He nods. “Try it on, let’s style it and see.”
Pressing my lips together, I wait for the rest of the parts of my style to come together. I wish that I had Laurie’s stretchy little black dress. It would make all of this so much easier, but Gary and Moe both told me under no circumstances was I allowed to wear that and sit in the front row as the woman of The Louis ‘KO’ Kingston. Whatever all of that means.
Gary leaves shortly after he has approved my look, then the rest of the entourage packs up to leave as well. I’m standing in the middle of Louis’ living room watching it all happen around me, wondering how the hell I’m going to get through this night.
A knock on the door causes me to jump in the rose gold pumps that Moe assures me flow well with my dress.
Moe walks over to the door and tugs it open to reveal Shawn standing next to a gorgeous petite brunette. Shawn and his woman walk through the door, allowing Moe and his crew to leave. When they’re all gone, I lift my gaze to meet Shawn’s.
“You okay?” he asks as soon as everyone is out of the house.
Shaking my head, I inhale a deep breath. “I’m really nervous,” I admit.
Shawn smirks. “He’ll win.” He nods.
I don’t tell him that he sounds exactly like Louis, instead I just nod. Shifting my gaze over to the brunette, I extend my hand.
“I’m Tulip.” I smile.
Shawn curses as she slips her hand in mine, her lips turning up into a grin. “I’m Mary-Beth.”
“Sorry,” he grunts.
Mary-Beth shakes her head. “You’re just a big rude man, nothing you can do about that,” she says with a smirk. I can’t help but giggle at her words.
“If you girls are done busting my balls, you ready to go?” Shawn asks.
I dip my chin and together we leave Louis’ apartment. As soon as I slide into the back seat of the waiting car, my phone alerts with a new text message. It’s Hutton and my stomach’s queasiness settles.
HUTTON: HE’S GOING TO BE AWESOME. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU ON T.V.
And then like a flash of lightning, the queasiness is back, just at the mention of me being on television.
I HOPE THEY DON’T EVEN LET THE CAMERA PASS BY ME.
Typing the words, I’m not surprised at how true they really are. “I don’t mean to snoop, but I’m snooping,” Mary-Beth whispers next to me. “You are gorgeous. They’re going to focus on you, and I’m telling you this because I feel like you need to know before you go in there. Someone leaked to the press that you were Louis’ girlfriend.”
“What?” I screech.
She tips her lips in a small smile. “I know it has to be hard, but they were bound to find out. You’ll go in there in that sexy dress, your head held high and when the camera focuses on you, you’ll ignore it because the only thing in that room that matters is Louis.”
I blink, wondering where this girl has even come from. Pressing my lips together, I nod at the fierceness in her gaze. Shifting my eyes up to meet Shawn’s in the rearview mirror, he winks.
“Love you, baby,” he calls out.
She blushes and I swear it’s so cute it’s almost sickening. I sink back into the seat, closing my eyes and wondering just what the hell I’m going to be walking in to. Maybe nobody will care? Maybe they’ll just be focused on Louis and I’m just being dramatic?
I decide that I’m being dramatic. Nobody is going to give a flip about me, about some chick that Louis is seeing from Nowhere, Texas. Nodding, I sit up straight as soon as the fancy Las Vegas Strip appears.
“Wow,” I breathe as I look around at all the buildings.
I’ve never seen so many tall buildings, so many different colors, so many lights, so many people in my entire life. Sure, I’ve gone to the city a couple of times, but Gallup and Burnet have everything I need. I haven’t ventured out often, and nowhere I’ve been looks quite like this.
“Is this your first time to Vegas?” Mary-Beth asks.
Turning to her, I bite my bottom lip. “This is my first time anywhere.”
Something akin to pity crosses her face, but I brush that off. Most people think my life is pretty sad, and I have no doubt that the recent turn of events only adds to their pity, but I don’t know any different and I like how things are going. Plus, I’ve never really had time to feel sorry for myself—so I don’t.
Shawn pulls the SUV around a corner and I’m a bit disappointed to see that this side of the casino and arena isn’t all that grand. Apparently, they only put all the fancy stuff in the front.
“There’s a red carpet, but Louis didn’t think you’d want to do that whole thing. If you do, we can go,” Shawn asks, turning around to look at me.
The thought of me—me, walking on a red carpet of any kind makes me burst out into laughter.
“Well thank God, I was seriously sweating thinking you were going to say yes,” Mary-Beth whispers.
“You don’t want to go either?” I ask, turning to look at her.
She shakes her head. “It’s awful. There are so many people and they’re all yelling and taking pictures with their blinding camera flashes. Yuck.”
Huh. I never once thought to ask Hutton how she felt about that. I know that she’s done at least one awards show with Beaumont, only because I watched it on television in awe, all of Gallup did.
Together, the three of us, make our way into the back of the building. Mary-Beth and I follow behind Shawn. Our high heels won’t let us take strides quite like his, so arm-in-arm we follow behind him.
“I’m glad that I don’t have to come to another one of these alone,” she whispers. “I don’t mind going to Shawn’s fights. They’re usually low key and a good time, but these are just plain insane.”
Shawn turns to us and hands us each a name badge necklace. Scrunching my nose, I wonder what Moe would say right about now at the sight of the giant plastic necklace clashing with all of his hard styling work.
Slipping it on, I decide that it doesn’t matter. I’m not here to look good, I’m here to support Louis. I know that he’s nervous, he has to be. But I also know that once he sees me in the audience, hopefully, I’ll ease a little of that nervousness and anxiety.
The three of us walk together down a long hallway. I can hear the roar from the crowd in the arena. My entire body trembles with nervous energy. Louis is somewhere in this building. He’s getting ready to face a demon that I know without a doubt he isn’t ready to face.
He doesn’t need to face that demon alone, because I’m going to be right next to that ring cheering him on. I’ll always be right next to him, cheering him on in whatever he does. We arrive at a set of double doors and Shawn stops, turning his head to look over his shoulder at us.
“This is where Mary-Beth and I walk together and you walk with your head up to your seat. We’re sitting next to you, so just follow us, Tulip. You got this, babe.”
Lifting my chin slightly, I give him a shaky nod. My thighs are trembling, my knees are knocking, but I got this or at least I’m going to fake it with every single step that I take toward my seat until I can collapse down on my ass.