We continue to walk and a shivering homeless man looks at me. Phil is about to grab my hand, (after all, this is New York), when I walk up to the guy and give him the rest of my leftovers, I had only given the cat my salmon. I pull out my wallet and hand him a $20 bill. "You can go to Denny's just down the street and ask them to heat this up and get something warm to drink if you like." I say then walk away with Phil.
"Those were nice things that you did, not many people would have," Phil says softly. I try to hide my blush. "Aww, and now you're blushing, how cute!" he exclaims teasingly. I blush to my roots, and try not to think of the fact that we are so close, and that I can feel the heat of his body radiating off of him as his hand brushes against mine occasionally. He smiles and says, "You're really shy, why is that?" I bite my lip and avoid eye contact as I reply, "I don't trust easily, and most people don't get me," I shrug. Yeah I get it, I don't let people in easily either," his reply startles me. 1, because I was just expecting an uncomfortable cough followed closely by awkward silence like most people do around me, and 2, everyone knows Phil to be rather private about himself, especially with people he isn't close to. I glance at him and he's already staring at me, I smile shyly and nod understandingly. We walk in a surprisingly comfortable silence. We get to the door of our hotel and I notice everyone has already retired for the night. We get in the elevator and I check my phone, a few missed calls from no one important. I set my alarm and turn the volume back on. The elevator dings, the doors open, and we step out. We walk the short distance to our hotel rooms, which are next to each other as usual since his last name Is brooks and mine is bajo, and for some reason it's in alphabetical order. We both get to our doors, "Well maybe we can hang out some time, if you'd like. Good night Erica." He smiles at me then goes into his room. "Good night", I whisper as I slide my card key through the slot and walk into my room. I change into my pj's which is a t-shirt and cute little panties. I watch TV for a while before finally falling asleep at about 3 am. I wake up to my alarm, which is some random heavy metal song that I happen to like at the time, it changes constantly. I take a shower and get ready for the day. I usually go to the gym early, so not as many people are there. I get there and start warming up and stretching mu muscles. I'm in workout clothes, which is a black sports bra, black short shorts, and gym shoes. I also have my phone, ear buds, a sweat towel and water. After stretching, I do some jumping jacks then sit ups, followed by push ups. I don't notice Phil, Nicole, Brie, Bryan (Brie's bf), John (Nicole's bf), Randy, Dolph, Dean, and a few others as I head towards the pull up bar and start on some pull ups. I lose count on how many I've done as my heavy metal blasts in my ears. I stop when my arms get tired, wipe my face, take a sip and decide to run outside for a while. I head towards the door when I hear,"Hey Erica, what ya doin?" I turn and see Dolph. I just barely stop myself from rolling my eyes, lately everyone has been trying to get to know me, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I smile awkwardly, "I'm gonna go running outside. Fresh air and all. I'm kind of a loner, so it suits me anyway." I shrug, hoping he takes the hint and leaves me alone. I can see Phil doing pull ups over Dolph's shoulder and how his muscles strain while he sweats. Oh god! I think to myself. Why must he be so attractive? I let my mind wander while I pretend to listen to whatever Dolph is going on and on about. His workout routine, his diet plan, how funny he is, he just asked me out to lunch. I keep nodding, not really paying attention until that last part, and then I'm choking on my own spit. "Great cutie, well I'll get your number from Aj and call you later." He says, winks, and leaves before I even had a chance to respond. I blink a few times." What the fuck?" I mumble. "Are you really on a date with him?" I turn and see Phil," The little prick asked me while I was distracted." He smirks, "Distracted huh?" I avoid eye contact, bite my lip and nod. He chuckles lightly, "Well I was about to go running outside, if you'd like to join me?" he asks, and I hesitate, I've always been socially awkward, and I think he notices because he then adds, "We can just listen to our music and run together, that's it." I smile shyly and just nod, finally someone who gets me, I think to myself. We head out and start our run. I love running, and big cities, so this is perfect. Although nothing compares to my beloved Chicago. I take in my surroundings as we continue our run. The different cultures, the falling leaves, the noises, the traffic, the crisp air filling my lungs as I strain to warm up my body. My heavy metal drowns out everything else, and all I can concentrate on is my tunes and the man running alongside me. I keep taking side glances at him. He has to be the most handsome man I have ever seen, I think to myself then sigh deeply. It would never work because, I hardly date, like ever. I mean since I left my douche bag ex, a few years back, I've only been on 1 or 2 casual dates. I sigh again, I guess I'll be adding Dolph to that list. Well maybe something will spark. I snort to myself, not a chance in hell. He's not my type in the slightest, he looks too much like a male Barbie. He's funny, and nice enough though, maybe my loneliness is clouding my judgment. I look at Phil and he's looking at me on and off while pointing to a bench, a little ways up ahead. I nod at him and we stop at said bench just a minute later. I take out my ear buds and sit down to catch my breath as Phil does the same. I take a few sips of water and look at my phone." Hmm, an hour of running and no annoying phone calls, shocker." I mumble aloud to myself. Phil chuckles, "Who calls you, that's annoying?" Crap! I hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Um, people that I don't give a fuck about anymore. Like some friends, some ex's, the usual." I say and wait for his reply, "Your ex huh. How long you guys been broken up for?" "Long enough for me not to care. I left him like 3 years ago." He stares deep into my eyes and says softly," That's a hell of a long time to be hung up on someone. Can't say I blame him though, if I had you and lost you, I'd still be hung up on you too." I look down at my lap and bite my lip, a habit I have when I'm nervous. I can feel my face turning red, because I know he's still staring at me. He chuckles, "You're cute when you blush." I look up at him in surprise and he's smirking at me. OH GOD, that damn smirk, and the fact that his chest is naked, and still glistening with sweat has me tingling all over. I suddenly wish I was in my hotel room. My thoughts turn to my date with Dolph, whenever the hell that is and I groan. "What's wrong?" I hear Phil ask. "Just thinking about my lunch date from hell with that Barbie looking, Britney Spears back up." He laughs loud and says," If you don't like him, why don't you just cancel?" I shrug," I don't know, maybe the loneliness is getting to me." His eyes turn serious," You should only go out with someone if you genuinely like them."
"I know that. I'm straight edge for fucks sake!" I blurt out then cover my mouth as my eyes widen. He looks at me in surprise and says," Why do you seem nervous that I know?"
"No, I just didn't want you thinking I was copying you." I say and show him the 3 x's tattooed on my left wrist done in red and outlined in black. As well as the word Chicago in black cursive on my right wrist. "I've always wondered what the x's you cover up when in the ring, meant. But why my hometown?" "Because it's also my hometown", I say shyly. I look down and whisper, "We have quite a bit in common."
"Wow, I didn't know all that about you." He says. I shrug, "You're on record as the only straight edge wrestler in history and I wanted to keep it that way."
He takes my hand into his, making me snap my head up and my heart starts to race. "Thank you. You're a good person. I just wish you'd let me in a little more." I stare into his beautiful eyes and notice how olive green they look," You've gotten farther than any of the others have," then laugh and add, "Besides Glen, but even HE doesn't know every little thing about me."
"Do you and him have a thing for each other?" he just had to know, he liked her a lot and got jealous sort of easily.
Was she already taken?
