Disclaimer: I do not own Jay "Christian" Reso or anything that pertains to World Wrestling Entertainment. I am not profiting from writing this piece.

As Jay embraced me, I was engulfed by the smell of his cologne. I closed my eyes, wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, and took a deep breath. I was in love with that scent—I was in love with the man in which that scent belonged to; I had been for years. However, I had enough inner-strength that I could dismiss that notion…until we were alone like we were now. It was the times we spent together without his other friends, without his wife Heather (who coincidentally was my other best friend) that my emotions would get the better of me. Some days a simple smirk or a green-eyed studious gaze sent my innards into an uproar; and then all I wanted to do was proclaim my love for him from the nearest rooftop.

"Uh…AJ," Jay chuckled, snapping me back into reality, "You can let go now."

"Sorry. Sorry." I quickly pulled away, practically shoving him in my haste to give him room. "I've just missed you is all. What's it been, nineteen days?"

Jay nodded and then stepped behind me to pull out my chair.

"Well, were the phones broken in Europe?" I asked as I slowly sat down. "You could have called me, you know?"

"Geesh," Jay laughed as he took a seat in front of me. "You sound like my mother."

"If I were your mother, you would have called."

"I didn't know I meant that much to you," Jay teased with that benevolent smirk.

The nearest rooftop, here I come…

"You don't," I fired back, but I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, "but it would be nice to know that you haven't fallen on your head doing some silly wrestling move and ended up in a coma."

"Well…" He leaned back in his chair, holding his rather chiseled arms away from his chest. "It looks like I'm coma-free…If something were to happen to me, man, you'd be one of the first ones to know."

"I would? When…nineteen days later?"

"All right, all right," Jay laughed, holding up his hands, "Truce."

I picked up my dinner menu in a dignified manner and then spoke without looking at him. "As punishment for your thoughtless behavior, you should know that I will be ordering the most expensive thing on the menu."

"Is that supposed to send me running for the hills? You always order the most expensive thing on the menu."

I smiled a little, looked up at him, and stuck out my tongue.

"Well, this time I'll order seconds."

He rolled his eyes in response.

"Then how—how will my poor little bank account survive? I guess, if you put me in debt, I'll just have to move in with you and torture you for the rest of your days." He smirked, adding, "Payback is a bitch, my dear."

I bit my lower lip and nearly melted into a puddle in my chair. Jay was in rare form this evening. Grant it, he was always a loaded sarcasm pistol ready to fire, but there was something different about it now. Not only was he teasing me, but it seemed a bit like he was flirting with me. It was common knowledge that, even though he was married, he still prided that ladies' man persona he had somehow developed over the years; but he was always careful about making passes at me. Did spending all that time in Europe re-route the circuits in his brain? Did he miss interacting with me that much that he felt the need to pull at my heart strings a little bit?

I inadvertently sighed aloud as I pretended to read the menu. After countless brunches here, I had the Alonzo's menu memorized. It served as a great prop for whenever Jay made me uncomfortable…which was ninety-percent of the time.

"What's the matter, kid?" he asked nonchalantly as he glanced over his menu.

Ah, there it was—the one word that distinguished the blurred line of our relationship; the one label that potentially dashed all hopes that he was flirting with me.

"Nothing," I replied with another sigh and closed my menu.

Jay looked at me with a raised brow.

"Well, quit doing that something's-bothering-the-hell-out-of-me sigh, because then I'm going to feel obligated to ask you what's wrong. Then you'll tell me what's bothering you and it will no doubt bother me; and then my mellow is going to be completely harshed, which will ultimately cause me to resent you and your problem for the rest of the day."

I furrowed brow.

"To hell with being an ECW Superstar, you belong on the damn Divas roster."

"Hilarious," Jay snarled with a phony laugh. "How long have you had that one stashed away in your funny bag?"

"Long enough," I replied with a tense giggle.

Jay smirked and stared at me for a moment. He stroked his ruggedly-trimmed beard.

"Hi, Jay!"

I cringed. Holly. Of all the waitresses, it had to be Holly. She was one of Jay's many exes. Unlike me, she hadn't given up on the dream that the planets would align, he would get a divorce, and then two of them would run towards one another, in slow-motion, across a field of wild flowers. And Jay, well, he was dumb enough to give her the impression that she was mistress-worthy.

"Good afternoon, Holls," Jay gave her a pleasant smile.

The vivacious redhead giggled and pointlessly blushed.

"Good afternoon," she said, giggling incessantly as she reached for her ordering pad. "What can I get for you and—" She turned to me with a look of distain. A look I had seen many times—"…you're friend?"

He ignored her tone and rattled off our orders without consulting me.

"We'll have your finest bottle of Cristal. I'll have a house salad, ranch dressing on the side; and the medium-rare rib-eye steak with pasta and a sweet potato. The lady will have the lobster tail, a loaded baked potato, and chocolate mousse for dessert."

I stared at him, slightly amazed.

Holly scribbled down the order. (She probably added arsenic to mine.) She took our menus, gave Jay a smile, me a snarl, and then scampered off.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he laughed, propping his elbows on the table.

"How did you know what I wanted?"

He smiled.

"Lobster was the most expensive thing on the menu. And since you're so hell-bent on draining me dry, I figured I might as well throw in a little dessert."

"That's all well and good, but I'm allergic to shellfish."

"Oh," he said, "Well, that could pose a problem, couldn't it?"

He threw up his hand to get another waitress over.

I laughed. "I'm kidding."

Jay feigned a hurt expression and slowly lowered his hand.

"Ashley Jean Papadakos. Why would you do that to me?"

"Because," I replied in an indifferent tone as I too rested my elbows on the table, "I hate how well you can read me…sometimes."

He shrugged. "Eh, it's a gift. I aced Female Body-Language 101 in college."

I rolled my eyes. "I know…I was your wingman, remember?"

Jay nodded, chuckling. "And what a shitty one you were."

"Well, it's not like you helped me out, either," I laughed. "You gave Adam the wrong dorm room."

Jay nodded, knowingly.

"I gave him the wrong room on purpose. As much as I love him, Copeland was not the guy for you. Trust me."

"According to you, neither was John, Kurt, Dean, Brad, or Micah."

"God, you were such a whore," he said with a crooked grin.

"Well, if you hang around someone long enough, they eventually rub off on you."

Jay huffed in response. "I most certainly was not a whore."

I snorted. "You're probably right. I mean, any man could have a bottom drawer dedicated to an array of mixed-matched bras."

Jay let out a hearty laugh and leaned back in his chair. He ran his hands through his bleach-blonde hair and flashed me a huge grin.

"Man, I've missed you."

"Awww, I feel loved."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt the atmosphere in the room change. The lightheartedness seemed to dissipate.

Jay stared at me for a moment; his green eyes darkened slightly, and then his smile twisted into a slight smirk.

"Yeah…something like that," he said.

Jay lacks a certain level of maturity, so usually during our long brunches I have a tendency to tune him out while he's engaging in a mostly one-sided conversation. He often spouts pointless monologues about his idiotic antics during his travels. All I have to do is smile and nod occasionally. He never notices a difference.

"Umm, AJ," he whistled, waving a hand in front of my face.

I blinked; slightly surprised that he was actually expecting me to participate in whatever it was he was babbling about. Wait, what had he been babbling about? What was the last thing he had mentioned? Wasn't it something about flushing the toilet while Chris had been showering? Or was it about how he locked Chris out of their hotel room while he was in his underwear? No, that was last week's story…wasn't it?

"Have you heard anything I've said?" Jay laughed at my blank expression.

"Honestly…you lost me after you asked if I wanted more wine," I admitted, looking down at my half-empty dessert cup.

"That was twenty minutes ago."

"So it was," I nodded.

Jay chuckled, shaking his head as he took a sip of wine.

"I was telling you about Thanksgiving plans."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "so you might want to pay attention."

I laughed out of embarrassment, "Agreed."

"Chris and Ro-Ro are planning a huge meal at their house tomorrow; and then we're all taking his kids to the beach. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Are you in?"

"I don't know…Do you think that's a good idea?"

Chris Jericho and I were civil toward one another, but he wasn't exactly fond of me. He had never disclosed the reason why, but I knew. Jay and I were close…too close and to the point where it could ruin his marriage if Heather suddenly became uncomfortable with the two of us spending so much time together. Chris didn't want his closest friend to have to start over the way he had to. I understood that so I wisely kept my distance whenever Jay asked me to accompany him to Chris's holiday gatherings.

"It's a great idea. You, me, Heather, Chris, Ro-Ro—we're family. You can't have a proper Thanksgiving if one of us isn't present. Plus, it would be real shitty of me to leave you alone on the holidays."

I looked at him, but I didn't answer.

Jay leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

"If you don't go, then I won't go."

"Now you know you couldn't do that to Chris."

Jay nodded, adamantly.

"Oh yes I could…I get tired of him calling me a moron in some form or another. Plus, it's safer this way. Remember three Christmases when I accidentally knocked the tree into the brand new high-definition television set he had just set up?"

"If memory serves me correct, I was the one that shoved you into the tree."

Okay, so that was probably the other reason why Chris didn't like me. That was a pretty expensive television; and Jay had difficulty replacing it because he couldn't find a duplicate that matched Chris's specifications.

"That's not the point…I'm a walking hazard sign. So I could easily take a trip to the emergency room with or without Chris present."

I eyed him.

"So, you're saying you would be willing to give up quality time with your wife and your friends to spend Thanksgiving watching slasher movies with me?"

"Yep," he replied without hesitation.

"That's slightly comforting. Odd, but comforting…I would never ask you to do that, though. I know your time at home is precious."

"You're not asking. I'm giving you my time."

There was a lump in my throat; one so big that it felt as though no oxygen was getting past it.

Jay sighed.

"Look, if you go with me to this, then I'll go with you next year. I'll buy us a couple of plane tickets, we'll fly out to Toronto, and I'll sit with your chain-smoking grandma and hear all about how I should be helping you find a husband."

I looked down at my empty dessert cup. When had I finished my chocolate mousse? I shook my head, as if to answer my own question.

"Still no, huh?" Jay asked with another sigh.

I gazed into his eyes. They had a desperate look in them. Why the hell was he pressuring this? Usually, when I said no, he let it be. What was different about now?

Against my better judgment, I once again found myself relinquishing to his charm.

"Nana's not a chain-smoker…That was Pappy," I replied softly, "and what time am I supposed to be at this thing?"