Chapter 10 – Confusion and Kisses

  He didn't bring up the kiss the next day. In fact, he didn't bring it up at all. He just pushed it to the back of his mind and fixed his attention on his work. Vince was attempting to make his life hell. He had been jumped at the start of SmackDown by Vince's cronies. Then during his match with D-Von, Chris Jericho had come after him with D-Von's steel moneybox, causing D-Von to roll Hunter up for the three-count. He limped into his dressing room, holding an ice pack to his head. Evie looked up from her laptop as he slammed the door shut behind him.

  He sat down on a folding chair across from her.  "I'm gonna kill that son-of-a-bitch," he said softly.

"Which one? Jericho or Vince?" Evie asked nonchalantly.

"Both. I'm gonna kill them both." He looked at her. "Were you watching that?"

"Yeah." She stood up and set her laptop on a side table. "You're bleeding again."

He touched his forehead and felt the sticky red liquid. "Just give me a wet washcloth or paper towel."

She went into the bathroom area, wet some paper towels and brought them to him. "Here."

He took them and held them to his forehead until the bleeding stopped.

"You should put a bandage on or something," she said.

He didn't say anything, just sat there, a gleam in his eye. She knew that look. The same look he had had just before assaulting the Undertaker in St. Louis. She sighed and sat back down. Even if she said anything to him about what he might be thinking, it didn't mean he would pay attention to her. He hadn't paid much attention to her since that night he kissed her. She reached over and shut down her laptop, then shoved it back in its carry bag.

"I'll be back shortly," he said as he stood up and walked to the door.

Her eyes closed briefly, but she didn't speak. There was no point. He wouldn't listen. She just gathered up his gear and shoved it in his bag as he left the room. As soon as she finished with his bag, she grabbed hers and headed to the car. Once she had dumped the stuff in the backseat, she walked back into the arena and headed for the common area. The tag team match was underway.

  She stood there watching, waiting and wondering when Hunter was going to make his move. Just as Jericho was going for his signature move, Hunter's music started and he came running down the ramp and into the ring, sledgehammer in hand. He hit Jericho, then Angle and Edge, the referee, then Hogan.

The camera turned back to the entrance at the top of the ramp and Vince came out. He threatened to end Hunter's career if he hit him with his sledgehammer. He kept taunting Hunter as he walked to the ring and climbed up on the apron. The camera panned to Hunter, who had an enraged expression in his face. His wound had started bleeding again and was running down his face.

Don't do it. Dammit Hunter, don't do it, she thought as she watched the monitor. As he lunged for Vince, she cringed. Suddenly Jericho cracked Hunter over the head with a steel chair. Hunter turned around and Jericho hit him again. Evie gasped as Hunter fell to the mat. Jericho stood over him and raised the chair in triumph. Two referees and three EMT's appeared at ringside. One of the EMT's checked on Hogan, while the two referees checked on the other referee. The other two EMT's were checking on Hunter and Edge when Jericho left the ring.

"The hell with this," she muttered as she headed for the floor. As she pushed through the curtain, she came face to face with Vince.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. She could see Jericho looming behind him.

Evie looked him in the eye. "I'm going to check on Hunter."

Vince smirked as he stepped aside. "Not much left of him to check on."

"And when you're done sweetheart, you can check on me," Jericho suggested with a twisted grin.

"Piss off Jericho," Evie replied. "One bloody nose wasn't enough for you?" She pushed past them and walked down to ringside. Hunter was sitting up, holding his head in his hands. The EMT's were waving fingers in front of his face. As she climbed into the ring, she saw Michael Cole climb in from the other side.

"Is he okay?" she asked one of the EMT's.

"Yeah. He's fine. He may be a little out of it, but it doesn't look like he has a concussion or anything."

She squatted down next to him. "Hunter?"

"What?" He looked over at her. "What the hell are you doin' here? You're not supposed to be near the ring!"

"I'm making sure you're okay," she muttered.

"Doesn't matter! You're not supposed to be down here!" he said viciously.

She glared at him. "You're welcome."

The EMT's moved to help him up. She stood up and out of the way. A hand on her shoulder made her jump. She looked over at Michael Cole.

"Sorry," he said. "He okay?"

Evie threw up her arms in resignation. "His usual self. Big stubborn jerk that he is."

Michael chuckled. One of the EMT's motioned him over to help. They managed to get all four men out of the ring and up the ramp. Evie trailed behind Hunter. Once they got into the backstage area, the EMT's insisted that they clean and bandage Hunter's forehead even though it was only a superficial cut. He waved them away, saying he just wanted to go back to the hotel. Evie told them she would take care of it and they turned their attention to Hogan and the referee.

A few minutes later he told Evie he was ready to go. She helped him out to the car. He didn't say anything the entire ride to the hotel. She got him to his room, opened the door and followed him in. They had adjoining rooms, so she unlatched his side then went to her room to get her first aid kit and unlatch the door on her side. She found him standing at the sink, examining his cut in the mirror.

"Here, let me look at that," she said softly as she took the hydrogen peroxide wipes and a bandage out of the kit.

He turned around to face her, leaning back against the sink so she could reach it. She tore the package open and swabbed the cut with the pad. He hissed through his teeth as the liquid stung the open wound. She chuckled.

"What?" he rasped.

"You. A grown man who takes bumps on that mat night after night, who finishes a match with a torn quad, and you're whimpering over a cut," she replied with another chuckle.

"It stings," he complained. "And stop laughing at me."

A small smile remained on her lips as she finished cleaning and bandaging the cut. "I think you'll live."

"Ha ha," he retorted as he stood up.

She backed up a little to give him some room. "What are you doing?"

"I wanna take a shower. Is that okay?"

She muttered an affirmative and walked back into her own room, pushing the door to, but not latching it. The sound of the shower in the next room sent her scuttling about, getting ready for bed, while trying to ignore thoughts of Hunter in the shower.

She had just pulled on her nightshirt and had sat down on the bed to take her socks off, when a tap sounded at the adjoining door. She looked up as Hunter stepped halfway through. Her eyes grew wide when she realized he was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. His hair hung down, still wet from his shower. Drops of water glistened on his skin where he hadn't dried off yet. She realized she was staring and jerked her eyes away to look at the carpet.

He spoke up. "I just wanted to say I was sorry."

"For what?" She busied herself taking her socks off.

He leaned against the doorjamb. "For acting like an ass."

Her eyes drifted up slowly and stopped at his waist. His hand clutched at the towel, holding it together. She dropped her gaze to the floor again. "It's okay." She stood up, still holding the socks.

"No. It's not okay. I have been a bastard. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

She shifted from one foot to the other, turning the socks over in her hands. The sooner he went back to his own room, the better. "Apology accepted," she said hastily. "Goodnight then."

He straightened up. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing. Why?" she responded quickly.

"You just seem nervous all of a sudden. Is it because I'm standing here in a towel?" Her cheeks reddened again. He noticed, and a slow grin crossed his face. "C'mon Evie. It's not like you haven't seen me almost naked before."

He stepped across the threshold, still clutching the towel. The blush deepened. Inwardly he laughed. Normally she was so self-controlled. It was funny to see her like this. He was the one standing there with the towel around his waist. Judging by the way that she was blushing, one would've thought it was the other way around.

He decided to push his luck a bit. "Of course I could let you see me completely naked…" he trailed off as he loosened his grip on the towel.

She looked back at the carpet. "I don't think that's necessary," she mumbled.

"C'mon Evie. Do you know how many women would kill to be where you are right now?" he joked.

Why was he doing this? Was he insane? Ever since he had kissed her, he had hardly said much to her. Even the flirting had slowed down. Now it seemed as if he was deliberately toying with her. She wanted to slap the grin off his face. "Is there some reason why you're still standing there in a towel?" she asked.

"Is there some reason why you're strangling those socks?"

She looked down and noticed that she had twisted the socks into a knot. She fumbled to untie them; her fingers didn't want to cooperate. As she struggled with them, she saw his bare feet come into view.

"Give 'em to me," he said softly. He held out one hand to her. Without thinking she gave them to him and he tossed them to the floor. His hand lifted her chin so he could see her face.

She looked at him for a few seconds, and then averted her eyes. "Hunter, I…"

"You what?"

"Nothing." She glanced at him. "It's nothing."

"If it's nothing, then why are you wringing your hands?" He gently grasped them in his. As he did, he felt them tremble. "Am I making you nervous or something?"

"No. Why?" she said quickly. Too quickly.

"You're shaking."

Her lips pressed together as she lowered her eyes. How could one man make her feel so nervous and so excited at the same time? Memories of the kiss he gave her last week flashed through her mind. And farther back still, how his hands had felt on her skin after swimming. Her eyes lifted to his as she felt his hand touch her cheek.

"Evie?"

"What?"

He leaned down and gently kissed her. Her pulse jumped and it was all she could do not to throw her arms around him and pull him closer. Her excitement wavered as she thought about his actions after last week. She became angry with him and with herself for so willingly allowing him to kiss her again.

Pulling back, she glared at him. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.

"A kiss," he said as if he were explaining it to a child. "You do know what a kiss is don't you?"

"What makes you think you can do that to me anytime you feel like it?" she demanded.

He had the courtesy to look abashed. "I'm sorry. I thought that…"

She cut him off. "You thought what? That if I let you kiss me, I'd let you do other things as well?"

"Now wait just a minute! Where did that come from?"

She became angrier.  "You come walking in here, wearing nothing but a towel and kiss me. What am I supposed to think Hunter? That you want a bedtime story?"

He loomed over her. "Like you didn't enjoy that kiss last week!

"What makes you think I did?"

She was lying. He knew she was. There was no way she didn't like it. Not the way she'd responded. "I know you did Evie! Don't lie to me and don't lie to yourself." He grew angrier. "You just don't want to admit it!" He moved closer to her. "Do you?" He looked directly into her eyes.

"You want me to be honest with you? Okay, I'm pissed off at you! Just because I…" She was abruptly cut off.

He had pulled her to him and kissed her hard. She pushed against him to break it off, but he held her tighter. His tongue pushed into her mouth as one hand buried itself in the soft hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her head back slightly. She struggled again, but his grip tightened. The other hand meandered around her waist to cup her buttocks, pulling her against him. The heat that radiated off his skin was overwhelming. She felt her anger dissolve into a spasm of desire as his lips descended to the sensitive skin of her neck. The soft, wet kisses caused her to shudder and gasp. She pushed at him again to get him to stop, but he ignored her attempts. He lingered over her neck for a few more seconds, and then returned to her mouth. Gasping, they finally separated. They stood there in each other's embrace as their breathing calmed.

"What was that for?" she asked quietly.

"To shut you up," he joked as he pulled away.

"I mean, that's twice now." She looked at him thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Why did I kiss you?"

"Well you're confusing me. You kissed me last week and either snapped at me or ignored me and then you turn around and apologize and kiss me again. Is this going to be a recurring thing with you?" she asked.

"No."

"Then why are you doing this? Is there something to this insanity or is it just because you haven't had sex in awhile and I'm the closest thing?"

"No," he replied again.

She looked as if she was ready to slug him. He wanted to tell her why, but he still held back. Things with her had become confusing over the past month. Her openness and self-assurance, together with her feistiness, affected him in ways no one, not even Stephanie, had in a long time. It made him feel vulnerable. So much so that it almost frightened him. But he wasn't ready to tell her that. Not yet.

"Then why?" she persisted.

"I can't tell you Evie," he finally said.

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "I don't believe this."

He could hear the anger creeping back into her voice. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. Not now."

"Fine. That's just fine." She pushed him. "Get out."

He stumbled back. "What?"

"I said get out." She pushed him again. "GET OUT!"

"All right, all right. I'm going." He stepped through the doors into his own room. Before he could turn around and say one last thing, the door to her room slammed shut and he heard the latch click into place. As he stood there looking at the closed door, he heard the sound of a frustrated scream. He knocked gently on the door.

"Evie?" There was no response, so he called her name again.

"Leave me alone," was her muffled reply.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips and his forehead rested against the connecting door with a bump. Why can't you leave things alone?

After a few minutes, he removed the towel and hung it up in the bathroom, then climbed into bed. As he pulled the sheet up, he mentally berated himself. You really did it this time stupid. Hell, why are you so afraid to admit to your own self how you feel about her?

He couldn't understand why he was so reluctant to tell her. Normally he wasn't like this. Under any other circumstances, he would just go after what he wanted. Of course, after Stephanie I guess I would be a little more cautious about who I got involved with wouldn't I?

But Evie isn't Stephanie, said that little voice in the back of his head.

I know that. I just don't want to be used like that again.

You used each other, so don't make that excuse.

Yeah I guess. He turned on his side and closed his eyes.

Don't screw this one up too, the voice admonished him.

Hunter grunted. I think I already did.

In her bathroom, Evie splashed cold water on her face and then reached for a towel. She was angry and confused. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't give her an explanation for his behavior. This was crazy. One minute he couldn't stand to be near her and the next minute he was all over her. There was no denying that she wanted him. And the way he had kissed her was not making it any easier for her to keep that desire under control. She dropped the towel on the counter and walked out of the bathroom.

She turned out the light and got into bed. Maybe I should smack him again. That would knock some sense into him. She snorted. Yeah and maybe pigs can fly. She rolled over and punched up her pillows. Sometimes I really hate men…

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A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! It really helps! I'm glad you all keep coming back to read more. Next chapter will follow soon. Disco Inferno: I know. I'm such a big tease when it comes to stuff like that. Heh heh heh…