’t belong there anymore and I’m going to retire.”

Panic welled in her chest as his resolve became clear.  This wasn’t a conversation where he was trying to decide what to do and was asking for her opinion.  No.  This conversation was his way of telling her that he’d made up his mind.  “But you can’t leave.” Desperate, she wracked her brain for some way to change his mind. “What about Bryan?”

Derek looked up and she noted the sadness in his eyes.  “Bryan is at a point in his life where he doesn’t need my guidance anymore.  He’s a great wrestler and it’s time for him to step out of my shadow and become his own man.”

“Okay, but what about me? Who’s going to be here to protect me when things get out of hand back stage and I accidentally get swept into the mix?”

His smile widened, but it still didn’t reach his eyes.  Then he lifted his hand to her face and with his thumb wiped the dampness from her cheek.  “Oh bug.  You have someone else to protect you now.  You don’t need me anymore either.”

At the sound of her nickname her heart broke.  “Don’t say that.  You’re my big brother. My protector.  I’ll
al
ways need you.”

“No you don’t.  You have Holt now.”

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t still need you.”

“That may be, but it doesn’t change the fact that Holt is more than capable of protecting you if anything gets out of hand.  I may not like him or what he stands for, but I know he loves you very much and I trust him to keep you safe.”

“But?”

He shook his head. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Emma.  I’ve made my decision.  My contract is up in a few months and I’m not going to renew.”

Emma let out a sigh and sat back on her heels.  “I can’t do anything to change your mind?”

Derek shook his head. “I’m sorry bug.  You should be happy though.”

“Why?”

“Without me around all the fighting with your pretty boy will finally stop.”

* * *

Over the next few weeks Emma struggled to adjust to Derek’s absence and the knowledge that he wouldn’t be coming back.  She and Bryan kept up their traditional breakfast and lunches, but there conversations were forced as they struggled to connect.  She loved Bryan, but being the middle child he’d faced his own struggles with finding his position in life.  Most of the time, the position ended up opposite of Emma’s, pitting them as adversaries instead of allies.  The only subject where they’d consistently been on the same side was Derek and with him gone there seemed to be nothing but biology keeping them linked.

While she struggled with Derek’s absence, it seemed that her big brother’s predictions were coming true when it came to Bryan.  With Derek now out of the picture he’d begun to bloom as
a
wrestling star, so much so that he’d aligned himself into a match for the number one contender position for Holt’s title.

Now Emma’s heart was in her throat as she stood in front of the monitor watching the match that held the potential to pit yet another of her brother’s against her boyfriend. Worse yet, for reason’s she didn’t understand Holt had taken up a position at the commentator desk while Bryan and his competition Alex Atlantis battled in the ring a few feet away. 

From what she understood from the earlier meeting, Bryan would win the match, setting himself up for a title shot against Holt at ‘Winter Heat’.   She wasn’t looking forward to yet another family showdown, but of course getting to the end of the match was the current goal.  While Bryan was scheduled to win it didn’t mean he and Alex wouldn’t rip each other apart in the process. 

“Breathe, Emma,” her assistant Jill said as she handed her a cup of water.

Emma took a deep breath and accepted the drink.  “Sorry.”

Jill laughed.  “No problem.  I just didn’t want you passing out on me.”

Emma raked a hand through her hair.  “Even knowing the outcome doesn’t make watching this match any easier.”

“Understandable considering how much you have invested.”

Now it was Emma’s turn to laugh.  “No kidding.  With the way they’re going at each other, Bryan will be a bloody exhausted mess when this is over.  Then I’ll have to worry about him fighting Holt in a few weeks.”

“I’m just glad it’s not me stuck in the middle of them two.”

Emma started to respond to Jill’s statement when movement from outside the ring had her blinking at the screen in disbelief.  “What in the hell is going on?”

Outside of the ring Alex Atlantis seemed to be purposely distracting the referee, but it was movement on the opposite side of the ring that caused Emma pause.

Jill’s eyes went wide as she stared at the screen.  “What is Holt doing?”

Emma shook her head.  “I don’t-” Her sentence ended with a gasp as Holt hopped onto the ring apron, and hit Bryan in the back of the head.  Bryan turned to face him only Holt grabbed Bryan by the hair and jumped backward from the ring.  His action pulled Bryan forward and his throat bounced off the top rope.  He fell backward into the ring and grabbed his throat gasping for air. 

Alex slid into the ring and after a well-placed knee to the shoul
der Alex covered Bryan for the p
in.  Disbelief coursed through Emma as the bell rang and Alex claimed the win. “What?”  She glanced from the screen to Jill and back. “What the hell? It wasn’t supposed to end like that.  Bryan was supposed to get the win.”

“I know.” Jill agreed.  “I do believe that I smell a rat.”

Emma did too and unfortunately for her his name was Holt Hendricks. 

Within minutes Holt burst through the curtain with the
championship belt
in his hand. His gaze locked with hers and her heart sank with the look he gave her.  From behind her Gene’s voice carried and she turned around to look at her boss.  His attention was focused on Holt. “Get your stuff gathered up and head on back to the hotel.  I’ll take care of the fall out.”