Thank you for the reviews. Love you all. Hope you enjoy this one.
Randy stopped at the entrance of the bar, making his friends stop, too.
He'd been plagued by images of Jeff and Kat together the past few days at home, only to come face to face with this on his very first night back.
"Look at that. Have they no shame?" Maria said in disgust.
He turned back to look at her. What was she even doing here? The whole reason he had agreed to meet Adam here was so he could hunt down Katrina but at the last minute, literally downstairs in the lobby of their hotel, Maria and Eve had decided they were coming, too. He could tell the boys weren't too happy about it either. John was always courteous and he didn't like the fact that he cheated on Maria only because he didn't like cheating, not because he liked Maria. Adam didn't like Maria at all because, if the rumours were true, he'd already been there, done that.
"If you're going to stay with us you better shut your damn mouth," he growled. "All of this is your fault."
He didn't mean the Angie stuff. He had planned all of that. He meant Katrina leaving him in the first place. If Maria hadn't wormed her way into becoming his girlfriend – though at the time it had been necessary – he wouldn't be in this mess. He would never have had to choose. And he wouldn't now be contemplating using foul means to get her back.
"Don't talk to me like that!" Maria gasped.
"Well, go somewhere else then," he said irritably. "I came here to spend time with my friends; I spent enough time with you at home."
Though it could be argued that after that phone call to Katrina, he'd been worse company than usual. He was quite surprised Maria hadn't just broken up with him and called off the engagement. Surprised but thankful. It was becoming harder and harder to play 'loving boyfriend', something he needed to do until she said the words 'I do'. He still needed to marry her, though. But if he didn't fix things tonight with Katrina there was a very good chance Maria would have enough of his foul mood and walk out.
"Well, I think you haven't spent enough time with me," Maria stated, then gave him one of her irritating little smiles. "The wedding is in a few months. We can't fight now, baby."
He felt a shudder go through his body. He'd felt it ever since a date had been set everytime someone mentioned the word 'wedding'. It was making him sick.
But not as sick as he felt watching Katrina all over Jeff, sliding onto his lap for more intimacy; eating him up like he was food. Jeff was urgently gripping Katrina's ass, probably pulling her down onto his dick like he would have done in that position.
Remember when she used to ride you like that, Randall? Remember how her crack vagina would just swallow you up and you'd lose control? Oh, the good old days...
He couldn't be here. He didn't trust himself not to give himself away.
But it will be so amusing Randall. Just sit down and say, 'Maria, this is the woman I love fucking. She's not as cold as you. Actually, she's not frigid at all.'
He growled. He needed to get himself under control. He was about to make his excuses and walk away when he heard Katrina calling out.
"It's a bird... it's a plane... it's Superman!"
"I believe we've caught her at a good time," John said with a grin.
"Over here," Katrina called again.
When John started moving forward he panicked again. His friends had no idea what he and Maria had done; how he had lured Angie to his room just so Maria could do what she did best – talk nonstop about things she really had no clue about. He and Maria wouldn't be welcome at that table.
He hung back a little bit but couldn't think of an excuse to absent himself. Maria didn't seem to have such a problem. She strode forward with John like she was the one who'd been invited to the table.
Sighing, he followed. This was going to be a disaster.
Randy watched John sit down at the end of the booth where, thankfully, Katrina had gotten off Jeff's lap. Jeff cleared his throat and was looking rather uncomfortable as he took a mouthful of his drink. He didn't need to wonder why. It would take the man a while to recover from Katrina's touch. He remembered that after meeting up with Katrina, he would imagine he could still feel the heat of her body even days afterwards, making the wait till the next meeting rather unbearable.
He watched her hug John rather enthusiastically. She didn't seem to have even noticed him as she gushed over John. Maybe she was drunk. Maybe she wouldn't notice him and Maria at all. Maybe this night wouldn't be such a disaster after all.
He pulled two chairs to the table for himself and Maria while Eve and Adam slid into the booth, too. He could have sat anywhere else in the empty bar, really. He should have. But he seemed to be a glutton for punishment where Katrina was involved. He had no idea why Eve and Maria hadn't sat somewhere else because it was quite obvious they didn't like Katrina. They had their noses turned up at her like she was some disgusting shit they had trod on. His anger welled up. Maria had no right whatsoever treating Katrina like that.
Oooh! Are we going to finally choose now? The cold bitch or the crack vagina? Are we going to cause a scene?
On hearing that irritating voice he calmed himself down. He'd already chosen. Maria had been his ticket to his father's heart again. He wasn't going to mess that up.
Jeff didn't greet him and Maria like he had done Adam and John. He met the green eyes and they blazed angrily at him. He didn't look away. Jeff had no right to be angry. If anything, it was Katrina he should have been mad at for spreading lies in the first place. And instead of leaving Katrina alone, ending their friendship like he should have done, he was now sleeping with her. How in the world was that logical? What the hell was he thinking?
Matt and Shane came to join them. He could feel the anger emanating from them but for some reason they chose to ignore the matter as they sat in the remaining seats. As far as he knew, while he had already had a few words with Jeff since the Angie incident, no one had yet to speak to Maria about it. He really didn't want to be there when that happened.
"We could have sat somewhere else, you know," Maria whispered to him.
"I'm not stopping you."
The dumb woman didn't seem to realise he actually meant it. Like she hadn't noticed he'd meant every snide or nasty thing he'd said to her the whole time they had been home. Or she had but she just didn't give a shit. Which lead him to wonder again why exactly she was marrying him, since it wasn't for sex or money. And thankfully not for love, either.
"You're awesome," Katrina said.
For a moment he thought she was talking to him but she was smiling up at John, hanging onto his arm like some star-struck kid.
"Why, thank you," John said with a chuckle.
"I was just telling these guys how awesome you are," Katrina said.
"I believe she said something like, 'It's a wonder you didn't sink with a butt that huge'," Shane added.
Adam burst out laughing, oblivious to the tensions running riot around the table.
"It's true. That's what makes you so awesome. You just do what you need to do despite the hugeness of your behind," Katrina said.
Adam laughed again and he thought he saw a grin on Shane's face. But Matt was still just looking down at his glass while Eve was openly looking at him. He wasn't quite sure why Eve had tagged along. He'd thought maybe she had now set her sight on Adam, but it was clearly not the case.
Was Katrina drunk? He frowned as he looked at her closely and realised that she was. That would make her more likely to say something about their relationship to Maria because alcohol loosened tongues. He should have taken Maria out of there but he couldn't move. Katrina held a certain appeal, a certain pull he couldn't fight. He'd stopped questioning himself why. The answer was quite obvious: Katrina was the one who got away and his ego couldn't allow that. He'd spent the last few days trying not to kill someone because of what he knew she and Hardy were doing. He couldn't allow that to happen again. By the end of tonight, both Jeff and Katrina would be left with no doubts about that.
"Gee, thanks!" John snorted. "I happen to like my butt."
"So do I!" Katrina gushed. "Isn't it nice that we have things in common?"
"Careful John," Maria said. "She might sink her claws into you next. You know her type."
Randy frowned and looked at his future wife. Katrina was good enough for him to sleep with, so that made her better than a lot of people, even if it didn't make her good enough to marry. That was just the way it was. Maria needed to just shut the hell up before she started something that would end in complete disaster for everyone.
"No, Maria, I don't know her type," John said, the laughter leaving his face. "Care to enlighten me?"
It was quite possible that the few times Katrina had hung out with John and Adam they had formed some sort of genuine friendship. He didn't like it. He'd never had such a relationship with her; they'd never talked or joked around. Their conversations had always been about fucking - when he was fucking her next; how he was fucking her; if he could fuck her quickly in his locker room before anyone noticed... shit like that.
"Oh, come on. It's quite obvious she's only after one thing," Eve put in. "Just like all the other ring rats out there."
He glared at Eve. He had no problems dealing with Eve. He wasn't marrying her and he had no intention of ever sleeping with her. The bitch had absolutely no reason to be here anyway.
"Funny how all the guys say that about you. Unless you want me to deal with this personally, I suggest you shut your damn mouth," he said coldly.
Eve looked him in the eye but only briefly. Noone could ever meet his gaze for too long when he was angry. Hopefully that got the message across. When Katrina had been unknown, he'd never had to deal with such bullshit; people talking shit about her and such. It was strange to discover he didn't like it. It was strange to admit he felt enough about her for this to matter.
When he looked away from Eve, it was to find John looking at him thoughtfully. He looked away quickly.
"What's everyone having?" he asked as he called over a waiter, hoping to get himself out of the spotlight.
As everyone gave their orders, he took a quick look at Katrina. It was quite possible the whole conversation had flown over her head. She was still holding onto John, still smiling at him. She really was quite pretty when she smiled.
Someone cleared their throat, distracting him. It was John. And looking at his friend, he realised there was a very big chance that the jig was up.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Matt suggested, frowning, his black mood quite evident as he looked at Eve then at him and Maria.
"I agree," Shane added.
"Don't be silly. Superman is here," Katrina said. "You don't want to go, do you baby?"
She turned to Jeff as she asked this and he was quite shocked to realise the man's gaze hadn't actually left him since he'd sat down.
"No, I don't," Jeff answered.
He met the gaze head on. But he had to look away when Jeff smirked then placed a kiss on Katrina's lips. Well, he could enjoy it while he could. Katrina wouldn't be kissing him for much longer.
"Jeff is a fan of yours, too. Tell him, Jeff," Katrina said, turning back to John.
John, who was still looking at him. What was with these people today?
"Big fan," Jeff answered.
"This is ridiculous," Maria muttered.
Randy bit his jaw. He'd almost forgotten that woman was there.
"Did you all hear this year's Christmas party might be themed?" Katrina continued. "We should suggest a superhero theme. Can we go as your sidekicks? We could be Superman and... I don't know, maybe Batman and Catwoman."
She said this as she enthusiastically grabbed Jeff's arm as well. John grinned at her. Randy frowned. He supposed hanging out with Katrina could be enjoyable if he was into that kind of thing.
"I don't think you'll be getting an invitation to that one," Maria sneered. "They don't normally allow ring rats to attend."
Again with the insults! Didn't the woman realise they were sitting in gasoline already? Light a match why don't you, Maria?
"I should hope not! You know how much it would cost to feed rats?" Katrina said seriously before frowning slightly and looking at John. "Wait. We have rats under the ring?"
John put his arm around her shoulders, frowning at Maria.
"Don't mind her," he said. "So are you going to the party?"
"I don't know. The type of shit they'll want me to wear costs a lot of money_"
"Oh, here we go. I bet you by the time she's finished talking, all of you here would have offered to buy her a dress and pay her rent for the year," Maria cut in. "What is she even doing here? Matt, I'm really surprised. After what she did to your brother you'd share a drink with her? You encourage that sort of behaviour?"
What the hell was wrong with the stupid woman? Before he could tell her to just go back to the hotel before it all kicked off, Katrina spoke up.
"Ho, I'm mad at you already. I don't know if you're too dumb to notice this but the place is fucking empty. You could have sat anywhere else. So either move the fuck away or back the fuck off and shut up before I hurt you. You're killing my damn buzz. Someone pour me another drink."
The sensible part of him told him to take his mouthy future wife out now, before she ruined all his plans. But he ignored that part, listening instead to the voice that always got him into trouble.
Ding, ding, ding!
Kat had been trying really hard since Randy walked in with Maria to ignore them. She was pretty sure Jeff hadn't briefed her on what to do in this situation and the last thing she wanted to do was something that would jeopardise his stupid plan and ruin hers to actually get Angie back for him.
She accepted the drink Shane had poured for her and took a large mouthful. She got on well with people she didn't like when she was drunk, hopefully that meant she'd get on with two-faced, irritating, bitches who stuck their noses where they didn't belong, too.
"No, I'm not going to shut up about this. You shouldn't even be showing your face around here. What you did was disgusting. What you're still doing is disgusting."
"And you came here from your hotel just to tell me this? Have you really got nothing better to do? Is your life that boring that you have to mess with mine? That you would make a fool of yourself arguing about things that only happened in your head? I was feeling sorry for you but now I see it's poor Randy who's in for a marriage from hell," she snorted.
She noticed Randy couldn't hide a grin at that. Maybe there was trouble in paradise after all but it wasn't her business anymore. And she was still way too sober for this conversation.
"You're just jealous because noone's ever going to ask the likes of you to marry them," Maria sneered, waving her engagement ring.
That was probably true but the bitch had no right saying it.
"I don't think you understood me the first time, Maria. People can talk shit about me all they want, like that immature woman right there," she said, indicating Eve who'd thankfully been quiet since Randy had told her to be. "But you... You crossed a line. You messed with Jeff and that's a big no. So unless you want me to deal with that now and show you just how pissed off with you I am, back-the-fuck-off."
Maria laughed like she had said something funny. Her hand tightened around her glass, wishing it was Maria's neck until Jeff put his hand over it and loosened it.
"She's not worth it," he said quietly.
"Oh, that's where you're wrong Jeff. She is worth it."
Jeff was her family, like Hunter and the rest of those guys – even Shawn, and she'd never liked people messing with the people she loved.
"Look at the size of you. What could you possibly do to me, a trained wrestler?" Maria laughed.
"You call that wrestling? I could teach you a thing or two," she said. "I don't wrestle. I fight."
"Kat," Jeff said, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her back against him. She had a feeling she was being restrained. "Let's just go back to our room."
"Jeff_"
"Look at me," Jeff ordered.
She finally took her eyes off Maria to do as she was told. Jeff's eyes were begging her to listen to him. She sighed. If Jeff's plan worked, she would be laughing in the bitch's face anyway because she would have taken her man. Maybe she could cool it. Just until all of this was over, of course. Then she could whip that dumb woman's butt till she was satisfied.
"Let's go," he repeated.
She placed her palm on his cheek and then nodded her head. She didn't like ugly confrontations anyway. She had had enough of those over the past few years.
"You don't have to go. Maria and Eve were just leaving," Randy said quickly, pulling out something from his pocket.
She frowned when she realised he'd taken out money and his room key and placed them in front of Maria.
"Randy_" Maria started, a confused frown on her features.
"You don't want to ruin anybody's night, do you?" Randy cut in, not even looking at Maria. "Now apologise to Katrina and be on your way."
"I'm not going to apologise!" Maria said, incensed.
Then Randy finally turned to look at Maria. His eyes looked so cold she actually felt a little bit sorry for Maria. How could anyone want to marry anyone who looked at them like that? Wasn't marriage supposed to be about love and warmth and all that?
"I mean it, Maria. Apologise. Then take your friend with you and let these people enjoy their night out."
There was silence while the two of them stared each other down. Then finally Maria let out a breath, put a fake smile on her lips and turned her head to look at her.
"I'm sorry," Maria said with difficulty. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just go powder my nose while I call a cab. Are you coming, Eve?"
She was still frowning as she watched the women make their way to the Ladies' room. Noone said a word but she would have bet anything that they were all wondering what the hell had happened, too. Had Randy really made his fiancé apologise to her – the woman he said was filth? Had he really taken her side instead of the woman he was going to marry? And he wasn't even going back to the hotel with her, to try to sweeten her up or apologise? There definitely seemed to be no love lost there, like she had accused him of before. She had to wonder why he was marrying her in the first place.
It didn't matter. She'd already made up her mind to let go of him.
"Um... yeah. I need to pee, too," Kat said. "Or should I also say 'powder my nose' even though it's quite obvious I haven't got powder? Excuse me, Superman."
John didn't move but he looked at Jeff for confirmation.
"Can't you wait till they come out?" Jeff asked.
"When you gotta go, you gotta go. Don't make me piss myself, man," she lied.
She was pretty sure those words would never come out of Maria's mouth. Maybe Randy had a point after all.
"Hold it," Jeff said firmly.
"I've been holding it. I'll go to the filthy men's room. You can come with me," she said, adding a little urgent bouncing in her seat for good measure.
"If you hurt her_"
"Like she said. Look at the size of me. What could I possibly do to those two women?"
Jeff sighed, and nodded his head but she had a feeling he knew what her intentions were.
"Such a controlling boyfriend," she muttered as John finally stood up to let her out. "I need permission to relieve myself. Maria and I should start a club – 'The Bullied Women Association' – and compare notes on whose boyfriend sucks more."
She was still talking to herself when she got to the toilets. She looked back only once to see they were all watching her. Smiling at them, she nipped into the men's room as she had said. She'd wait a minute then nip next door. All she wanted was little word with Maria. Hopefully they wouldn't see her.
"Okay, what the fuck is going on here?" Adam asked as soon as Kat disappeared into the men's room.
Jeff sat back in his chair, not taking his eyes off the door Kat had disappeared through. She was up to something. He could feel it. The night had been screwed from the moment Maria showed up.
"Nothing," Randy answered.
Jeff grunted in wry amusement. Nothing? His whole body was tense because he could feel they were on the brink of a battle. He knew from their numerous conversations and demonstrations that Kitty Kat could fight, but if Maria hurt just one hair on her head there was going to be hell to pay. He'd always been protective of her but lately, since the revelation, he was well aware that protectiveness had gone into overdrive.
"Okay. Obviously you don't agree, Jeff. Care to enlighten us?" John said, turning in his seat to face him.
"What's happening, John, is that things are about to get very ugly. See, my girlfriend is very bitter about something. And now Maria is very bitter about something. And we all know Eve is just bitter. So now three very bitter women are about to come face to face."
"So if they're going to fight, why are we just sitting here?" Shane asked. "Katrina might get hurt."
He looked at Shane in mock disgust.
"Don't be fooled by her size, Shane. My kitty Kat has claws. Ask Matt."
"I still don't understand what the bitterness is about," Adam said. "Dude, what was that with Maria? And what did you do to make everyone so mad?"
Randy didn't even bother answering. He took a sip of his drink and turned his head to look back at the doors.
Jeff grunted again.
"Shut up," Randy growled, turning back to look at him.
"What did I say?" he asked.
He grinned. Obviously he wasn't going to tell everybody what Randy and Kat had been doing the past few months, especially with Adam there. There were already rumours going around about her part in his breakup with Angie and the last thing he wanted was for this to come out, too. She'd be labelled a whore and he didn't want that, not when he now knew about Grace.
"What I don't get though is how you could be so stupid as to sit here, at our table, like everything's right your world," Matt said.
Randy locked gazes with Matt for a moment. The tension rose a few more notches.
"Guys, come on," John said. "Cool it."
"Did you make a move on Katrina?" Adam asked gleefully. "Then she shot you down and told Jeff, didn't she? That's why everyone's so mad?"
"Will everyone just shut up? I didn't make a move on anyone. Maria said some nasty things to Jeff's girlfriend about Katrina and Jeff and she left him. That's why everyone's angry."
"Those rumours going around? And you were there? Why didn't you correct her?" John asked with a frown.
How ironic. John was just a colleague, but even he knew he would never cheat. Angie should have trusted him, too.
Randy was saved from answering when they noticed Kat slipping into the Ladies'.
Randy was first on the scene. He burst into the Ladies' and stopped in his tracks when he saw Katrina face to face with Maria. His first thought was that she had revealed their secret, that all his hard work had been for nothing and there wouldn't be a wedding in a couple of months. But Maria didn't look at him accusingly or declare she was through with him. She just stood there, next to Eve, smirking down at Katrina. He felt like just dragging her out of there by her hair.
"Watch your back," Katrina said. "You messed up Maria. I'm not going to get you tonight. But I will get you. This ain't over just because you gave me some lame ass apology."
She was shorter than Maria and Eve, but he had to believe Jeff when he said Katrina had claws. She was tough. Tough enough to handle all the stuff he liked doing to her when they fucked. And someone had to be really tough for that.
The rest of the guys burst in at that moment but Katrina didn't relax her stance. She was like a little Pitbull defending her territory and it sort of galled him that the only reason she was doing this was because she was defending Jeff. Jeff, the man she had been sleeping with. Jeff, the man she had left him for.
He bit his jaw to control his anger.
"Break it up," Jeff said, coming forward to pull Katrina back, his hands around her waist.
Katrina didn't resist but she didn't take her eyes off Maria as Jeff took her to the furthest corner of the room.
"Oh, come on! Let's see where this is going," Adam said.
They all turned to look at him but Adam just shrugged.
"What?" he asked.
"Aww. You got all your men to back you up?" Maria said. "You're right. This isn't over. Find me when you don't have your guard dogs."
Katrina made a move to attack but Jeff easily held her back.
"Maria, maybe you should go and check if your cab is here."
"Don't worry, Randy. I don't want to be here anymore. But answer this; are you really going to stay here without me?" Maria asked.
She turned to look at him, the look in her eyes very serious. This was what he had been afraid of, that Maria would start asking the right questions, questions that would possibly ruin their engagement. Right. It was time for some damage control.
"Let's talk outside," he suggested, taking her hand to lead her away from everybody else.
"How could you do that to me? How could you embarrass me like that in front of everyone?" Maria asked as soon as the door closed behind them. She took her hand out of his and folded her arms across her chest.
"Maria, we've caused enough trouble as it is. There's no need to cause some more or involve other people in it," he explained.
"The girl is a nobody. What does it matter what I say or do to her?"
"She's got friends in high places. We don't want to go there."
"You mean Hunter? The man she's also sleeping with?"
Okay, where did this girl get her information? The WWE Rumour Mill was seriously warped! Once they were married he'd force her to curb this useless habit.
"Don't be stupid," he said. "Just don't cause any more trouble, okay? You know any simple thing can destroy us, it's a tenuous business."
"You practically carry the business. You're not going anywhere," Maria said, waving it off. "That girl, though, is expendable. If she causes trouble, surely Hunter and Steph will choose the Superstars over her."
He was too tired for this shit. If Maria chose to believe rumours, who was he to stop her? Maybe his married life would be better if she got herself fired and he was on the road by himself three hundred plus days of every year.
Conniving bastard. I like you sometimes.
And maybe he would stop hearing voices in his head if he wasn't under so much stress!
"Babe, please. Do it for me," he said, taking her hand again. "I'm sorry I spoke to you like that, I'm sorry I've been a pain lately but I'm under a lot of pressure and I really don't need this on top of it as well."
Maria pouted but he could tell he had won. He almost let out a sigh of relief but held himself.
"Oh, alright," she said, "but do you need to stay here? You could come with me and we could have an early night."
He shuddered. Lately even the thought of touching his fiancé was also doing that to him.
"The boys and I have things we need to do. If you have a problem with us being here, we'll go somewhere else," he lied.
Maria sighed just as Eve and the rest of the guys walked out of the Ladies' room.
"No. I trust you," she said. "I'll see you later then."
"Let me walk you to your cab," he offered.
He was suddenly in a better mood.
It only took a minute to have her in a cab and safely out of the way. Then he made his way back to the quiet bar. He almost walked to the table when he noticed Katrina wasn't there. Everyone else was there though, talking amongst themselves, evidently more carefree than when Maria and Eve had been there.
On a hunch, he made his way back to the Ladies' room, careful not to be noticed. And he found Katrina in there, drying her hands with her back to him. For a moment he watched her. What was it with this woman? Why did she have to be such hard work? Why had she suddenly decided to change the rules on them? They'd been so good together – better than good. They'd been perfect. Sleeping with her had been perfect. For all his years and all his experience, sex with Katrina was the best.
When she finally turned to leave, she noticed him and stopped in her tracks.
"Randy! What are you doing in here?" she asked.
His eyes travelled the length of her body, heating up as he remembered the feel of her soft skin on his. He took a step forward, and another, smiling when she predictably stepped back against the sink and trapped herself. He didn't leave her with any doubt about what he was doing there.
"Please don't," she whispered.
But there was no way in hell he was going to be denied any longer.
A few more steps had him right up against her body as he urgently lifted her up onto the counter and pressed himself between her legs. Then he brought his lips down and tasted his nirvana, groaning with pleasure when her lips easily parted beneath his.
For this, he would say anything, promise anything.
"Randy... I can't..."
"Yes, you can. You still love me, Katrina," he whispered against her lips. "And I think I'm in love with you, too."
For this, he would lie.
After all, he only had a couple of months until she realised he'd been talking crap just to fuck her again; until the day he said the words that would bind him to Maria.