Part Three
"Pleeeeeeaaaassssseeee???"
Groaning, Matt curled up into the fetal position and covered his head. After what seemed like hours of listening to his brother try to plead, beg, and bribe Lita into letting him out of his appointment, the only thing that was keeping him from snapping at both of them was his vivid imaginings of what life would've been like as an only child... And the fact that Lita, when angry, was a force to be reckoned with. Suddenly, there was a moment of silence. That moment stretched out into many more moments until it could be classified as downright uncomfortable. And friggin scary, too. Peaking from beneath his auditory defense shield -- his soft, fluffy pillow -- he tried to access the situation. In the middle of the room, a few feet from where he lay, stood Lita. At her feet, or, to be more precise, wrapped around her legs, was Jeff. Her arms were crossed across her chest. Her eyes were closed. Her mouth was set in a deep frown. To an unobservant person, like Jeff, it would appear that she was in a state of deep thought. But Matt knew better.
"Please, Lita," Jeff whimpered. "I'll do your laundry for a month... Two months!"
Lita's stance remained firm and rigid. Matt cringed. No good would come from this.
"Besides... You're the one that got me into this..."
"WHAT?!"
She appeared to grow three feet taller, her eyes blazed like hellfire, and her deep red hair seemed to have taken on a life of it's own as prepared to wrap itself tightly around the younger Hardy's neck. Such a pity, Matt thought. He was really going to miss his brother.
"How could you say a thing like that?"
"Well..." Jeff stood up, brushing the carpet lint from his pants. "You are the one who suggested the massage..."
"So? I was trying to help. I thought you liked Kane."
"I do."
"Then this is the perfect opportunity for you to make your move."
"But... but... What if I blank out the minute I see him and forget how to talk?!"
"Jeff, that would never..."
"What if I forget my name?!"
"Jeff, that won't..."
"What if I forget his name?!"
"Jeff, I think you're..."
"Oh God, Lita! ... What if he's naked? You know people get naked when they get massages... I can't touch a naked man... I mean, I know I do this type of thing in the ring, but they're usually wearing something. Even if it's just trunks, it's still something... But this time, it'll just be a teeny, tiny towel covering... covering... Lord, what if the towel doesn't cover it all?! I can't do this by myself, Lita! I just can't go through with this! I just can't..."
*SMACK*
Silence.
"Thank you... I really needed that."
"You're more than welcome. Are you ready to do this now?"
"Will you come with me?"
She sighed. "Fine, Jeff. Whatever it takes."
Once the duo had gathered their "equipment" and left, Matt decided it was safe to finally unfold himself. Stretching out on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, he wondered how this night would end. If he was lucky, his brother would come back to the room and, having gotten over his crush or whatever it was, never mention Kane or another man's name ever again as long as they lived and breathed. But, of course, Matt was never really that lucky.
"Heya... Lita?" Kane said as he opened the door.
"Hey, Kane," the redhead replied as she breezed past him. Jeff, a duffel bag slung over one shoulder, followed closely on her heels.
To say that he was confused would be the understatement of Kane's life. Ever since he found Jeff standing in front of that ice machine, staring off into space, he became smitten with the sugar-powered, high flying, daredevil. That's the only reason that he could come up with to explain how he could let Jeff drag him around the arena. For pixie sticks, no less. And, after receiving an offer for what he thought would be a private massage, he was ecstatic. He'd rushed back to the hotel -- not before breaking a few laws -- to jump into the shower and get ready.
And now, clad in only a pair of tight blue jeans, it was taking every ounce of self-control he had not to be rude and ask Lita what the hell she was doing intruding on their special night! Instead, he focused his attention on Jeff, who was busy digging his heel into the carpet. There was the adorably sexy way he flipped his blondish blue hair out of his eyes... The way he blushed and then quickly looked away when their eyes met...
"Everything's all set!" Lita exclaimed. "Let's do this!"
The way Jeff shoved Lita right at him...
"I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here," she said.
Kane nodded. "I thought you and Matt were busy tonight."
"Umm... Our plans changed. Right, Jeff?"
"Matt and Lita aren't really a couple," he blurted. "They just play one on TV."
Kane blinked.
"And she's gonna be giving you your massage."
He blinked... again.
"Lita's really great. She'll have you melted down into an ooey, gooey mess in no time."
"That sounds great, Jeff... Really... great..."
"Actually," Lita interjected. "I'm just going to be assisting. Jeff is the one that's going to be touching you." She noticed the way their cheeks turned a slight shade of red. "Lucky Jeff..."
Lucky, lucky me, Jeff thought. He hummed a happy little ditty as he packed up the massage supplies. After getting over the initial case of nerves, he couldn't wait to get down to business. He was pretty sure that the past half hour had been, without a doubt, THE best thirty minutes of his life. Not only did he get to rub strawberry sented oil all over Kane's bare body, he was able to iron out ever kink and knot that he could get his nimble fingers on. He would definitely have to thank Lita when he got back to the room.
Still lying on the bed, Kane propped himself up on his elbow. "You seem pretty proud of yourself," he said, smiling.
"To tell you the truth, I was kind of worried about how tonight would turn out."
"And why is that?"
"Well, it was the whole massage thing. I wasn't sure how you'd like it."
"To tell you the truth, I was surprised to see Lita."
Jeff started gnawing on his bottom lip. "Surprised? As in 'pleasantly surprised'?"
"Yeah... Lita's a real nice girl... She and Matt aren't really dating, huh?"
"Nope... It's all an act for the cameras." This conversation wasn't going to a good place, he thought. He'd brought Lita along for moral and emotional support. He never thought that Kane would actually become interested in her. "She's actually single... And lonely... Why else would she want to hang out with me?"
Now it was Kane's turn to do a little lip chewing. "Because you're a cool person." How was he supposed to let Jeff know how he felt without actually telling him how he felt? "And you're a lot of fun to be with."
Jeff's eyes twinkled with hope. "You really think I'm cool?"
"Yeah."
"And you think I'm a lot of fun, too?" Maybe there was hope yet.
"Yeah... You and Lita must be really close."
"Yeah..."
"Please don't take this the wrong way," he started, "but I'm really not interested."
"What?!" he squeaked. "You're not... not..."
He felt a pang of guilt when he saw the look on Jeff's face. The poor guy looked like he was about to burst into tears. Rising from the bed, he rushed to Jeff's side and wrapped his massive arms around the smaller man's frame. "I'm sorry, Jeff... I didn't mean to upset you."
"No... no... I'm not upset..."
"I'm sure you had the best intentions..."
"Yeah..."
"But Lita's just not my type."
"She's... not?"
"No... I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not interested in having a girlfriend."
"You thought I was trying to set you up with her!" Jeff burst into a fit of giggles.
"Yeah... You mean you weren't?"
"Nah..." He wiped a tear from his eye. "The thought never crossed my mind."
"Oh." Kane breathed a sigh of relief. He held onto Jeff a little bit tighter. "Jeff?"
"Yeah?"
"If you weren't trying to set me up with Lita, then what were you so upset about?"
"Uh... uh..." he stuttered. "Ya see... It's like this... When you said that you weren't interested..."
He smiled. "You thought I was talking about you."
"Well... Yeah..."
"And what makes you think that I wouldn't be interested in you?" he asked, coyly.
"Well, you're the Big Red Machine. You're a terror in the ring... and I mean that in a good way. What could you possibly be doing with me?"
"Oohh... I can think of a few things..."
"Really?" Jeff looked up at him, his green eyes dancing with joy. "Does that mean that you are interested?"
"Let me put it you you this way... What are you doing Friday night?"
more to come... ^___^