Chapter 11

Trish stomped angrily down the hall. She was carrying her copy of the script, and she was wearing a heavy scowl on her normally pretty face. She had waited for Chris to come to his locker room so they could talk. He had specifically said that he needed to talk to Stephanie, and then he would come meet Trish in his locker room. Well talking doesn't take that long, she thought, as she came to a stop in front of Hunter's closed locker room door. She knocked three times on the door, then waited impatiently for it to open.

Hunter was sitting in his locker room when he heard someone knocking on the door. At first, he thought it might've been Stephanie, but then he realized that Stephanie wouldn't knock on the door. She was his wife, and therefore she knew she had the right to come right in. I wonder who it is, he thought as he got up and went over to the door. He opened the door and was surprised to see Trish standing there.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking around the hallway quickly. Seeing no one else out there, he pulled her inside, then shut and locked the door. "Shouldn't you be trying to patch things up with Chris right now?"

"Believe it or not, Chris is too busy for me right now," Trish said, walking over to the couch and sitting down. "I mean, he was supposed to meet me back in his locker room after he had a 'talk' with Stephanie, but it's been about an hour since I last saw him..."

"Wait, he was talking to Steph?" Hunter asked, walking over and sitting next to her.

"He wasn't actually talking to her when I saw him. He was waiting outside of Vince's office for her," she replied. "But he told me that he would meet me in his locker room and we would talk about what he walked in on back at the hotel."

"You know, I think Stephanie probably called him or something," he said, leaning back on the couch. "It would make perfect sense, after this morning..."

"What happened this morning?"

"I came to Stephanie's office to apologize to her, and I brought her two dozen roses," he said, smiling a little. "I told her that nothing was going on between us in the hotel room, and she actually forgave me."

"So why do you think she called Chris?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, looking at her. "They shared a hotel room, and they probably stayed up all morning talking about what we could've been doing in the hotel room before she walked in. They probably jumped to all kinds of conclusions about us."

She smiled, leaning over to kiss him. Then she pulled back. "You know, I bet some of their conclusions were correct. You remember what we did after they left?"

"You mean after you slapped me for telling you how I felt?" he asked pointedly.

"Look, I thought I told you I was sorry for slapping you," she said in a tired voice. "I thought I made that up to you...all night long."

"You did," he said shortly. "But we're off the subject. I believe we were talking about Stephanie and Chris."

"Right. You were talking about why you think Stephanie called Chris," she said. "That is, if she called him. Why would she?"

"Like I said, they shared a room together, and they probably stayed up the whole time speculating about what was happening with us. I'm sure they felt pretty upset or whatever, so this morning after I proved to Steph that nothing was going on between us-"

"-although something is going on between us," she interrupted.

"Right, although something is going on between us," he agreed. "Anyway, I'm sure she felt compelled to call him so she could assure him that you're not cheating on him or whatever. That's probably why he said that he had to talk to her when you saw him earlier."

She thought about it for a minute. "Well," she said after a minute. "You do have a point there, I guess. I mean, it would make sense..."

"I know it would. I'm intuitive. I know these kinds of things," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Just like I know that I love you, and I want you to know that, too."

"I slapped you last night for saying that, and I won't hesitate to do it again," she warned him. She hated when he told her that he loved her. She didn't want to hear him say those words, because those three simple words had the ability to ruin her plan, especially if she believed them. This plan...she had worked so hard on it, and she didn't want anything to get in the way of it.

"Trish, why don't you want to hear me tell you how I feel?" he asked. "No wait, don't answer that. Just...listen. I love you, ok? So deal with it."

"Hunter, damn it!" she exclaimed angrily. She reached back, one hand ready to connect with his face, but he caught her hand and pulled her to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm kissing you," he answered, then pressed his lips to hers, kissing her softly. He lived for her kisses, he craved them. He really did love her. She was the whole reason that he hadn't been intimate with Stephanie in six whole months. He wanted to be faithful to her. It was ironic, really, but it didn't matter.

She kissed him back, and all thoughts of why Chris had wanted to talk to Stephanie flew out of her mind. It didn't matter, anyway. She knew she had her man wrapped around her pinky finger because he'd stayed with her even after he'd caught her fooling around with Hunter in the shower... So there was really nothing to worry about as far as Chris and Stephanie were concerned... She smiled against Hunter's lips before pulling him down on top of her...

In a deserted locker room...

"Are you ok?" Chris asked in a low voice. He let Stephanie rest against him while she caught her breath and floated back down to reality. He couldn't help but let a smile come across his lips as he looked at her. He never would've imagined that they would hook up with each other. After all, she was a married woman, and he wasn't exactly single himself. Still, though, he felt good knowing that he was the reason she was so...satisfied...at the moment.

"I'm better than ok," Stephanie said, kissing him lightly as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm...perfect."

"Good," he said, smiling against her lips. He pulled away a little and looked at her, brushing her hair back from her face. "I can't believe we just did that...again."

"I can't believe it, either," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "Like, you have to admit, we've never really been close..."

"Figuratively speaking, that's true," he agreed, just holding her against him. "But literally speaking, I'd have to say we've been closer than close lately."

She laughed. "Yeah, you're right," she said, lifting her head from his shoulder to look into his eyes. "I just want to thank you... I mean, Hunter hasn't touched me in six months, and to tell you the truth, I was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever want me again."

"Your husband doesn't know what he's missing. I don't get why he cheated with Trish anyway. You're so much better than her," he said truthfully.

"You mean that?" she asked, surprised.

"I don't have any reason to lie to you, Steph," he answered, smirking at her. He looked down at his watch. "Damn, it's been nearly two hours since I told Trish I'd meet her back in my locker room..."

"Yeah, Hunter's probably looking for me, too," she said, pulling away so she could get dressed again.

They both got cleaned up and got dressed, and about ten minutes later, they were headed for the door.

"Maybe I should go out first, and then you come out like two minutes after me," she suggested, placing one hand on the doorknob as she looked at him.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed, nodding. When she unlocked the door, however, he placed his hand over hers, then pulled her to him.

"I thought we were leaving," she said, looking into his eyes.

"We are, but I haven't given you a proper goodbye," he said, smiling a little. He kissed her softly, then pulled away. "If you need to feel like you're wanted... If your loser husband doesn't come to his senses sometime soon, find me and we can do this again..."

"I'll be sure to take you up on that offer," she said, looking at his lips. She leaned over and kissed him back, then pulled away. "I'll see you later... Maybe we can hang out when Hunter and Trish are out there in the ring tonight." She gave him one last lingering look, then slipped cautiously out of the room and shut the door softly behind her.

He waited for two minutes, then slipped out of the room as well, with a huge smile on his face. He walked through the halls and found his locker room, then went inside. He was surprised to find Trish sitting there, looking a little disheveled. "Hey," he said quietly, shutting the door behind him. He walked over and sat in a chair. "So what did you want to talk about again?"

"Where have you been?" Trish asked, glaring at him. "I've been waiting for you for, like, two hours!" It was a blatant lie, of course, but she was confident that he didn't know that.

"Hey, I told you that I had to talk to Stephanie," he said, scowling at her. "What, you don't believe me?"

Her look softened. "Of course I believe you. You've never given me a reason not to."

He felt guilty for a minute, but then he thought about how she had betrayed him six months before, and the guilt passed. "So... You wanted to talk..."

"Yes, about what you walked in on," she said. "I just want you to know that nothing's going on with me and him. We were only-"

"Going over the script, I know. Steph told me already," he interrupted. "It's ok. I understand that you're going to have to spend some time with him, and surprisingly, I'm ok with that."

"But you hate him," she said, in awe. "What's going on with you?"

Stephanie, he thought with a smile. He stood up. "I'm just in a really good mood... I'm going to catering to grab some food. Want something?"

"No, I'm not very hungry right now," she said, watching him.

"I'll be back in a few," he said, and then he left.

She watched him go, feeling bewildered. "Something's up with him," she said out loud. "But I can't put my finger on it..."