A challenge was a challenge.

And Ava Wilson loved a challenge.

After a few dances with Nikki and the girls, and a few drinks... she had somehow at some point, gotten to challenge Joe to a game of pool. She gave the twin a tight hug goodbye, to which Nikki then pointed a finger at the men and said "look after my girl and make sure she gets back okay." The twin warned them all, with big wide eyes that meant trouble if her wishes were not carried through.

"Scouts honour." Jon smirked and draped an arm on her shoulder.

Nikki just raised a single eyebrow at his little salute. "I bet you never even were a Scout."

"Nope." He grinned.

Ava called after the twin, "text me when you get back to the hotel, Nik!" Rolling her eyes, Ava shrugged him off and then followed them to the pool table in the corner of the bar. "You wanna break, Joe?"

He shook his head, "ladies first." He gestured out for her to step forward, handing her a pool cue. Dropping her bag to the side, she took it with a smile and then turned to Jon who was watching nearby. "Be a doll and get me drink, please?"

His tongue popped out his mouth, hanging out for a brief moment as he chuckled, Joe sniggering behind her. "You're trusting me with your drink order?"

"Claudio would kill you if you got me that drunk again, so yes." She smiled and turned away. Leaning over the table, out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jon smirk before approaching the bar. With one strike, she pocketed her first striped ball.

"Nicely done." Joe said, taking a swig of his beer and watching.

"Thanks." She pocketed another and Joe took another gulp of beer. "Still wish you'd let me go first?"

"Don't get cocky now, kid."

Sniggering, she walked around the table and took her time to level up and pocket another ball, but the next one wasn't so slick and she bounced it off another ball. Shrugging, she moved out the way for Joe to level up and take his shot. He made it in one and made it look easy too.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, sliding it out she noticed a text from Nikki: 'back and in bed, gym tomorrow?'

She texted back quickly, 'Yep, 8am?' before sliding it back into her pocket, knowing the twin would protest and say earlier, she'd tackle that later on.

"Drinks master is here." Jon announced, rolling his shoulders in a dance as he returned to the group, handing out drinks, before leaving the last one for Ava. She could already feel herself sobering up after the few cocktails with Nikki and the girls earlier. She spied a shot glass on the tray he was carrying and narrowed her eyes, if it was straight vodka or absinthe she was out. She couldn't stand to lose another pool game against one of the guys. She had to at least beat Joe once.

"Rum and coke."

She raised an eyebrow, not expecting him to order her that... it was one of her favourite drinks of choice. Accepting the drink with a smile, she said, "thanks."

"And a shot of tequila." Her eyes lit up. "For me."

"Ass." She swatted him in the side with her pool cue before turning back to the table with her drink.

"Is that any way to treat me after getting you a drink?"

Rolling her eyes, she took a sip of her drink and returned to the game. They went back and forth for a while, some shots missing the pockets and others falling in perfectly. It came down to Joe's last ball and Ava on her final two; she pocketed her first one and then missed on the last one.

Groaning, she threw her head back and leaned against the wall. "It won't go in!"

Colby raised an eyebrow at her comment, before Jon spoke up, "that's not what you want to hear a girl say." He laughed, the two toned man joining in as Ava shot them a glare.

"Zip it." Joe ordered with a straight, focused face.

He leaned over and took one shot at the ball... and missed it. "One shot. That's all you had left. Just one shot, big man." Jon crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

Lining up, Ava hid her excitable grin and shot the cue forward. It hit the ball and they watched in silence as it rolled into the pocket. Both her hands shot up immediately into the air, Joe clapped her from the side and she opened her arms for a hug. "Thanks for the game, Joe."

"I let you win this time." He lifted a finger to her. "But not next time."

Her mouth dropped open, "you let me win? Oh no, buddy. I won fair and square." He pulled her in for a one-armed hug. As Claudio and Jon took the next game, they watched and made equally as distracting comments. The Ohioan and Swissman would occasionally send unimpressed looks to the group on the side. Joe and Colby both went next to silent as they were rounding up their match commentary, Ava watching the Lunatic a bit closer.

His eyes were so focused, his competiveness came out easily she was finding out. His jaw would clench as she could practically see the cogs turning in his brain, figuring out how to line up the next shot. It was a cute look. She was half tempted to go over there and jokingly offer to help him... Maybe distract him a little bit... It wouldn't take much...

Shaking her head, she finished off her drink just as Jon won the match with his final ball. He celebrated by picking up Colby and cheering, loud enough to draw over a few looks to their dark corner.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The Swissman brushed him off with an eye roll.

Claudio frowned, leaning against the pool table, another defeat in the bag for him. Ava shot him a mock-sympathetic look. "Need some lessons?" She asked him with a laugh and he threw her a glare.

It didn't take long for Jon to approach her with a cue stick. "Winner takes all – what'd ya say?"

Ava just raised her eyebrow, "this winner is going to bed"

"Sunshine, I'll let you win if that's what you want."

Ignoring the warm butterflies that spread through her every limb and his twinkling blue eyes challenging her, she just shook her head at him and picked her jacket up. "I'll let you try that line on someone else tonight, buddy." Jon chuckled and gave her a heart stopping wink, backing away to reach for his beer. She felt her cheeks heat up immediately, her body so easily betraying her when it came to Jon.

"I'll head back with you, I'm beat anyway and I wanna call my girl before she goes to bed." A chorus of 'awws' spread through the men and Joe just ignored them and grabbed his jacket.

Ava's gaze lingered slightly longer on Jon for a moment or two before ruffling Colby's hair on the way out of the bar. Joe held the door open for her as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thanks." She said slipping out and walking towards the curb to hail a cab for them. They made mindless chat between them as she successfully got them a cab, Joe gushing about his girlfriend and daughter to her.

"You'll have to meet them next time they come to a show."

"Do they come often?"

"Whenever we're in the area, more maybe if Jojo's not in school."

"She sounds like a cutie."

"Yeah, she's got a soft spot for the guys."

Her eyebrows raised, "Colby and Jon?" Joe just nodded, "really? I would absolutely not expect that. Colby, yes, but Jon, no."

Joe shook his head, "really. She totally falls all over them and they're pretty good with her as well to be fair. But she definitely has a little crush on them."

"She's gonna be trouble when she's older."

"She's trouble already!" The taxi pulled up to the hotel, Ava went to reach for some cash, but Joe swiftly paid for them and hopped out the cab, holding the door open for her again. "Thanks, big man."

"No problem."

Her scalp itched from the braids and wig; she couldn't wait to take it off in her room. As great as Stephanie's ideas was, it was a little pain to remember to put it on before and after every show, and when she was out. As they chatted between themselves, Joe and Ava rode the elevator up to their floors. The blonde's floor came first, "thanks for coming back with me. We'll have a rematch soon." She promised him, "I'll let you win the next one." She grinned and Joe's laughter boomed through the floor as the doors closed.

Swiping her card, she stepped into the room and kicked off her heels straight away. The blonde wasted no time in peeling the wig from her head, revealing tight blonde braids. Dropping onto the bed, she carefully unpicked the braids, as her phone buzzed on the bed. The screen lit up and a smile immediately popped onto her face, seeing the name Arschloch sitting above the message.

Any creeps hanging around?

Note sure. You may need to come check for me. Might be one lurking. She shot back, before returning to unpicking her braids and the buzz of butterflies returning to her stomach.

Her phone buzzes again, Ok

She swore Jon was getting better at texting, or maybe it just comes and goes in waves – some days he feels chatty, some days all he types is two letters. She shot straight back to him her room number and went to brush her teeth.

Her blonde hair had taken on tight waves, she ran her fingers through it before reaching for her toothbrush. She tried to think about how long they had been sleeping together now; it had to have been a few months. She didn't know if Jon was sleeping with anyone else but she didn't think he was.

He would commonly now text her after the shows or if he'd been out for a few drinks with the guys, to ask about seeing her. It was a straight up booty call, a classic friends with benefits set up and she couldn't say no to his boyish charm, his horny tendencies or cheeky dimples. God, she was hooked on him. She was pretty content with their set up, it worked so easily for them on the road, both of them having a bit of evening company and an unwind after the shows.

Jon hadn't slept over once yet, she'd either fall asleep next to him and wake up to find him gone or she'd see him leave shortly after. He didn't seem like the type that would ever sleep over, but she secretly would love him too, even if it was for a short nap. If there was one thing she missed about their set up it was that closeness after sex, she guessed, they had a sort of closeness with eating and watching shows or matches after, but it wasn't quite the same. She'd still feel a bit cold in the morning with him gone.

But when she got that thoughts, that was when she had to remind herself of what Nikki had said – it's just sex. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less and she was just glad she had it with an easy, chilled guy like Jon.

Just as she spat out the toothpaste, she heard a knock on the door and a big ol' school girl smile appeared on her face again as she walked over to the door. Peering into the peephole first, she saw Jon leaning against the door frame with his cap low.

Yanking the door open, he looked down to her and her face turned serious. "Did you catch the creep?"

Pushing off on the door frame with a smirk, he strode into the hotel room, shutting the door behind him. "Nope, he was too quick." Stepping closer to her, he lifted her up by her thighs. As she squeaked, he smirked. "What'd he look like?"

Her hands rested on his shoulders, "yay tall" she held her hand up to around his height, plucking off his cap at the same time and tossing it to the side. "No beard," a finger ran down his jawline as he pushed her against the wall. "He was kinda scruffy looking." Her eyes finally found his, only to see him glare at her before pinching her ass.

She yelped, shooting up in his arms.

"You be sure to pay close attention to that creep."

"Mmhmm, he's got trouble written all over him." She made out before he stole her breath with a kiss. His mouth sealed against hers, his tongue wasting no time in meeting hers with a moan. Gripping her backside, he pressed his body tightly to hers, leaving no space between them. Her fingers slid through his messy hair, her nails then scraping back down. She felt him bite down on her lip in response.

It was always a silent battle between them. Who won what round, who turned who on the most, who made who come first... Jon was always the winner of that last one. It was like he got a little ego boost with every orgasm he gave her.

Pushing against his hands, she ground down on him, drawing a guttural groan from Jon, as his mouth was removed from hers. He was already standing to attention, horn dog, she thought. She caught his blue eyes; they had darkened impossibly that they looked almost wild now.

She'd won that battle.

Sitting back in his hold, she reached down and pulled her top off in one motion, her eyes only leaving his for a mere moment. She saw his eyes break and flash to her bare chest, making a gruff sound in his chest before unceremoniously dropping her onto the bed. The blonde squirmed underneath him as his mouth slowed moved down her body, his tongue snaking between her breasts before quickly nipping one.

As she moaned, she could feel his mouth stretch into a smile against her skin. Ava could hands down say their arrangement was something she did not regret in any way, shape or form. His hands pulled the zipper of her jeans down and shimmied them down her legs with her panties in one smooth manoeuvre.

Just as she thought he was going to stand up and shed his own clothes, he had slung her legs over his shoulders and pressed his mouth to her centre. There was no trying to even keep herself quiet as he drew a loud moan from her instantly, her hands reaching down to grasp his locks.

Ever the competitive arschloch, he had won that battle fair and square.

A/N: It's always a competition with these two…