before he cheats | a.cole

thirty two

I'm pacing around my locker room after the altercation with Britt by the ring. Marina and Adam are here. Roderick comes in with Troy, Bobby, and Kyle after his match with Johnny Gargano. I have Alexa and Nikki up on my laptop on FaceTime.

"She's so going to kick my butt," I say, rubbing my sweaty hands together.

Marina says, "We're not going to let it get that far. Adam will be at ringside, I'll be in the front row. Roddy, Bobby, Kyle, Alexa, and Nikki will all be backstage ready to come running out."

I look at Marina and say, "I'm going to die. I think she knows. About everything that's happened in the past few days. I saw her look at me when I told her to stop pinning the breakup on me. I'm pretty sure she knows."

Adam says, "She would definitely say something if she knew."

I wipe my hands on my shorts and I say, "Unless she's saving it for the ring. She's going to take everything out on me."

"Calm down," Roderick says. "Since Adam will already be out at the ring, I can come out with you."

I look at Adam and he says, "I wouldn't mind having some extra back up already out, especially since I'll be down from my match."

I nod and say, "Okay. Roderick will walk out with me to the ring."

Adam looks at me and says, "Come here." I walk over to Adam, who sits on the couch. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me onto his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. "You'll be okay. Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm around."

Sighing, I say, "I know. I'm just worried."

"I know you are," Adam says. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Angelina."

I close my eyes and begin to relax. Roderick says, "Marina and I are going to head home with Troy. Call if you guys need anything."

Alexa says on the laptop, "Nikki and I will be over to Angelina's apartment later so we can spend the night with her."

Adam says, "I think I'm going to bring her back to my place tonight to make sure she's okay. You guys are welcome to stop by."

Nikki says, "We'll be there."

"Great," Adam says. "She can send you the address."

Alexa says, "Alright. See you both soon."

The laptop makes a noise and I look up at Adam. I say, "You better hope Britt isn't there."

He says, "I got it covered, princess. Don't worry about her. I'll take care of her if she's there."

I smile at him and get up. I finally get out of my ring attire and back into my comfy clothes. It's about ten when we leave Full Sail and close to 10:30 when we get to Adam's house. Britt's car isn't here. She's not here.

We get out of the car and walk inside.

The last time I was here was to meet Britt and she threatened me. Things have changed so much since then.

I sit down in the living room and I look at Adam. He looks around the house to make sure it's completely empty. He comes back downstairs and says, "She's not here."

"I would hope so," I say as Adam sits next to me. I quickly text Alexa the address and look up at Adam. He looks at me.

Adam takes my hands and he says, "You're really worried about the match with Britt, aren't you?"

I nod and say, "If something happens to me, I might have to give up the title."

He reaches over and wraps an arm around my shoulders and he says, "I'll stop it before it gets that far. Roddy will stop it if it gets that far. I promise you that nothing will happen to you and you'll be able to keep your title."