Decided to do a double post for a couple of reasons. The first is that nothing really happened in ch. 10 LOL. The second is because this is the chapter I've been dying to get out. It's not a long chapter (I actually decided to split it up so that there wasn't 15 things to take in at one time) but it sets the tone for the rest of the story, methinks. Enjoy!

Nine Months Later

Hunter was fuming as he tried to ignore what he had just seen in the cafeteria. It would do him no good to cause a scene here. Enough of this stupid triangle had played out in the public eye already.

Perhaps Kurt Angle wasn't the damn problem. It wasn't Kurt – thank God – that had made marital vows with him. It was Stephanie. No, Kurt was definitely not helping the situation. In fact, he was downright enjoying the havoc he caused in his marriage. But, other than beating the man senseless he had no control over what went on, on his end. Clearly, bloodying and battering him didn't help, so he gave up on the man-to-man approach. He had taken it to the man-to-wife level. And he'd made himself clear.

It was him or Kurt. And Stephanie had chosen him. So, he didn't understand what he had just witnessed. Yelling at her usually elicited tears and hysterics. Logic would be totally absent and he wouldn't understand a damn thing she said. No, he needed a rational explanation from her.

Hunter picked up his selections and walked down the hallway with their water bottles in hand. Repeatedly, he told himself to remain calm and collected. That was the only way he would get the answers he needed.

He opened the door to their locker room to find Stephanie sitting on the couch examining her nails. "I was starting to think you got lost trying to find catering, baby," she joked.

Hunter's jaw twitched with his irritation. He'd just seen her blatantly disobeying his husbandly command and breaking the promise she had made to him. "I was trying to calm down," he said between clenched teeth. He slammed their door shut and was somewhat satisfied when her face fell and she looked concerned.

"Why were you upset?" She frowned.

He lost it. Stephanie was acting so innocent, as if he had no right to be upset. As if she'd kept her word to him. "What the hell Stephanie?" He asked loudly. He pointed an accusatory finger at her. "You promised me you would stay away from Kurt Angle."

Her eyes widened considerably. "I have!" She exclaimed. "Remember me kicking him in the gonads during your match at Unforgiven? That was me, driving home to you that I'd stay away from him. I did that for you on my own birthday, no less. Probably because I felt so bad about your ribs," she rambled on mindlessly.

Hunter stopped pacing long enough to give her an incredulous stare. "I can't believe you're just going to sit there and lie right to my face. I saw you hugging him just five minutes ago."

"That's impossible, Hunter," she said, laughing him off. "I was sitting here when you left to get us something to drink and I was sitting here when you came back. I didn't move in between those times."

He snorted. "So you're telling me that I don't know my own wife when I see her?"

Stephanie shook her head. This situation could get very bad, very soon. She had to tread lightly. Hunter was pissed off enough as it was. The fact that his anger was misplaced was irrelevant at this point. "I said nothing of the sort. Baby, I'm saying you didn't see what you thought you did. You've got to be mistaken." You are mistaken, she thought firmly. The fact of the matter was that she hadn't left the damn room. End of story. This argument could go around in circles, but she would not relent on the fact that Hunter hadn't seen her. They could fight all week if that's what it took, but she would not beg for forgiveness, when she wasn't guilty of the crime.

Hunter glared angrily at his wife. He knew that she did relatively well at using her charm to get what she wanted. Hell, on a good day she could tell him that the sky was purple and he might almost believe her. But, today wasn't a good day and he wasn't about to fall victim to her puppy dog eyes or pouting lips. He knew what he saw and she wouldn't convince him otherwise.

Already growing tired of this dead-end argument, he offered an olive branch of sorts. "Can't you just apologize and then never do it again?"

"No," she answered simply. "Because I didn't do anything." To physically prove that she would not budge on her story, she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest.

She and her husband were standing as close to face-to-face as was possible for them. Despite the fact that she was a tall woman, he was still taller than her by a few inches even when she was in heels.

Hunter rolled his eyes and accepted defeat. "Here," he said, handing her a water. He sat down on the couch in a huff.

When Stephanie sat beside him, he didn't put his arm around her or otherwise embrace her as he usually would. The hand that was closest to her, he decided to use to hold his water. That way, she wouldn't get any ideas about hand-holding. He didn't care if it was petty. He'd be damned if he lost their fight and his dignity, to boot. She needed to know that she couldn't just behave any way she pleased and then come to him and expect for him to shower her with love.

He wasn't swayed by her. Not even a little bit. It was Stephanie's body, hair and clothes than he'd seen pressed affectionately against Kurt Angle. Almost as if to confirm his suspicion, she had turned around to leave and ended up facing his direction. Her gaze had locked with his for the briefest of seconds. But he knew what the hell he had seen – he knew this woman and her gestures like the back of his hand.

So he was positive that she had smiled at him sneakily. Like she'd reveled in the fact that she'd been caught. Then she walked away from her forbidden companion, past her own husband and into the hallway. He had taken a few minutes to cool down. That's how she had beaten him back to their room. But, it made no sense that she was denying this. He had no idea what she was up to or why, but he was sure he would find out soon enough.