I woke up the next morning to feel Seth pressed up against my back. It wasn't unusual for our chat sessions to end up as a slumber party. His arm was draped around my waist, our legs intertwined. I wondered when exactly we fell asleep. A half-drunk beer can sat on the nightstand. We were still fully dressed. The sun was coming through the tiny window in the bus.
"What time is it?" I muttered out loud.
Without disturbing him, I reached across to my nightstand and grabbed my phone. Shit. 7:30 am. The girls would be waking up soon.
The sound of my door gently shutting without the pitter-patter of little feet running alerted me that the camera guy had joined us.
"This isn't what it looks like." I said, turning my head in his direction.
"Sure." He told me with a grin.
"It's not."
I had no idea why I felt the need to defend myself to this man. So what if he thought I slept with Seth? It's not like he filmed our night. And if he had, he would have known that nothing happened.
I chuckled slightly. A few of my girl friends, even some in the locker room, would love to be in the position I am now. As I moved, Seth tightened his arm around me.
"It's too early." He groaned, pressing his lips against the back of my neck.
I froze. This wasn't usual. He groaned again, pulling me even tighter to him, so there was no space in between our bodies. The discomfort set in when I felt him beginning to grow hard against me.
"Wake up." I said, slapping his hip.
"Huh? What?" Seth groggily groaned.
I removed his arm and pushed him away. Not a moment too soon as I heard the girls giggling as they burst through the door.
"Morning! Uncle Seth, you stayed!" Shannon exclaimed, jumping into bed with us.
Shannon crawled over to Seth, who was now sitting up. She curled up on his lap, resting her head against his chest. Seth smiled, looking down on my eldest daughter. He wrapped his arms around her, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle.
"Momma, I'm hungry." Amy followed her sister, snuggling in between me and Seth.
"Alright, baby. What do you feel like?" I asked.
"Pancakes!" The girls cried out in unison.
"Ah, you've thought about this." I said, chuckling slightly.
"And bacon." Shannon said with a nod.
My phone started to buzz. Trinity letting me know she was grabbing breakfast at a local diner with Ariane and Jon if I wanted to join them. When I mentioned this to Seth, he grimaced.
"Oh, come on. A nice little diner with real coffee, not the instant crap i have in the cupboard. Trin says that it's all local foods too. So extra fresh eggs, sausage..."
"And a loud Ariane to annoy me and wreck my morning." Seth finished the thought.
"Fine. Ray will drop you off wherever if you don't want to join us." I said with a shrug.
"Want me to let you know which gym I end up at?" Seth asked.
I nodded. "You bet."
About twenty minutes later, I met up with everyone at the diner.
"Morning, Jessie. And I see you brought your girls." Ariane said with a fake smile.
I really liked Ariane. She could be a bit of a princess, but her sweet nature made it easy to overlook. I knew that she liked my daughters, but she just didn't have a lot of experience with children. It made her nervous.
"I didn't have anyone to watch them." I apologetically said.
"Where's Punk?" She asked.
I gave a little shrug. I know what I wanted to say, but I didn't want to say anything that would be misconstrued around the girls. "Probably on his bus."
We grabbed a table for the six of us. The girls were given crayons and coloring pages by the nice waitress that kept them occupied.
"Good match last night." Trinity told me as the waitress refilled our coffee mugs.
I grinned towards my friend. Trinity and I have been close since she was training down in Florida.
"Thanks. I think Nikki still has a problem with me, but we'll get it sorted out."
"Are you two still fighting over John Cena?" Ariane asked me.
I raised an eyebrow. "There is no fighting over John."
"Yeah, right. I saw you two before you walked through the curtain. I thought the real match was going to happen backstage." Jon joked.
John Cena and I grew up together, literally down the street from one another. He's the brother I never had. Nikki Bella had a problem with how close we are, but, in my opinion, that was her problem. Not ours.
"She was fine with when you and Punk were together. Now she sees you as a threat." Trinity told me.
I couldn't help it. I laughed. I laughed so hard that Shannon and Amy looked up from their coloring sheets, looking at me like their mother just lost her mind.
"Damn, girl. Is it that funny?" Jon asked.
"John's my brother, man. We've had each other's backs since we were kids. He's just as much brother to me as Josh is to you." I pointed out.
"Girl, Josh is my twin."
"Alright, so not down to a science, but you get what I mean." I said with a shrug.
"Regardless, I still think you should talk to Nikki before this thing blows up. You know how big of a temper the Bella twins have." Trinity suggested.
That's one of the last things I need: to have one or both of the Bellas mad at me over stupid stuff.
"I'll talk to her after the gym." I conceded.
"Girl, bye." Ariane said. "You should do that now."
"It's hardly a big deal." I dismissively said.
"If you say so." Ariane shook her head.
"Actually, I was hoping for some advice before breakfast is over." I said.
Ariane's eyes lit up. She never wasted an opportunity for gossip.
"Seth and I crashed together last night." I began.
"Girl, you slept-" Ariane's voice went up an octave.
"Shh." I admonished, looking over at the girls. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation. "We were up all night talking and he fell asleep in my bed."
"That's not unusual." Trinity slowly said.
"Right. For us, it's not. But this morning, he kissed my neck." I said.
"Oooh." Both women said in unison.
"Right."
"Obviously, you need to figure out what it meant to him." Ariane said.
Jon made a dismissive sound in his throat, shaking his head. "He was asleep, right? He probably didn't realize what he was doing."
"You think so?" I looked over at the Samoan.
"He could have been dreaming or momentarily forgot who he was in bed with." Jon told me.
"I hadn't thought of that." I said, chewing on my bottom lip.
"Jon's right. It probably meant nothing." Trinity said.
"Or it could mean something. What if it means something?" Ariane asked.
"He's one of my best friends. Never envisioned I would ever be having this conversation about him." I said.
"You'll never know until you ask." Ariane said.
She said it so simply, as if it was going to be the easiest thing in the world to do. For a moment, I wish I could switch places with her.
"Easy for you to say." Trinity said, echoing my thoughts.
"Just do it and get it over with." Jon encouraged.
"Alright, fine." I threw my hands up.
Guess it was time to put some fires out. And it's only 8:30 in the morning. What else would be coming my way?