PEEPS! I am so very sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story. I really do love it but I just couldn't focus on it for a while. I've worked out the kinks now, I promise. I will not go this long again. I won't bore you with any more excuses, just know that I'm already hard at work on the next update. I was going to hold this until I could post a double for you but I thought you'd rather have what's ready than wait even longer. Hopefully you're still interested. As always, Read, Enjoy, and Review!
Chapter 48…
"What time did he tell us to be here?" Randy looked down at his Rolex.
"I thought he said 10," Jordan checked the time on her phone.
10:20
She and Randy were usually the late ones. Neither of them was used to being in this position. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy each other's company, it was just out of character for John to be so late without at least a heads up.
"If I drink any more coffee, my heart is gonna explode," Jordan pushed her mug away. She was working on an SI piece the night before and got very little sleep, crawling into bed with Phil at 3am. Coffee seemed like a good idea when she first sat down but after two cups, her hands were starting to feel shaky. Definitely too much caffeine.
"I think I have an idea what could be making him late," Randy said, a knowing smirk appearing on his lips.
"Oh God, what?" she rested her chin on her hand.
He looked her in the eye, not saying anything.
"Randy, I can't read your mind," she shook her head. "Speak."
"She's average height, loose morals, blue eyes, you seem to know her pretty well," Randy said.
"Maeve?" Jordan's face twisted.
Randy nodded, "I'd put money on it."
"I really, really hope you're wrong," Jordan rubbed her temples. "He said it was just a fling."
"Who's to say how long a fling can last?" Randy shrugged. "I have a feeling this one ain't over."
"Ugh," Jordan let her head fall back. "Why are men so stupid?"
"Listen, your kind doesn't always make the best decisions either," Randy said defensively.
"I guarantee that you've made more libidinous decisions than I ever have," she challenged.
"That may be true but I'm not on trial here," Randy said.
"True enough," she sighed, sitting back in her seat. "Now where the hell is your friend?"
"Oh, when he does something wrong, he's my friend?" Randy asked, his tone indignant.
"Absolutely," she confirmed.
Randy pointed behind her and Jordan turned, seeing that John had finally decided to join them. He strolled in, smiling at the hostess who pointed him in their direction. When Jordan spotted Maeve a few steps behind him, she wanted to drop her head down onto the table. Actually, she wanted to smack John, hard, right upside the head. How many warnings did he need?
Maeve rushed over, a big, bright smile on her face, "Hi honey."
"Hey," Jordan forced a smile as Maeve hugged her tightly. "I didn't know you would be here."
Jordan could feel John trying to make eye contact with her but she did her best to avoid it. When Maeve moved on to greet Randy, she turned forward in her seat, taking a drink of the coffee she no longer wanted.
When John took his seat, he tapped her foot with his and she coughed, pretending she didn't feel it. She had tried to be a good friend. She was trying to protect John from Maeve and all of her crazy but he was obviously choosing not to listen. Now, he was on his own.
Arden looked at the clock on the bedside table, wondering if she could stare at it hard enough to turn time back an hour or two. She was unbelievably comfortable. Nick slept soundly behind her, breathing against the back of her neck. He had his arm around tightly around her. His skin was warm against hers but not uncomfortably so. If she didn't have plans, she would have stayed there all day. Unfortunately, she had plans that involved her needing to be out the door in an hour.
She sighed, making an attempt to get up without waking her boyfriend. She missed his warmth as soon as she stood. She took as quick a shower as she could manage. Nick made his way into the bathroom as she was drying her hair.
"What are you doing up?"
She turned off her blow dryer, setting it down on the counter, "I'm going to meet Stephen and Stu."
"Can't you just skip it?" He looped his arm around her towel covered stomach, placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. "We could spend the whole day in here."
"In here or in the bed?" she smirked, meeting his eyes in the mirror.
"Both," he kissed her neck this time. "And anywhere else you want."
Her head rolled back and she enjoyed the feel of his roving hands for a moment before she had to gently push him away.
"I can't cancel on them," she insisted. "I've been neglecting them lately and I promised I'd hang out today, whatever they want."
"You know they aren't your kids, right?" he smirked.
"I know but they're my friends," she laughed. "And I went from spending all of my time with them to spending it all with you."
"To be fair, you spend all of your time with Jordan," he pointed out. "I get scraps compared to her."
"She can be quite time consuming," she shrugged. She turned, kissing him on the cheek, "At least you know your place in the pecking order."
Nick sighed, "Below Jordan, above the two stooges."
"Don't call them that," she warned. "They're more..musketeers than stooges."
John watched as Maeve downed her fourth mimosa, easy orange juice. She seemed to be having a grand old time. Jordan, however, was not. She barely made eye contact with him. Her body language was stiff and guarded. She was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, angled toward Randy and away from John. She'd been laughing and talking, acting pleasant and friendly but there was an underlying tension there that was flashing at him like a neon sign that said 'I'M MAD AT YOU'. She would look in his direction but wouldn't look at him. She would address the table but wouldn't speak directly to him.
"I'm gonna run to the little girls' room," Maeve announced, signaling their waitress that she wanted another mimosa. "Jordan, wanna join me?"
"Oh no, I'm good, thanks," she smiled. Maeve looked perturbed for an instant but she turned, heading off toward the ladies' room. As Maeve made her exit, Jordan started typing something out on her phone. John stared at her, willing her to look up. She kept her eyes stubbornly on the screen in front of her.
"So should we cut her off?" Randy asked once Maeve was safely out of earshot. "Because she's about 60 percent hammered at this point."
"I'd put her closer to 40, but she goes from 40 to 80 like that," Jordan snapped her fingers. "Someone probably shouldn't have let her start drinking when, I assume, she's gonna be backstage tonight."
John sighed, she was obviously right. He hadn't paid much attention to how much she was drinking until she was already tipsy.
"I think that someone is you," Randy spoke in a stage whisper, pointing across the table at John.
"I'll take care of it," Jordan sighed, putting her phone down. She rolled her eyes as she stood, "I'm gonna go tell them to put Perrier in her mimosas instead of champagne. She's drunk enough. She won't notice."
"That's a pretty good idea," Randy smirked. He jerked his thumb at Jordan's retreating back, "She's quick on her feet, that one."
John nodded in agreement.
"She is also pissed at you."
"I can see that, Randy," John glared at him. "Would you like to add something productive to the conversation?"
"Listen, I support you making ill-advised decisions with your johnson," Randy began. "But you probably should have given Jordan a heads up that you and Maeve are still boning."
"She was gonna be mad at me either way," John rationalized. "But you're right, I should have said something. It's just that..she's upset because she thinks I'm getting myself into this volatile relationship but I'm not getting into a relationship."
John saw Maeve heading back to the table and he quickly stopped talking.
"What did I miss?" she smiled happily. "Where's Jo?"
"I'm right here," Jordan cheerfully came back over with two drinks in hand.
"Are you finally joining the party or are those both for me?" Maeve laughed.
"What can I say?" Jordan smiled. "I couldn't resist any longer."
"Laser tag?" Arden stared at Stephen and Stu's excited faces. "How old are we?"
"Stephen wanted to go to paintball but I reminded him that your lack of coordination could lead to you getting hurt," Stu announced.
"You're so considerate," she glared at her friend.
"Can't say I don't care about your well-being," the dark haired Brit smiled at her.
Arden laughed, shaking her head, taking off her jacket.
Both men stared and Stu laughed out loud, "You didn't."
"Oh I did," she looked down at the bowling ball shirt he'd bought for her. It was a little tight but she couldn't resist wearing it. She knew they would get a good laugh. "Now..I hope the two of you are prepared to lose."
"To you?" Stephen laughed. "In what world would that happen?"
"Is that shirt cutting off the circulation to your brain?" Stu asked.
"The two of you obviously weren't thinking when you chose this," Arden confidently crossed her arms. "You've put yourselves at a distinct tactical disadvantage."
"How so?" Stephen's eyes fixed on her and he crossed his arms.
"You're giant targets," she pointed back and forth between them. "Taking you down will be like taking candy from a baby."
In truth, she'd never even considered playing laser tag before and had absolutely no idea what she was doing but they didn't need to know that. If she could get in their heads enough, she could win.
"We're also both faster than you," Stephen suggested.
Arden stepped close to him, giving him a challenging gaze, "Prove it."
"Okay, we're all done."
As soon as the words were out of the producer's mouth, Jordan turned to walk away. They had just finished filming an interview where he addressed Vickie Guerrero's allegations about his 'inappropriate relationship' with AJ. The interview would air during the second hour of raw. Jordan moved so quickly it took John a moment to register what was happening. He was hoping to get a chance to talk to her and she obviously wasn't keen on letting that happen. He followed after her, catching her just around the corner.
"Jordan, wait a minute," he caught her hand.
She turned around quickly, pulling her hand back and crossing her arms, "Yeah?"
She wasn't going to make this easy on him. She had that look of manufactured calm on her face. He'd seen it before. She was obviously bothered but she wasn't about to let anyone know it.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," she shrugged.
That was a lie.
"Jordan," he sighed. "I know you're upset about Maeve."
"I'm not upset," she shook her head. "Why would I be upset?"
He gave her a look.
"What you do with your life is your business," she insisted.
"This is coming from the person who takes my phone away when Ashley calls," he reminded her.
She rolled her eyes, "That was one time."
"That's not the point."
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "John, I've already told you what I think about Maeve and you obviously aren't planning on listening. I'm not gonna keep talking to myself about it."
He took a step closer to her, moving her hand down so he could look her in the eye, "I don't want you to be mad at me."
"I'm not mad," she insisted.
"Then why are you running away from me?" he questioned. He knew she didn't like to address her feelings and he didn't want her to just pretend things were okay and hold on to any negativity. He valued the transparency in their friendship.
"I didn't run away," she shrugged her left shoulder. "I just knew you were gonna want to talk about Maeve and I didn't want to."
"So you walked away from me as quickly as possible?" he smirked.
He could see her biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
"I respect your opinion," he assured her. "And maybe I am making a bad choice here but if that's the case, I'll figure it out eventually."
"That does not make me feel better," she laughed.
"I know but it's the truth," he shrugged. "I don't want this to come between us."
"It isn't," she sighed. "I think you're being dumb but you're still my friend."
"So we're good?" he smirked.
"We're fine," she said.
"Good or fine?" he asked. "Because there's a difference."
"You're a dork," she laughed, shaking her head. "We're fine."
He held his arms out for a hug but she shook her head, "No, no hug."
"Oh come on," he followed her as she tried to move away.
"No," she laughed, trying to dodge him. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off of her feet as she giggled and tried to squirm away. "Let go weirdo."
He laughed, running further down the hall, still carrying her, "Never!"
Maeve frowned deeply, sagging against the wall. She couldn't begin to describe her disappointment. She heard every word exchanged between John and Jordan and to say she was surprised would be an understatement. She'd done nothing but treat Jordan like family for most of her life and there she was, telling John that it was 'dumb' for him to be with her. She wasn't sure what to do next. Confront Jordan? Scold John for apologizing like she was some sort of mistake? She clenched her hands, taking a slow, deep breath. She had been known to fly off the handle a time or two and she didn't want to do that this time. She would take a step back, try to calm down, and figure out what to do about this later.
Phil tossed Kofi a bottle of water as they headed back toward the locker room. They'd just finished working in the ring. Kofi wanted to try out some new stuff and Phil was the guinea pig.
"Knee doing okay?" Kofi asked.
"It's still attached," he shrugged. "So it could be worse."
He had an appointment to get it checked out in a few days. His knee had been killing him for weeks but he was working through it. He had a feeling that once a doctor looked at it, he would end up on the shelf for a few weeks and he didn't really want that. Stephanie would certainly flip her shit if he went down right as Cena was on his way back.
As if she sensed him thinking her name, Stephanie appeared in his periphery, dictating orders to her assistant. Jordan walked over to her excitedly, showing her something on an IPad. She was smiling from ear to ear and Stephanie laughed, looking genuinely amused.
It was just his luck that the woman he loved was becoming the right hand of his nemesis. Jordan caught him looking and made a face, stretching her full lips in opposite directions and flaring her nostrils. He laughed, beckoning her over. He hadn't seen her since she left for breakfast that morning and, stupid and sappy as it was, he'd missed her. She excused herself from Stephanie, rushing over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him over.
"Hi," he chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"Hi," she smiled, giving him a soft kiss. "I can't talk long. I have to film."
"Do you have to care so much about your job?" he sighed.
"Well, I could quit and then just travel with you and be by your side all the time," Jordan smirked. "Just watching you, wherever you go. Making sure you don't have a single second to yourself."
"Okay, I won't complain about you working anymore," he tapped her on the chin.
"I thought you'd see it my way," she winked. "I wanna show you guys what I just showed Steph."
"Steph?" Phil made a face.
"Stephanie, whatever," Jordan shrugged.
"What's it like to be the boss's favorite?" Kofi asked as Jordan unwound her arms from Phil's neck.
"Oh I'm not her favorite," Jordan shook her head. "That's obviously John."
"I don't know babe, you're getting there," Phil laughed.
"Can you just pretend you don't hate it?" she asked. "Just for a minute?"
"No," Phil smiled. "Not even for a minute."
She rolled her eyes, before kissing him again, "You are no fun."
"That is a lie woman," he pointed at her.
"I'm leaving. Now you don't get to see my awesome footage," she turned away haughtily.
"I'm looking at some pretty good footage right now," he called after her.
She shot him a shocked look but continued heading toward Stephanie.
Phil turned back to his friend when he heard Kofi snickering beside him.
"What?"
"Nothing man," Kofi shook his head. "You just look so…happy. It's weird."
"Why is that weird?" Phil laughed. "I'm a happy person."
"You are?" Kofi raised an eyebrow.
"Shutup."
"Dare I ask…are you 'in love' happy?" Kofi questioned. "You guys seem different. Did we say those three little words?"
Phil felt his smile spread and he knew he didn't have to answer that question.
"Wait a minute, we've been together all day and this is the first I'm hearing about this?" Kofi put his hands on his hips. "Why are you holding out?"
"I wasn't holding out," Phil chuckled. "I didn't think you'd be so invested."
"That's a lie, you know how invested I am," Kofi pointed. "Come on, details, what was said? Were there flowers? Candles? I bet there was pizza. Jordan loves pizza."
"That's between me and her," Phil smirked, amused that his friend got the pizza part right. "But I appreciate your concern."
"Well I don't appreciate you keeping this from me but I'll just ask Jordan later. She's the nice one anyway."
"That she is," Phil agreed.
"I'm happy for you man," Kofi smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "And I really like Jordan. So don't screw this one up, okay?"
Phil shook his head, "Trust me, I won't."
Nick looked up when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He had GNR blasting in his headphones and he hadn't heard anyone approach him. When he looked up, he saw Stu looking down at him with a strange, apprehensive expression.
Nick frowned, pushing his headphones down, "Everything okay?"
"Listen, there's something that you need to see," Stu began. "But I don't want you to get upset."
"Why would I get upset?" Nick stared, confused. "What is it?"
Stu sighed, leading the way out of the locker room, "Follow me."
Nick was wary but he dutifully followed Stu out the door and down the hallway. He didn't know where they were going but he was certainly curious.
"Seriously, just tell me what's going on," Nick requested.
"Here it is," Stu pointed. They stopped at an equipment trunk and Nick could immediately see why Stu thought he would be upset.
Arden was seated on the trunk. Stephen was next to her, holding an ice pack over the right side of her face.
"What the hell?" Nick asked, rushing to his girlfriend.
Stephen looked up when he heard Nick's voice, "It's not as bad as it looks."
Nick ignored him, rushing to his girlfriend, "What happened?"
"He's right, it's not that bad," she said. He could see a little of a reassuring smile on her pink lips.
Nick took the ice pack out of Stephen's hand, moving it to get a look at her face. The entire left side of her beautiful face was marred with bruising. There was swelling around her eye.
"This is not that bad?" he asked, cupping her chin. He looked angrily at Stu and Stephen, "How the hell did this happen?"
They all started talking at once. Something about laser tag and running and Arden getting hit with a gun.
"I didn't see her there," Stephen shook his head with an expression of deep remorse.
"You hit her?" Nick glared at Stephen.
"Well she's so short, you know," Stu said. "Especially when she's wearing flat shoes. It's like she's not even there."
"Not the time," Stephen glared at Stu, gritting his teeth.
"He didn't hit me," Arden said kindly, putting her hand on Nick's arm, bringing his attention back to her. "Not on purpose at least. I snuck around a corner. He didn't see me, he turned fast, and I got whacked with the butt of the gun."
"I'm so sorry Arden," Stephen ran a hand over his hair, looking upset.
"I'm not actually the one who did anything but I am also very sorry," Stu added.
"Can you guys just..just leave us alone?" Nick tried to keep his tone even. He could understand the words everyone was saying but seeing Arden's face looking like she'd been hit with a baseball bat made it hard to accept that no one was to blame.
"Just let me know if you need absolutely anything," Stephen said to Arden.
"Of course," she smiled, offering a quick wave.
Once they were gone, Nick looked into Arden's eyes and she reached up, touching his cheek, "I'm fine. Really. Don't be mad at them."
"Your eye is red," He frowned when he saw a red rim forming around her green iris. "We need to have someone look at you."
"That's probably not a bad idea," she nodded. "When it happened, everything went black for a few seconds."
"What?" Nick stared. "Did you tell them that?"
"No, I didn't want Stephen to feel any worse," she insisted.
Nick rolled his eyes. At a later time, when he wasn't worried that she might have a concussion, he was going to have a talk with her about how stupid that was. Now, he needed to make sure she was okay.
"Come on, gorgeous," he said, taking her hand and draping her arm over his shoulders. He slid his other arm under her thighs and lifted her with ease. "Let's get you checked out.
Jordan bit the inside of her cheek, tightening her grip on the microphone in her hand. She was trying her best to keep from laughing but she feared her resolve would soon crumble. She was filming with Phil and Paul Heyman which was always easy. She asked one question and they were off. This time, after she asked her question, while Paul started talking, Phil had gotten increasingly closer to her without saying a word. Then, when he did begin to speak, he got so unnecessarily close to her face that she could almost feel his nose on her cheek. She tried leaning away and looking uneasy but he only got closer. Once they were cut, he planted a kiss on her cheek and she burst out laughing. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off of her feet.
"What is wrong with you?" she laughed, slapping him on the shoulder.
"You should've seen your face," Phil laughed.
"Ah, young love," Paul put a hand over his heart.
"Please don't encourage him," Jordan said, kicking her feet until Phil put her down.
"It's my job to encourage him," Paul laughed.
"You're outnumbered," Phil kept his arm around her, kissing her shoulder.
Paul chuckled, shaking his head as he walked away. Jordan couldn't blame him. She and Phil had been one of those disgustingly lovey dovey couples all day. She knew they were doing it but she just couldn't seem to stop it. It was like a strange, out of body experience. She couldn't seem to keep her hands or lips off of him.
She turned, looking up at him, "You're being extremely unprofessional."
He shrugged, "So?"
"Can't argue with that, I guess," she laughed. "I saw you talking to Hunter and Vince earlier. How'd that go?"
"They wanted to talk about the stable," he explained. There had been talk of creating a faction around Punk and he'd had quite a few discussions with Hunter and the writers about it. Originally they were going to pull two established talents but Phil countered with the suggestion of pulling from developmental.
"What about it?" she asked.
"They shot down Hero," Phil rolled his eyes. "They wanna go with Reigns instead."
"Really? Why?"
She knew Phil had been looking forward to the idea of working with his old friend.
"They think Reigns will be a better strong, silent, enforcer type," he answered. "I'm not a big fan but it could be worse so I'm not gonna fight about it."
"So it'll be Reigns, Ambrose, and Rollins?" Jordan asked. He nodded. She smirked, "That'll be interesting."
"Yeah we'll see," Phil shrugged. "I should go get ready."
He was scheduled to be in a tag match for the main event. He gave her a quick kiss and she gave him an especially hard slap on the ass before he headed off. She laughed, watching as he walked away uncomfortably.
"Can I just tell you how wonderful it is to see you so happy?"
Jordan turned to see Maeve approaching her, a broad smile on her face.
"You know, you wasted so much of your life with Dexter, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see you like this," Maeve stated plainly.
Jordan was a little put off by the comment but Maeve never did have much of a filter so she tried to shrug it off.
"Yeah well, I guess I'm growing out of my bad taste," Jordan smirked. "I am pretty happy."
"Well that makes two of us," Maeve grinned. "I have been having so much fun."
"Yeah, it's been really great having you around," Jordan said. "But I'm sure your colleagues at the PIP must be missing that brilliant brain."
One of Maeve's perfectly sculpted eyebrows twitched but she kept her smile, "Are you trying to get rid of me, Little?"
"Of course not," Jordan laughed casually. "I am kind of curious how long you're planning on sticking around though."
"I'm due back at work next week," Maeve explained. "I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow to spend some time with my parents and so I can be there for the dress fitting Thursday."
Jordan had almost forgotten that Maeve would be at the fitting Thursday. Celia had finally selected an array of bridesmaid dresses and she wanted everyone present on Thursday to try them on.
"Sounds great," Jordan nodded.
"I might be back sooner than you think, though," Maeve bit her bottom lip. "John and I are having a great time together. I mean, he is phenomenal in bed."
"Oh, I don't need to know that," Jordan frowned at her longtime friend. "Seriously, Maeve?"
"What?" she laughed. "It's not like we've never talked about sex before."
"Yeah but he's my friend and that's just super weird," Jordan put her hand out, distancing herself from Maeve's words. "I have to see him all the time."
"And that makes you a lucky girl," Maeve smirked.
"You're the worst," Jordan pointed. "And, though I am reluctant to ever discuss John with you again, there is something I wanted to say to you about him."
"Do tell," Maeve crossed her arms.
"It's just…" Jordan realized as she began to speak that she should probably just keep her mouth shut. She said John was on his own, that meant letting him deal with this alone. "You know, nevermind. I have work that I should be doing."
"No, no, no, you can't do that," Maeve shook her head. "Come on. What did you want to say?"
Jordan gave herself a mental slap. Why the hell did she say anything at all?
She shook her head, "I really shouldn't-"
"Jordan, we're like family," Maeve said. "If there's something I need to be worried about, you have to say something. And you know you can tell me anything."
Jordan sighed, "Okay fine. I just want you to be cautious, okay? John is in a weird place. He's dealing with a very difficult divorce. He may not be available in the way you want him to be right now. Just…try not to get in too deep."
"That's really sweet but you don't have to worry about me honey," Maeve smiled. "I know what I'm doing. Don't forget who taught you everything you know."
"Okay," Jordan rolled her eyes, putting her hands up. "I'll stay out of it."
Arden's face was throbbing painfully. She had no idea one blow could cause so much damage. She'd been checked out by the doctor and, fortunately, she didn't have a concussion. She just had a swollen face, black eye, and a really bad headache. Nick had been relentlessly hovering but he had a match so she had a break. She had lots of work to do. She needed to find Dylan. She hadn't seen Jordan at all. She also wanted to find Stephen. She knew how badly he felt about her accident and she wanted to assure him that she was okay.
"Oh my God, what the hell happened to your face?"
Arden sighed. She knew this was coming. Jordan was rushing toward her, eyes wide with panic.
"Who did this to you?" Jordan asked. "I will kill them."
"Jordan, calm down," Arden kept her tone calm and quiet, hoping Jordan would match her. Her volume wasn't helping the headache. "Murder is not the answer."
"I don't know why you think that but you're wrong," Jordan shook her head. "What happened?"
"I went to laser tag with Stephen and Stu," Arden explained. "Stephen accidentally hit me with a gun."
"Jesus, how big are those guns?" Jordan stared.
"Big enough," Arden winced at a sharp pain in her forehead.
"Did you have a doc-"
"Nick took me. I'm fine. Just in pain," Arden insisted. "I'm way behind on work."
"Arden Crosby, you don't actually think I'm letting you do any work, do you? Can you even see straight?"
"When I do this I can," Arden closed her left eye and Jordan looked much clearer.
"Okay, I'm gonna get Dylan and he's gonna take you back to the hotel," Jordan pulled over a chair, guiding Arden into it.
"We're supposed to go straight to Wichita with you guys," Arden reminded her.
"No, you need to get some rest and sleep in a real bed," Jordan insisted. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, texting Dylan. "As soon as I find him, you're going."
"You don't need to find Dylan. I can take her."
Arden smiled when she heard Stephen's thick accent. She tried to turn to see him but when she turned, everything went a little wonky. He must have noticed because he moved to stand straight in front of her. He smelled like soap and his hair looked wet.
He knelt down to her eye level, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm good," she smiled.
He cocked his head, looking unconvinced.
"I am," she put her hand on his shoulder. "Just a little headache. That's all."
"She's lying," Jordan piped up.
"I can see that," Stephen laughed. "I'm so sorry Arden."
"It was an accident," Arden reminded him. "Besides, I had fun. And I totally would have won if this hadn't happened. I'm gonna get you next time."
"I don't know if there's gonna be a next time," he shook his head. "I think we'll stick to non-physical activities for a little while."
"I understand," Arden smirked. "You're scared to lose."
"Right, that's what it is," Stephen chuckled. "I'm all done for the night. I can give you a ride to the hotel."
"I didn't even book a room."
"You can have mine," he shrugged. "I'll bunk with Stu."
She could see in his eyes that he felt really guilty about all of this. She wished he wasn't taking it so seriously. It really was an accident. She wasn't upset at all.
"I think that's a great plan," Jordan said. "I can fill Nick in."
Arden sighed, knowing they weren't going to let up. She looked to her right, which was significantly less painful, and when she did, she saw her boyfriend making a beeline for them. He had to have just finished his match. He was covered in sweat and he still had his tights on. Nick did not look happy and his eyes were trained on Stephen.
"What's going on?" he asked, as he approached.
Stephen stood up, "Arden's not feeling any better. I offered to take her to the hotel."
"You don't need to take her anywhere," Nick stood close to Arden's chair. "I think you've done enough for today. Don't you?"
Arden looked up at Jordan, who was looking at Nick with the same surprise that Arden herself was feeling.
Stephen took a step back, "You're right. I was just trying to look out for my friend."
"The way you were looking out for her when this happened?" Nick questioned.
"Okay, I think maybe this is a conversation best had at another time," Jordan stepped in, placing a softer, much less possessive hand on Arden's other shoulder. "Ziggles, your match is done now so why don't you take Arden? Problem solved."
Stephen gave Jordan a grateful look, "I'll see you all tomorrow."
He turned, walking away slowly and Arden wanted to say something else but she had a feeling it wasn't the best idea. She looked up at her boyfriend and found him still glaring a hole through Stephen's retreating back. Apparently, the two of them needed to have a talk.
In the next update...
Things grow tense at Celia's dressing fitting
Arden suffers some after effects from her accident
Nick and Stephen talk things out
Jordan welcomes the new arrivals
