Chapter Forty-Four: Dave's P.O.V.

I walked into Evolution's locker room to only find Paul and Ric getting ready for their matches.

"Where's Randy?" I asked them.

"Who knows and who cares," Paul told me. "Something's up with that kid."

"Why? What's been going on?"

"Orton's got his eyes set on Keebs. He wants to try and impress her by not going out and partying every night. Why he wants to impress her is beyond me," Ric replied.

"Stacy's nice. It's not that hard to figure out," I said, trying to find my wrestling gear inside my duffel.

"But, I thought you were going with Jessie?" Paul questioned.

"I am. I just said that Stacy was a nice person. That doesn't mean I like her like that."

"Yeah, I'm sure," he mumbled, eyebrows raised. "Hey, the Rumble's coming up in a couple of weeks. Are you in it?"

"No, Jess is setting me in a storyline with Kane and we'll have a match then."

"Has she said who she wants to win it?"

I shook my head. "She's going to have to talk to the Smackdown writer. I heard her mention a couple of names though when she was on the phone with Vince."

"Really? Who?"

"Kurt Angle, Big Show, Chris Benoit."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"They're all on Smackdown. Can they not find anybody good enough to face me?"

"I guess not," I responded almost fed up with him even though I had just gotten there.

At that moment, the door burst open and Randy came in with a smile on his face.

"What are you so fucking happy about?" Paul asked him.

"Not the fact that I have to look at your ugly ape face," Randy replied. For a minute, it seemed like the old Randy was back. The loud, obnoxious, self-centered, sarcastic Randy Orton.

But then he saw me.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked me.

"Sure," I answered as we walked outside the locker room. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"About what happened for weeks ago. What I said."

"Yeah, you told me. It was a comeback."

"In a way, yes. But let me tell you WHY I said it. Not to get back at you, not to make sure I had the last word in. But because I was jealous."

"Randy Orton? Jealous of me?" I questioned. He now had my full attention. "Why's that?"

"Because I've seen how you and Jessica are and believe it or not, I want that."

"Okay, first of all, Randy, call her Jessie. She hates being called Jessica. Second, you can have what Jess and I do if and only if you stop your womanizing. Especially if you want to hook up with Stacy Keibler."

"How'd you know I liked Stacy?"

"H said something about it."

"Big shock. He's been telling me for the past two weeks that I'm stupid for liking her. She's too good for me. Just a whole bunch of bull shit. I've gotten to the point where I've stopped telling him shit."

I just nodded in reply.

"So, how are you and Jessie doing?"

"Really good. I've gotten her to totally do a 180. She's so confident in everything she does now."

"Even in what she wears. She was looking pretty hot today."

"I know. I bought her a whole new wardrobe. Everything, shoes, dresses, jeans…"

"Lingerie?" Randy questioned as I chuckled.

"No, none of that."

"Yet," he finished. "So how is she expecting to pay you back for all of that?"

"She already did."

"Oh, I see. That's why you look so tired today."

"That is why I'm tired," I replied thinking about the night before. "But that's not how she paid me back. She gave me a completely refurnished 1969 Ford Mustang. Black with white racing stripes."

"Damn. Sounds nice."

"Yeah, I know. But, enough of that. How do you plan on getting Stacy to give you a chance?"

"Well, thanks to your girlfriend, I might possibly get a storyline with her."

"Jess will make sure you do," I said, checking my watch. "Shit, I gotta finish getting ready for my match. We'll talk more later, okay?"

"Okay. Good luck, big man."

"Thanks," I replied and walked back into the locker room. It felt good to have my best friend back.