Roadmance

Chapter 2

"You fight boys?"

Is that a question or a request? Rebecca wasn't sure it was worth it to ask. As much as she would have loved to ignore the promoter and continue talking with Colby, Rami, and Kevin, there was no doubt that he was talking to her. The only other women in the hotel's dining room were hotel staff and, in the far corner, a young bride on her honeymoon who looked vaguely alarmed at the sheer number of scruffy youth who had invaded her breakfast hour.

"Yes, I can fight one of the boys," Rebecca said at last. "I was the only girl in my wrestling class and I'm used to training with boys, so I'm cool with it." Some promotions didn't like inter-gender wrestling because it could look suspiciously close to abuse, but she didn't think this particular promoter was too worried about offending his audiences.

"Good." Then he gestured at Kevin and Rami. "You fight with one of them." Before any of them could ask any questions, the promoter wandered away.

Kevin shrugged. "We'll work something out. We'll do a tag match or... no. How about a handicap match or something? I was supposed to have a singles match," he added, "so we can turn it into a handicap match pretty easy."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Rebecca finished up her coffee and stood, hoping that the boys didn't notice she had barely touched her food. "We're leaving in about an hour for the tour, right?"

Rami nodded. He seemed to be the most organized out of all of them. "Yeah. We're supposed to be at the bus by ten."

"Okay. See you then." Rebecca had been planning on having a quiet little cry of frustration before she got ready, but she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Colby following her, still chewing his last mouthful. Making the most of the included breakfast, she thought. Can't blame him for that. When the elevator arrived, she held it. "You don't have to rush," she said. "Go hang out with Rami and Kev."

Colby shook his head and swallowed, following her into the elevator. Without their bags, it was an easier fit, but still cozy. "I know. But I thought I could help."

"Help?" Rebecca echoed. He had already called his friend and was getting his money situation sorted out, so she knew he would be helping with his share of the room.

"Well, if you're fighting Kev tonight," he went on, "I thought you might want to practice. For your match tonight. I know you told the promoter you'd trained with guys, but...."

Rebecca was quiet for a minute. It was a sweet offer. Part of her wondered if he just wanted an excuse to grope her, but he had been a total gentleman all night: he insisted she choose which bed she wanted and gave her extra blankets off his, and he went into the bathroom whenever she was getting changed so she had privacy. It's been a while since I wrestled a guy, she thought. It had also been a while since she had made out with one, but she was trying not to think about that. Colby and Kevin were about the same height, even if Kevin was stockier. It couldn't hurt to practice a bit. "Sure. That would be great. Thanks." When the elevator stopped at her floor—OUR floor, she reminded herself— she stepped out quickly and blocked his way. "Go enjoy the rest of your breakfast. It's the only free meal of the day."

Colby had looked like he was going to be stubborn, but the siren song of free meal snagged him. "Yeah. I guess we can practice later," he added, "when we get back from the tour? There should be enough time before the show?"

Rebecca nodded. "It would probably be better. One hour isn't a lot of time." Gesturing at their door, she added, "I'll shower right away so you can have it when you're done. You've got your key?"

He patted his pockets quickly. "Yeah, but—" The doors started to close and Colby stepped back into the elevator. "Cool. See you later!"

She shut the door behind her and locked it quickly, going over to her bag and pulling out her toiletries. If she'd had the room to herself, she would have had everything spread across the dresser, but she didn't want Colby to feel like he was intruding. The hotel bathrobes were thin but good enough, so Rebecca undressed, shrugged into a robe, and headed for the bathroom. Normally she liked to linger in the shower, but she wanted to leave some hot water for Colby, so she didn't spend too much time on her hair. I'll just have to redo it later anyway, Rebecca reasoned.