Wade Barrett watched with some amusement as a red-faced Sheamus put on a burst of speed to beat Drew in a foot race, glancing at Molly to see if she'd noticed.
She hadn't.
He tried to keep from laughing – it wasn't very kind or decent of him, but he found the devolvement of his thirty-year-old mate into a teenage boy highly entertaining.
Molly jaunted up the stairs with her basket full of clean clothes, and Wade couldn't resist.
He nodded towards Sheamus. "He fancies you, you do realize?"
She turned to follow his gaze, and Sheamus immediately had cause to look elsewhere. "Who?" She asked, bewildered. "Drew?"
Wade laughed. "Good guess, but try the one who turns the same shade as the hair on top of his head whenever you glance in his direction."
Molly started to blush herself. "I don't notice that sort of thing," she replied flippantly, waving her hand dismissively.
"He's a good man."
"He is," she agreed, although she sounded very unenthusiastic.
"You could have a nice life with him," he pushed gently.
"Trying to marry me off already?" She teased.
He managed to grin. "And lose my one chance to have clean clothes and home-cooked meals every night? Absolutely not."
She rolled her eyes at him, although he could see a smile budding on her lips. "I see. So you were merely making me aware of the situation so I could let him down easily."
"I'm making you aware of the situation because I'm a tender-hearted fool who likes to interfere, and I'd be remiss to not put in a good word for a good friend."
She smiled. "Truly, you are too kind Mr. Barrett."
"To my detriment," he agreed dryly. He paused. "Are you ready for tonight?" He asked a bit more seriously. It was the first night he was allowing one of Ambrose's no-rules fights. He'd warned her that the injuries might be a bit more severe than usual.
She nodded, although the smile dropped off of her face. "I think so. I've been studying up on a few things in case the doc has his hands full with more pressing matters." Her smile returned weakly. "I guess it'll be a trial by fire."
He reached out and gently touched her arm before he even realized it. "You'll be fine," he said soothingly.
"I appreciate the vote of confidence."
He nodded. "You have my full confidence. Always." He didn't realize how somber those words were until they left his mouth, but he realized that he stood by them.
"Thank you," she replied, a small smile curling the corners of her lips. "It means a lot to me."
"Molly," a voice broke in. Wade groaned internally and turned his head to see his murderous bride standing in the doorway leading into the house. "I believe you have better things to do than stand here and chit-chat with my husband?"
The girl looked abashed, and he felt a profound annoyance bubble up in his chest as Molly stammered out an apology and quickly made her way in the house.
His wife stared at him with a mixture of smugness and anger before flouncing into the house after her.