If I thought sleeping with Pete inside my apartment was difficult, sleeping after agreeing to go on a date with him was far worse.

Why had I ever agreed to it? It was one of those heat of the moment things. I was furious at him for turning down his contract but also deeply affected by his reasoning. Pete had sacrificed everything for me and I couldn't let that go unacknowledged.

But a date? An actual, I'll pick you up at seven and you wear your best dress, date? That wasn't Pete. That wasn't what we used to be. The idea of going on a date with him was actually intimidating. How did I even begin to do that? Let's pretend you didn't shatter my heart, let's pretend that I don't have a million emotions flow through me every time I see you…

I went to sleep at four in the morning and woke up at six….


"Not so fast," Hunter met me as I walked toward Regal's closed office door.

"What?" I laughed, shuffling my belongings around in my arms to keep from dropping them.

He took note and grabbed my stack of paperwork from the top of my arms.

"Thanks," I smiled "What's going on?"

"What's going on," Regal opened the door and immediately shut it "Is we have a little surprise for you."

"Surprise?" I deadpanned at both of them.

They were grinning like idiots and I was utterly confused.

"Come with us," Regal motioned with his head down the hallway.

I followed quietly behind them, with my heart beating hard in my chest.

A few doors down from Regal's office, was another door. Hunter turned the knob and flipped on the light switch.

It was an office, with a desk and chairs. It was very bare and simple. I walked inside behind them, my eyebrows raised in confusion. I sat my armload down on the desk and Hunter tossed the stack of papers beside it.

"It's yours," he turned to me, his arms outstretched as if he were offering me the Hope Diamond.

"What?" I laughed "What do you mean?"

"We decided it's high time you got your own office around here," Regal smiled "Don't get me wrong, I rather enjoy all of your papers strewn across my desk and your…what is it? Spotify radio, something or another."

"You're joking," I shook my head "You have to be joking."

"You earned this," Hunter walked closer to me "Besides, you've suffered long enough with this old man over here."

They both chuckled and looked back at me like two proud papas.

"Th…Thank you," I stammered "I don't really know what to say."

"You're not just my assistant anymore," Regal began to explain "Sure, we will still have our morning meetings but you…"

"We're offering you a higher position," Hunter interrupted "Executive Vice President of all Talent Relations here at NXT."

"What?!" I practically screamed, feeling my cheeks blush immediately with embarrassment.

"In the short time you've been here," Regal continued "You have shown more drive, more ambition, than those who have been with us for years."

"You came into this company guns blazing," Hunter nodded "You're not afraid of hard work. You know what the hell you're talking about. You work well with the talent. It was a unanimous decision."

"By who?" I tried to remind myself to breathe.

"The board," Hunter folded his arms across his chest.

"Vince? Vince had a say in this?" I laughed in surprise.

"He knows what you've been doing here. It's apparent in the quality of our content."

"I don't even know what to say," I felt myself about to cry and I bit my lip in an effort to stop it.

"You can start by accepting the position," Regal chuckled.

"Yes," I gasped, completely unaware that I hadn't done that yet "Yes, I accept it. Of course, I do…I really appreciate both of you having so much faith in me."

Hunter stuck out his hand and then recanted.

"Ah, come here," he grinned, pulling me into a quick hug "Knock 'em dead, you understand me? This is just the first step."

I nodded, wiping a tear off my cheek.

He smiled at me one more time before walking out of my office.

"I'm very proud of you, you know?" Regal leaned against my desk.

"It's because of you I got this job," I pushed my hair behind my ears "I don't even know what to say to you."

"How about thank you?" he smirked.

I reached out and pulled him into a hug. I felt him stiffen at first but then he relaxed and patted my back.

"Thank you," I sighed when I pulled away from him "So much."

"Now," he glanced around the room "No putting up posters of boy bands or the like, no hanging those god awful Christmas lights on the walls…."

"Do you think I'm twelve?" I kidded him.

"I'll leave you to it," he headed for the door "We still have our meeting at eleven."

"Got it," I turned to watch him walk out the door with one final grin.

Once he was gone, I sank down in the leather chair behind the desk and tried to steady my self. My whole body was shaking.

Never, ever, had I dreamed when Pete and I started on this journey together that I would end up here. In my own office, Vice President of anything, having the admiration of two highly respected men who believed in my capabilities as a businesswoman.

A huge smile crept over my lips, as I started looking in the empty drawers of my desk.


It was late afternoon and my eyes were drooping. Even Regal's Starbucks delivery was doing nothing to stave off the amount of sleep deprivation I was feeling.

I heard a light knock on my door and I jumped, almost asleep.

"Come in," I cleared my throat and ran my hands back through my hair.

The door creaked open and Pete walked through it.

Shit.

"Nice office," he met my gaze and then looked around the room.

"You heard, huh?" I stood up and walked toward him.

"It's unfuckin' believable," he shook his head "You really fuckin' did it. Vice President? That's amazin'."

"I, I can't believe it. At all," I laughed nervously "They really trust me with such a huge responsibility…."

"You can handle it," he shrugged "You can handle anythin' ya put your mind to."

A thick feeling of tension hung in the air between us and I immediately tried to find a way to get rid of it.

"Did you, um…Did you need something or…?"

"Our date," he smirked slyly.

"Yeah," I folded my arms across my chest "Our date…"

"Tonight?" he raised a questioning eyebrow.

Tonight? He needed to give me at least a week to prepare for this.

"Well…"

"It's gotta be tonight," he interrupted me "I mean, I know I'm not supposed ta be makin' demands on the Vice President but…"

A smile curled on both our mouths and my eyes fell from his, my cheeks betraying me with the tell tale blush again.

"Ok," I finally was able to look at him "Ok, tonight."

He seemed satisfied, maybe even a little excited, as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I'll get you at seven?…That all right?

"Sure," I nodded "….Um, what should I wear?"

"About that," he laughed, his voice shaking slightly "Nothin' you don't want ta get dirty ."

"What?" I laughed "What do you mean?"

"I guess you'll just have to wait and find out," he grinned, backing his way out of the office and leaving me to replay his words in my mind the rest of the day.


"What does that even mean?" I tucked my phone against my shoulder as I dug through the clothes in my closet.

"You're askin' me? About dates?" Tyler chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Did he mention anything to you?"

"What if he did?"

I could practically see the cheeky grin on his baby face.

"What did he tell you?" I asked in a sing song voice, stopping to hold the phone in my hand.

"Just wear somethin'…casual…ya know, beach like."

"The beach?" I glanced over at my clothes.

"That's all I'm sayin' and if ya tell him I said anythin' he'll kill me. Ya don't want your snitch dead, now do ya?"

"No," I smiled "Thanks for snitching."

I hung up and looked back at my clothes.

The beach?

At seven in the evening?

What was Mr. Never Planned a Date in His Life, up to?

"Hi," Pete smiled nervously when I opened my door an hour later.

"Hey," I fidgeted, just as nervous as he looked.

I had opted for a pink spaghetti strap tank top, denim shorts and flip flops. I wasn't sure if he would catch on that Tyler had tattled or not. I had my hair in a French braid falling down one shoulder.

"Is this ok?" I raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," he nodded, his voice going low and a little raspy "It's perfect."

He had on a tight red t-shirt and board shorts, I noted as I tried desperately not to stare at how beautiful he still was to me.

"Never picked a girl up at her place before," he moved a little closer to me.

"That's kind of how dates work," I found myself holding my breath, the closer he got.

"Yeah, never been good at those," he grabbed ahold of the end of my braid "I like this on ya…Looks nice."

I instinctively reached up to move his hand but instead, I let it linger on top of his. I saw his breathing speed up and I slipped my fingers underneath his, placing them along his pulse point.

"Your heart is beating really fast," I whispered.

"Is it?" he locked his eyes on mine "Wasn't sure I had one left…"

"We should get going," I let go of his hand and reached for my purse hanging by the door.


We pulled up to the beach, just as the sky was growing dark.

"Why are we here at night?" I laughed, my voice echoing my hesitation.

"You'll see," he smirked over at me.

We got out of the car and he reached in the backseat for a blanket. I recognized it was the one that was always on our bed before we moved. I had wondered where it had gone. Clearly it had ended up in his things.

The way down to the beach was hilly and my flip flops started to slide along the sand and rocks.

"Shit," I whispered.

"Here," he stuck out his hand.

I took it, fearing I would topple over if I didn't. His fingers laced through mine immediately and I felt a tingle rush up my entire arm. I could tell he felt it too, because he gripped it a little tighter.

Once we reached the beach, he spread the blanket across the sand and motioned for me to sit.

I crouched down with a smirk of bewilderment on my face and he followed.

"This is definitely not what I was expecting," I drew my legs to my chest and looked over at him beside me.

"What were ya expectin'?" he whispered, the wind lightly blowing his hair into his eyes.

"Dinner, maybe," I laughed.

"Shit!" he shifted toward me "I fuckin' didn't think of that. Are ya hungry? Fuck."

"No," I reached out and touched his arm softly "It's ok. I'm not really that hungry….But it would be nice if you told me what we're doing here."

"See that cliff up there," he pointed.

I could see a string of houses high up over the ocean line. They all looked gigantic illuminated by their lights.

"Yeah?"

"A friend of mine is at a weddin' up there," he pointed "Supposed ta be one helluva party."

"You're not making any sense," I turned toward him, our faces closer than ever.

"You'll see," he glanced at the watch on his wrist.

We sat in silence for a minute, the waves crashing against the shore.

Suddenly, I heard a loud pop and I jumped from surprise. He put his hand on my shoulder and laughed.

"Look," he glanced up quickly at the sky.

Fireworks.

Beautiful ones. Probably the best I had ever seen. A lot of them sparkled and shimmered. Most of them were white or gold. Each pop, sent a shower of them above our heads, shimmering a reflection on the water.

"They're beautiful," I whispered, as I stared at them.

I could feel his eyes on me, not on the sky.

"You're missing it," I smiled, not turning my eyes away from the display.

"No I'm not," he responded without pause.

The show lasted for probably twenty minutes. When it ended, I heard an eruption of applause from high above the water and the faint sound of music.

"That was amazing," I finally looked over at him "Thank you for bringing me."

"I know it wasn't some fancy thing," he shrugged "But ya know I've never been that kinda guy."

"No, it was perfect…" my gaze lingered on him "You want to go for a walk with me?"

He seemed surprised but he nodded, standing to his feet as I did. We left the blanket behind, as well as our shoes.

Walking just in the edge of the water, we made our way down the beach in the moonlight.

We were quiet at first but I could tell he was dying to speak.

"What are you thinking right now, Pete?" I finally asked.

"That I'm a bloody fool," he kicked at the water.

"Why?"

"Shoulda took ya on dates before now," he looked over at me "Shoulda treated ya a lot betta."

"We both should have done a lot of things," I admitted "We should have trusted each other more. We should have talked to each other more….Maybe things might have been different."

"Are you sayin' they can't be now?" he stopped walking and turned toward me.

"No," I shook my head, as the wind sailed across the water "I'm just saying that maybe we wouldn't have ended up here. Maybe all the pain would…"

"It fuckin' rips me apart to know that I hurt ya that much," he sighed, his hands sliding over his face in frustration.

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything.

"Some nights," he started to speak again "I can't even close my eyes…Because all I see is the tears in your eyes as ya were lookin' at me…knowin' that I might neva feel ya close to me again, knowin' that I got nobody to blame but my fuckin' self."

"Pete," I sighed, moving a little closer to him.

"I broke ya heart," he placed his hands on his hips "And it broke mine…Fuckin' demolished what lil' feelin' I had in me…Cause I only felt anythin', when I was with you."

I reached up, sliding my hand along his cheek.

He tilted his face against my hand and even in the moonlight, I could see the sheen of a single tear.

"Don't," I immediately spoke without thinking first, dropping my hand from his face.

My instinct, despite all my doubts, was to make him feel better.

Why?

I had wanted him to suffer…And he had. Maybe I hadn't seen it or felt it but he had.

His hands floated up to my face, as if in slow motion, and I let them rest there. His thumbs brushing across my cheekbones and his breathing so deep that I could hear it in my ears.

"No matter what ya do from here on out," he whispered "I'll neva not love you."

"What about what I want? Right now?" I inched closer to him, my hands resting on his chest.

"Ya just tell me," he replied in a shaky voice.

"I want you to kiss me," I whispered.

I saw a smile creep across his face and it made me smile in return.

Our lips drifted toward each other and I felt him moan into my mouth. His hands tugged my face closer as he gently kissed me. It was the softest he had ever been with me.

Finally, we parted as his mouth let go of my bottom lip slowly.

We both were shaking and gasping for air. My mind was spinning with a million thoughts.

"I have to tell ya somethin'" he pressed his forehead against mine.

"What?" I ran my hand along his jaw and he shivered.

"I signed my contract this mornin', like ya told me to," he sighed "I'm goin' ta Raw."