The Taste Of Ink:
Rating: M for language, sexual themes.
Pairing: Cody/Randy, Cody/Various, past Cody/Ted, past Randy/John
Summary: Sequel to 'I Could Be The One'. After their rendezvous, Cody can't stop thinking about Randy and Randy can't stop thinking about Cody. But both men soon find out that it's not just as easy as being together.
Disclaimer: I do not know any of the workers of the WWE personally, nor am I affiliated with them in any way. This story is a work of fiction. I make no profit whatsoever from this story.
Chapter 1:
Cody Rhodes walked into the small bar that was packed to the brim with his co-workers, the noise travelling from out of the small bar to the street. It was the last Raw before Wrestlemania and it was a tradition for the company to buy out a local bar for the night, which gave the superstars a chance to relax and be themselves in public situations they normally couldn't be. He glanced around the small area at his fellow wrestlers, most of whom were in various states of drunkenness, some were significantly worse off than others. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of his co-workers he was particularly close to wave at him and gesture him over.
He closed the relatively small gap between himself and the former WWE champion, feeling the older man's tattooed arms wrap around him and felt a soft kiss to the side of the head once he was close enough, a small smile growing on his lips. "Hey babe." The older man smiled at him.
"Hey Phil." Cody smiled, ignoring the stares that were burning into the back of his head as he leant into the embrace of the self-proclaimed 'best in the world'.
"I got you a drink." Phil beamed, dropping his arms for a moment as he reached around behind him and handed Cody a small glass that looked like it contained his favourite drink; Jack Daniel's and coke.
Cody took a sip and smiled even larger; it was his favourite. "You know me too well. Thank you."
Phil smiled again at him, hand reaching down to squeeze Cody's soft hand, turning back around to continue the conversation he was having with his Wrestlemania opponent before his on-again, off-again boyfriend had entered the small establishment. Cody and Phil, or CM Punk as was his wrestling name, had been somewhat of an item since just before the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view of last year, an unexpected coupling since the two had barely spoken a word to each other until their first night together; a night that was nothing short of amazing and left the two men desperately wanting more of each other. Although their chemistry was hard to deny, they had never made the leap from friends with benefits to relationship and tended to find themselves in the beds with others.
This is exactly what had happened last week when Cody found himself in his former mentor's locker room, seducing him and bending over and taking all that the older man had to offer. The rendezvous had left a lasting impression on Cody, his mind continually drifting back to that moment of passion, desperately wanting a repeated session sooner rather than later, even hours later when he found himself in the exact same position with Phil, all he could do was picture Randy. He looked back at Phil, who was too engrossed in his conversation with his opponent, The Undertaker, to even look at him, something that should have upset him more. He lifted the small glass that contained his alcoholic drink and took another sip, trying to somewhat numb the pain of being ignored like that.
He glanced around the bar once more, taking more notice of exactly who was in the bar and what they were doing. His baby blue eyes were immediately drawn to a booth that was right over in the far corner, a booth that unfortunately contained his ex-boyfriend and his current fling. He felt a hard stab of jealousy as he looked over at Ted and Mike, who were all over each other. It had been a while since he and Ted had broken up, but it was certainly not enough time to get over who he thought would be the love of his life and the fact that he was still with Mike only hurt his heart more.
"Cody?" He heard Phil's voice call out loudly and turned back around to look at the older man, whose eyebrows were furrowed with concerned. "What are you looking at?" He asked, eyes tracing what he believed what Cody's eyes were lingering on, a realization occurring when he saw that Cody's line of sight landed on Ted. "We can go if you want to."
Cody's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No, no, it's okay." He said quickly. "You stay with Mark and I'll go hang with Randy for a bit."
"Okay." Phil smiled, leaning up and pressing his and Cody's lips together in a soft, delicate kiss that not many people would expect from the tattooed, straight edge superstar.
Cody weaved his way through the mass of people and crowded tables to one almost on the other side of the bar, where he saw the Viper sitting by himself, beer in one hand and cell phone in the other. He approached the small table and took a seat. "Hey man!" He greeted cheerfully, smiling as Randy looked up at him. "Did you get my birthday text?"
"Yeah I did thanks." Randy smiled softly, locking the screen on his iPhone and letting it drop on the table with a soft thud.
"Have you had a good birthday?" Cody asked, taking a sip from his glass.
"It's been pretty lousy actually." Randy groaned. There was a moment where there was silence before the older man broke it. "How long have you been with Phil?"
Cody felt his heart beat speed up at the question. "We're not really together, more friends with benefits."
Randy nodded. "But how long?"
"Um, since about Hell in a Cell last year." Cody answered, Randy's mood making him nervous.
"Does he know we fucked last week?" Randy asked bluntly, taking Cody by surprise.
"We're not exclusive so it's none of his business what we did last week." Cody said sharply. "Why does it matter to you?"
Randy shrugged. "I thought we had a connection, is all."
Cody sighed. "Randy-"
"It's a Legacy reunion!" Cody didn't even need to turn to know whose voice that was, his head only turning when he felt an arm around his shoulders, his eyes wide as he saw Ted grinning at me. "Hey Cody-baby." He said in a sing-song voice.
Cody pulled Ted's large arm off of him. "Don't touch me."
"Don't act like you don't want me to." Ted grinned, leaning in close to Cody's ear. "There are things that I can do much better than Punk ever could." He said only loud enough for Cody to hear.
Cody rolled his eyes, pushing the larger man away from him. "What do you want Ted?"
"You." Ted smirked in the way that only months ago used to drive Cody wild. "I want you to worship my body the way you used to."
"Well you blew that chance when we broke up." Cody snapped, his patience running thin.
"C'mon baby-boy, just one more time." Ted beamed at him.
"No." Cody snapped.
"C'monnnnn." Ted's grin grew larger.
"No." Cody snapped again.
"Oh, c'mon Cody, don't be like that." Ted pushed, wrapping his arm around the younger man's shoulders once again, only to have it moved away instantly by a pair of unfamiliar hands. His eyes narrowed when he saw it was Punk. "What do you want?"
"I kindly ask you to not put your hands on my boyfriend." Phil snapped. "And no means no DiBiase."
Ted scoffed and walked away, mumbling to himself.
"Did you wanna go, babe?" Phil asked him, looking up and seeing Randy still sitting there quietly. "Oh, hey man. Happy Birthday!" He grinned, reaching across and shaking the Viper's hand.
"Thanks." Randy answered quietly.
"Yeah, if you're finished talking to Mark we can go." Cody said quietly.
Phil had opened his mouth to speak before the loud, booming voice of Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H, echoed across the room. "Can I have all the Superstars involved in the three main events up the front please?"
"After." Phil said quietly as he made his way to the front of the bar.
Cody stood up and looked over to see the six men that were the three headline acts at Wrestlemania, standing side by side. His eyes were instantly drawn to John Cena, who looked as though he was looking at him, only to be looking behind him, directly at Randy, who was hunched over his chair, playing with his phone. "Randy!" He hissed. "Stand up."
Randy groaned and stood up, a bright red flush crossing his cheeks as he made eye contact with his ex-lover of many years. The way that their eyes connected made the same nervous flutter in his stomach from the first moment they met was still there, and he was sure it would never leave. He watched as the slightly older man smirked ever so slightly at him. He knew it was obvious to John that he was still madly in love with him; hell the blindest person in the world would be able to see that. He let out an inward sigh as their eyes stared into each other's, a connection that seemed like it wouldn't waver.
"I just want to say a huge thank you to our three main events at this year's Wrestlemania." Paul started, raising his glass slightly. "And I ask you all to raise your glasses in a toast to having the best Wrestlemania yet!"
A collectively loud "Cheers!" echoed throughout the small bar before the loud clinking of glass on glass rang through the area. After a moment, the loud chatter began again and the patrons all took their seats back down, Randy and Cody resuming their own seats.
Randy looked up as he saw his larger, muscular ex and Cenation leader heading right towards him. He took in an audible gulp as the charismatic man took a seat right next to him, much to the shock and dismay of Cody. The Viper took a deep breath as he looked at the attractive man next to him. "Hey John." He said cautiously.
"Hey!" John said cheerfully. He turned his attention to Cody, who was still watching in shock. "Hey twinky, can you give us a minute please?"
Randy couldn't help but laugh at the name he'd used. It was so John. Cody left almost immediately.
"Happy Birthday!" John exclaimed almost theatrically, making Randy's eyes bulge in shock.
"Uh, thanks man." Randy replied awkwardly. "What are you doing over here? Surely there are more interesting people to talk to."
"But it's none of their birthdays." John beamed. "And I got you a drink." He added, pulling another glass of beer from seemingly out of nowhere and handing it to the younger man. "Just have one drink with me, like we used to."
"John, stop." Randy groaned. "I can't fuckin' do this, okay? One drink is always going to lead to more and more and then we're gonna end up in bed together."
John's eyebrow rose quizzically. "I don't see anything wrong with that."
"John, you don't want what I want and it's not fair to give me false hope like this." Randy sighed. "Just take your beer and go."
"I'm not taking it and I'm not going." John said sharply. "Just have one drink with me for your birthday. Please?"
"Alright." Randy said quietly, watching as John grinned back at him. "But only one."
John lifted his glass and clinked their two glasses together, an identical grin spreading across each of their lips. Randy smiled an honest smile for the first time in a long time.
From across the bar, Cody was watching the scene unfold in font of him. Phil had turned his attentions on talking to Paul, who he was in deep conversation with, once again ignoring Cody. He felt his mouth drop open as he saw the look that John and Randy exchanged. Even from across the bar, Cody could see the twinkle in both of the other men's eyes as they looked at each other, the way that they smiled at each other, the way they sat so closely together.
A distinct pang of jealousy washed over Cody's entire body, the sensation pulled at his heart strings more than seeing Ted with Mike. He genuinely could not stop thinking about Randy in every aspect, the deep connection that they shared in the Viper's locker room left an invisible scar that would not leave him any time soon and only made him want the older man to heal him, sinking his teeth in and letting his venom into Cody's heart. The words that Randy had spoke to him earlier "I thought we had a connection, is all" repeating like a mantra in his head as well as the very obvious look of hurt on his former mentor's face, their heartache almost identical.
He felt a soft squeeze on his hand and looked down to see Phil's tattooed hand entwined with his own, although the older man was still very much involved in his conversation with Paul. He inwardly sighed; he wanted nothing more than to push Phil away, push him so far away that he wouldn't have to worry about hurting the older man. But now Phil had publicly called him his boyfriend, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He knew that when they finally left this bar, they would go back to their shared hotel room and they would have the talk and as much as he wanted to say 'no, I don't want a relationship with you', he knew he'd have to pretend to be all for it. He'd have to pretend that the sex they have afterwards was the best he'd ever had, when it pales completely in comparison to Randy. He'd have to pretend that he wanted to share a bed with Phil, when his heart wanted him to share with Randy. And worst of all, he'd have to pretend to love a man he truly didn't and might not ever.
"You ready to go now babe?" Phil asked; his conversation with one of the best world champions now over.
Cody nodded, he was too afraid to speak for fear that his mouth would vomit out the words that he held so closely guarded to his chest. He felt the older man pull him through the mass of people, their hands still entwined perfectly like they should have always been like that as they headed towards the door. He chanced one glance back at his former mentor, who was deep in conversation with his ex, a large smile on his face as the pair joked and laughed. The sight tugged at his heart strings once more.
He felt his hand drop as they walked out into the cold of the night and towards Phil's rental car. Tonight was going to be a long, tiring night.
TBC.
A/N: thanks for reading and reviewing. Let me know what you all think and if I should continue this or not. Thanks again :) GatesVengeance x