Jeff lay back on the couch, feeling a little worse for wear after all the drink he had consumed.
"Well, I have to hand it to you kiddo, you've certainly got a great little set-up at your disposal. Are you sure you don't mind Kylie and I using it for her training?" He asked Rhiannon, who had just fallen in a heap onto the beanbag.
"Are you kidding? I'd rather have you two using it than letting it go to waste while I'm away."
"Speaking of which," Kylie, who was sitting slumped against the couch, leaned forward with a concerned look on her face. "What are you going to tell Imogen and Kiara if they come back to visit?"
"Nothing." Rhiannon answered simply, before deciding to expand on her statement. "Imogen will more than likely find out that I'm at OVW through the grapevine anyway. And since she won't speak to me unless she happens to pass by here, that's her problem." She shrugged, the haunted expression returning to her eyes as her thoughts turned to her niece. Kylie immediately regretted having brought the subject up, but Jeff was concerned by what Rhiannon had said and wanted to know more.
"Have you heard from Kiara since they were last here?"
"Yeah, a couple of times, she's managed to sneak a few calls in while she's being "babysat" by your friend, Shannon. He's let her use his cell phone and I've sent him money for the bill. Thank you for setting that up, by the way." She smiled appreciatively at Jeff and he nodded back to her.
"But it's been four months since they were last here. Surely they haven't been on the road that long?" Kylie asked with a frown. She hadn't asked about Imogen and Kiara's absence before now because she hadn't wanted to upset her friend, but since the subject had come up she figured she might as well satisfy her curiosity.
"No, they haven't." Jeff replied shortly and Kylie, surprised by his cutting tone, turned to him with a confused look on her face. "Imogen and Kiara have been staying with my brother at his place during their time off. Not that I see them much when they're here, Matt's still avoiding me, but when I do see Kiara I try to tell her how Rhiannon's doing and take messages back and forth as much as I can."
"It must be hard for you. I'm sorry." She felt bad about having asked, but Jeff just waved it off with a laugh.
"Don't worry about it, I'm adjusting." He stared into her warm brown eyes with a smile and found himself not wanting to look away. She was beautiful, he'd noticed that immediately, but in the beginning Imogen was the only woman who had occupied his thoughts. But more and more lately he found his thoughts turning to the stunning, fiery brunette who had burst into his life without warning. He'd worried that once Rhiannon had moved to Louisville, that Kylie would disappear just as suddenly as she'd appeared. But now with the prospect of training her, he found that he was relieved that this wouldn't be the case.
"Well, I think it's time for me to hit the hay, I'm afraid that I'm not cut out for the party life anymore." Rhiannon joked as she rose, figuring that she should give the two some space to talk freely. She was disappointed to note that Kylie broke off the eye contact with Jeff and started to clear the coffee table.
"I'm right with you, Rhian. It's been a long day." She smiled, recalling the workout that Jeff had put her through earlier.
"Aw. But I'm bored." Jeff complained, hoping to rope Kylie into staying up a bit longer. But as she emerged from the kitchen she was shaking her head.
"You're just too much sometimes Jeff. Anyway, I thought we were going to start getting into intensive training tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I suppose so." He watched her disappear up the stairs with disappointment. Rhian came out of the kitchen and examined him with amusement. "What?"
"Nuthin'. Goodnight Jeff." She headed up the stairs and found Kylie sitting on Kiara's old bed, a far-away expression on her face. Rhiannon closed the door, catching Kylie's attention. "So, why'd you run away?"
"I didn't run away." Kylie sighed, lying back against the pillow. "I just didn't want him to do or say something he might regret in the morning."
"Kylie, in case you hadn't noticed, he's become absolutely entranced by you."
"Well, it took him long enough to notice me." She snapped, closing her eyes, obviously not wanting to continue the discussion.
"You can't change the past, Ky. He may have had feelings for Imogen once, but he hardly knew her. You can't blame him for being taken in by her act." Rhiannon reasoned, trying to get Kylie to see some sense.
"Well, I may like the man, but I'll always be second to him! If Imogen weren't with Jeff's brother, she'd probably be with Jeff. He wouldn't have looked twice at me in that case. No matter what I do, I cannot live up to her, she'll always be more beautiful, more charismatic..."
"Only in your mind, not Jeff's. He sees her for who she truly is now. And, he sees you. He wants you." She smiled gently at her friend who shook her head and looked away.
"He wanted her first." Rhiannon's heart sank as she realised the problem ran deeper than she had first imagined.
"I'm sorry, Ky, that you're so quick to let your own insecurities get the better of you. But, it's not my problem if you want to give up on your happiness because of it."
Since Kylie didn't reply, Rhiannon opened the door quite forcefully and moved into the hallway, only to crash right into Jeff. She closed the door quickly, hoping that Kylie hadn't seen him. The stunned expression on his face told her that he'd heard at least part of the conversation. She led him down the hallway before pushing him into the spare bedroom he was to sleep in.
"I hope you have the sense to take care of that little problem while I'm away." She told him firmly, before shutting the bedroom door and heading down to the gym; she needed to blow off some steam.
Thanks for the reviews Phoenix and Carolyn!
Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up sometime tomorrow. :o)