A/N: Thanks for reading. Special thanks to ghost303, wweanddegrassi, JeffhardyChicka365, Ashleymcd25, and PassionWriter101 for reviewing. Super special thanks to TheGirlInthePinkScarf, Nom-D. Ploome, and heartbreakrollins for being so awesome. I've been so busy with work that I've fallen behind on updates. Slowly, but surely, I'm catching up. Please forgive the delays.
LATER THAT DAY
After the surprise therapy session, the couples had gone their separate ways to hash out whatever problems Penelope pointed out.
John was having the hardest time. He expected the so-called therapist to give him advice on how to move forward after his break up with Kiana. All she did was listen and ask questions. She didn't really give any suggestions.
He didn't know what to do; instead of spending time on the white sand beaches, John went back to the bungalow that he was still sharing with Kiana. When he walked in, Kiana was sitting in the bed with her laptop. John suspected that she was watching an online movie.
Since their breakup, John and Kiana hadn't been speaking to each other. There had been an awkward silence between them after the blow up; that's why John was surprised when Kiana actually spoke to him.
"So what did you guys do?" she asked without looking up from her laptop screen.
John sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "It was a therapy session. A lady came and talked to the couples and me," he said.
Kiana looked up at him. "Couples therapy? Really?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. It was weird because I was by myself, but it was sort of helpful, too," he said.
She frowned. "I had been begging you to go with me for years but you kept blowing me off. Now, all of a sudden, you find it helpful?" she asked.
He sighed. "I'm not trying to start an argument. All I'm saying is that it was therapeutic to talk to someone and have them listen. I wish she would have given me some advice, but whatever," he said.
Kiana was baffled by him. "I've always been around to listen to you, John. But you don't want to talk to me. You'd rather talk to Liz about your personal stuff," she pointed out.
"I never said that you don't listen to me, Kiana; it just felt good to finally tell somebody how I feel about Liz," he said.
Kiana groaned and slammed her laptop shut. "I don't feel like hearing about her," she said.
"Fine. So when can I expect you to be completely moved out of my house?" John asked.
Kiana sighed. "I said I didn't want to talk about her," she said.
John chuckled. "This has nothing to do with Liz. This is between you and me," he said.
"Yeah, but it's her fault!" she yelled.
"Okay." John sighed. "Let's think about this. Do you remember when you met Liz?" John asked.
Kiana groaned but nodded.
"Do you remember what she said to you?" he asked.
She frowned. "That was years ago, John," Kiana said.
He nodded. "Yeah, it was. But I'll refresh your memory: she said, 'I'm so glad I finally get to meet you; I hope we can be friends despite my past with John'. Remember?" he said.
Kiana sat silent.
"Of course you don't remember. She tried to be nice to you. You're the one who caused all the drama. At first, it was understandable because you didn't know her; but now, it's just immature and stupid," he said.
Kiana shook her head. "Whatever, John. Don't blame me for this! You have always defended her; Liz can do no wrong in your eyes! She fucking cheated on you, John! With your best friend, at that!" she said.
John sighed. "You don't know what you're talking about! Liz never did anything wrong to me! If anything, I fucked her over by staying with you as long as I did," he said as he walked out of the bungalow; leaving Kiana by her lonesome.
oOo
Seth and Mela quietly laid out on the beach. Neither of them knew where to start; Penelope had just told them that she couldn't see why they were even dating. It was a strange topic for the young couple to address, but they knew it had to be discussed sooner or later.
"I like you a lot, Seth," Mela started.
Seth nodded. "I like you, too," he said. "What do you think about what she said?" he asked.
Mela sighed. "I don't know. I can sorta see what she's saying but at the same time, I think we were too wrapped up in the people around us to actually work on our own relationship," she said.
Seth agreed. "Yeah. Can I ask you something, though?" he asked.
Mela sat up and got prepared to listen to Seth's question.
"I don't mean this in a bad way, but sometimes I think you're only with me to be close to Randy," he said. "It's almost like you have ulterior motives,"
She sighed. "You have to understand, Seth. He's Luke's father; I'm always going to have a connection with him," she said.
"I get that, Mel; you know I understand that, but you can't expect me to turn a blind eye to the way you act around him. It's one thing to be in contact him when it pertains to Luke, but I haven't once seen or heard you talking to him about Luke. Not once," he said.
"So what are you trying to say?" Mela asked in defense.
oOo
Liz and Randy dwelled in awkward silence much like the other couples. Until reading Randy's responses to Penelope's questions, Liz didn't think they had any problems; besides her issues with John, of course.
Liz sighed. "You would stop wrestling for me?" she asked quietly.
Randy frowned. "What makes you ask that?"
"You said it. Penelope asked what you would change and you said that you would eliminate everything that stressed me out, including you being gone all the time," she said.
Randy took a deep breath. "That's not what I meant," he said. He couldn't even look Liz in her eyes after the admission; he looked to the floor as he waited to hear what Liz had to say.
"Wait…" she started. "You would leave me?" she asked.
"If that would make you happy," he said.
"What the world would make you think that I would want you to leave, Randy?" Liz asked angrily.
He sighed. "I see how you look at John, Elizabeth. I'm not dumb. He tip toes around me like he's scared to say something to me. I know you two have a past; I thought I knew all about it, but apparently I don't. The fact that you let Kiana get to you makes me think there was way more than just sex between you and him," he said angrily.
"But you have a baby with another woman, Randy! All I have an ex-boyfriend. If anything, I should be trying to leave you! I have been nothing but a faithful wife to you, Randy! So, for you to sit there and tell that woman that you would leave me to make me happy is bullshit! If you don't want to be in this marriage, I have no problem with helping you packing your shit!" she shouted.
Randy sat on one of the chairs in the room. "I don't want a divorce, Liz. I just can't sit and hang out with somebody who has fucked my wife! I can't do that; mine and John's friendship is going to shit because of it," he explained.
Liz scoffed. "So your friendship is more important than our marriage? Our lifelong commitment we made to each other in the presence of God takes a backseat to your friendship with the same guy who let his girlfriend talk shit about your wife?" she asked rhetorically.
"Shit, Liz. When you say it like that, you make me sound like an inconsiderate ass," he said.
"That's because you are," she said as she marched out of the bungalow.
oOo
Wade and Parker laughed as Wade tried to make perfect foot prints in the sand; Parker was purposely making him mess up the impression.
"Enough of that travesty," Wade said. "So, two weeks…" he said.
Parker grinned as she thought about her anniversary. "I know! I'm so excited. In case you didn't know, the traditional gift is paper for the first year," she said.
He frowned. "I'm not going to get you a paper gift, Parker," he said.
"Uh, cash is paper!" she said.
He laughed. "That's so impersonal. Plus, how do you know that I haven't gotten you a gift already?" he asked rhetorically.
Parker gasped and stopped walking. "You already got me something?" she asked excitedly.
Wade mimicked a zipper across his lips.
"Tell me! You don't have to tell me what you got, just say yes or no," she negotiated.
He ignored his wife's excitement and kept walking through the sand, resuming his previous goal of making perfect footprints in the sand.
"How do you think the therapy went?" he asked.
Parker shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really know what the agenda was, so I can't rate it," she said.
"I meant what I said about loving you, Parker. I had no idea that you felt that way. Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.
"I guess I just didn't want to put pressure on you,"
He chuckled. "I'm your husband, darling; you can pressure me all you want. Plus, showing affection isn't pressure, it's a requirement in marriage, is it not?" he asked.
Parker laughed and nodded. "I guess," she said. "I wonder how Liz and Randy's went," she thought out loud.
"Looks like we're about to find out," Wade said as he nodded toward Liz who had decided to sit under one of the beach umbrellas.
Parker sighed; her friend definitely didn't look happy. "I'll go talk to her," she said.
Wade nodded and watched his wife walk off.
"Hey, Liz," Parker said as she approached the somber-looking woman.
Liz forced a smile. "Hey,"
"What's going on?" Parker asked as she sat down.
Liz shook her head. "Nothing. I'm fine," she lied.
"Okay. This time, let's try telling the truth," Parker said.
"I don't want to dump all my problems on you. You're out here enjoying the beach with Wade and I don't want to mess that up," she said.
"Are you sure?" Parker asked.
Liz nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine," she said.
"Okay," Parker said as she stood to leave. As she walked back over to Wade, Wade frowned when he saw no change in Liz.
"What happened?" Wade asked.
"She didn't say it, but I know she had a fight with Randy; she's always defensive and fake after they've had an argument," she said.
Wade took a breath. "Let me go talk to her," he said.
"What happened?" Wade asked as he joined Liz on the sand.
Liz ignored him; she didn't want to talk to Parker and she definitely didn't want to talk about her failing marriage to Wade.
Wade sighed. "I promised myself that I wouldn't tell you, but there's something you should know…"
Liz frowned, but she finally gave him her attention.
"Randy and Mela have been sorta close when you aren't around," he said.
Liz scoffed and chuckled. "Tell me something I don't know, Wade," she said.
He was confused. "You knew?" he asked.
Liz sighed. "Yeah. I walked in on them a few weeks ago. I was looking for Randy at the Vegas house show; they were in his dressing room," she said.
Wade was speechless; he couldn't find the words to say. He grasped at his jumbled vocabulary until he found something. "Does Randy know that you know?" he asked.
Liz shrugged. "I don't know. It wouldn't matter, Wade," she said.
"Of course it would matter! He's cheating on you and you've seen it with your own eyes," he said.
She shook her head. "I'm no better; I'm in love with another man," she admitted.
The comment hit Wade like a ton of bricks. "Okay," was all he could say for a moment. "But that doesn't excuse him, Lizzy," he said.
"How would I look being upset at him for hooking up with his son's mother while I'm over here wishing I could be with John?" she asked.
Wade sighed and thought about her question.
oOo0
Liz was wandering around the beach; she was having an internal conflict on whether or not she should talk to John about their situation. On one hand, she would have an opportunity to face her greatest weakness head on; on the other hand, she would have to face John. Either way could end in disaster. She didn't have much time to debate because her thoughts were interrupted by her ringing cell phone; it was John.
Hey, Liz. Can we get together and talk about some stuff?
Um, sure. I'll meet you; where are you?
I'm in the courtyard-type thing behind the bungalows.
Alright. I'm on my way.
When Liz saw John relaxing in the cloth hammock that draped between the trees of the courtyard, she sighed. She wasn't sure if meeting John alone was a good idea; but the thought of the argument she had with Randy gave her confidence to walk up to her first love.
Before Liz could even say anything, John sat up and smiled at her.
"Thanks for meeting me," he said.
Liz took a breath and smiled. She didn't really know what to say; if she said what was on her heart, she would feel terrible. "You're welcome. What did you want to talk about?" she asked.
John shifted in the hammock to offer Liz a spot to sit.
She shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said with a heavy breath.
John understood what she meant. "Is he supportive?" he asked referring to Randy's support of Liz and her sex addiction.
Liz shrugged. "I guess," she said softly.
John chuckled. "I'll take that as a no," he said. "You can always talk to me if he won't listen," he offered.
"Don't do that," she said.
He frowned. "Do what?" John asked.
"Don't compare yourself to Randy; don't make this harder than it already is," she clarified.
"I love you," John said suddenly.
Liz gasped and turned her back to John to compose herself. John leapt from the hammock to approach her.
He gently grasped her arm and turned her around to face him. "I'm in love with you, Liz," he said again.
Liz's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head in disbelief. "You can't do this to me! You can't just tell me that you love me! I'm married!" she sobbed.
"Tell me you don't love me and I promise I'll never tell you again," he said.
Liz took a shaky breath and looked up into John's baby blue eyes. She threw care to the wind and threw her arms around his neck to bring his lips closer to hers in a heated kiss.
John kissed her powerfully and pushed her towards another hammock. By creating a makeshift lift with his hands, John hoisted Liz into the low-hanging hammock and joined her.
His large body enveloped her as she writhed beneath him in an attempt to wiggle out of her athletic shorts. John leant a hand and swiftly snatched the shorts from her body.
Liz moaned when John palmed her heat. Her fingers pressed hard against his body as she tried to grasp his t-shirt. He aborted his mission and rose up to pull his shirt over his head just as he did in the ring on a regular basis.
The mistress was in awe of her lover's body; his body was something by which Liz was always amazed. Her quivering hands gently caressed his shoulders, chest, and stomach.
John smirked and kicked off his pants only to attack Liz's neck with his tongue and lips.
Liz expected to feel guilty, but at that moment, John's body and movement was all she felt.
A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE! With work and school, I've been swamped. Please forgive me. I can't promise another update anytime soon, but I promise you that I will finish this story. I love you all and I'm so thankful for the support. Please review!