Chapter 14

"What the hell were you two arguing about?" Trish asked when she and Hunter stepped through the curtains and into the backstage area. "Before I came out there with the chair, I was watching the match back here and it was so obvious that you two were, like, yelling at each other."

"He knows everything," Hunter said miserably. "He knows about all of our little secrets. about us sneaking off, the kisses we thought we were sharing in private..." His voice trailed off.

"Seriously? Well, what are we going to do?" she asked worriedly. "Not only will this ruin us, it'll ruin my plan, and we both know how much this plan means to me."

"I don't even understand this plan of yours, Trish! I don't know a single thing about it," he said with a frown. "When are you going to fill me in on the details?"

"When the time is right," she said firmly. "But first... Hunter, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," he said with a heavy sigh. "I don't have any ideas."

"I have an idea. Why don't you...I don't know...stop?" Kane asked in a sarcastic voice as he made his way into the backstage area. "I mean, that's the most logical explanation I can make about this predicament."

"This is none of your business, Kane," Trish said haughtily.

"It is my business. Stephanie is a wonderful woman, and Chris isn't a bad guy. They're both great people," Kane said. "They don't deserve this deceit. They don't deserve it at all."

"Just stay out of it," Hunter said in a tired voice. "Because there are things at risk here, things that you can't even imagine."

"And there are things that you don't know about Trish, things that would have you running in the opposite direction every time you see this woman," Kane said cryptically, looking at Trish. "You think things are great with her, but you have no idea."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hunter asked, but Kane just shook his head and walked away. Hunter looked at Trish with one eyebrow raised. "What's he talking about?"

"Hell if I know," she lied, but she wasn't exactly sure. Kane seemed to know too much for her liking, and knowing too much information could destroy her plan. If Kane really knew everything... She would have to do something to keep his mouth shut and make sure that no one else found out...

"We're going to have to figure something out," he said in a low voice. "Because I really don't want Steph to find out what's going on with us. She'd be heartbroken..."

"We just need to figure out a way to keep Kane from talking, and I have the prefect idea already..." Her voice trailed off as she thought of the perfect way to make sure that Kane wouldn't tell... Of course, she'd have to get him alone, but after that, she was confident that he wouldn't talk...

In Stephanie's office...

"Well, their match is over," Chris said, his arm still around Stephanie's shoulders. "They'll be looking for us soon."

"Unfortunately," Stephanie said, snuggling up a little closer to him and yawning. "I'm so comfortable here. I could just go to sleep right now."

"Am I really that boring?" he joked, looking down at her.

"You're not boring, Chris. You're just, like, my favorite teddy bear, that teddy bear that I could never sleep without," she said, closing her eyes. "Didn't you have one of those when you were little?"

"Maybe," he said noncommittally. "So what are you hinting at here? That I make you feel all warm and safe?"

"Well, you do," she said with a little laugh. "I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and it's all because of you. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"And you can't sleep without me, huh?" he went on in a teasing voice.

"I never said that," she said, idly running her hand across his thigh. "You're...a great comfort to me, that's all."

"And a friend. Don't forget that," he added.

"Right. A friend," she agreed, sitting up. "So, you ready to go meet our significant others and tell them what a great job they both did out there?"

"I guess," he said, removing his arms from around her shoulders.

As soon as he removed his arms from around her shoulders, she felt this strange sense of loss. She felt...vulnerable. She didn't know why she felt that way all of a sudden. What did it mean?

"Something wrong, Steph?" he asked, looking at her with a concerned look on his face.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong," she assured him, standing up. She rubbed her hands on her thighs, trying to get the feeling back in them. "Your head seriously made my thighs numb," she informed him. Sure, he had sat up a while ago, but she still felt a bit numb.

"Sorry," he said sincerely. "Anything I can do to help you get the feeling back in them?"

"You could give me one last kiss before we leave," she suggested.

"How's that going to help you get the feeling back in your thighs?" he asked with a smirk.

"It'll give me a feeling somewhere else down there," she replied, putting her arms around him.

"Oh really? And where might that be?"

"Somewhere just below the waistline..."

He grinned at her, then pressed his lips to hers and kissed her. "Between those beautiful thighs of yours, huh?" he asked when he pulled back a minute later.

She only smiled at him. "Come on, let's go meet them..."

They walked out of her office together. He put his hands in his pockets, wanting to put an arm around her as they walked but knowing that he shouldn't. He felt good knowing that he made her feel safe and all "warm and fuzzy" inside, as she had put it. Trish never really told him things like that anymore. Hell, she barely even told him that she loved him anymore. Of course, he'd never told her that, but... It didn't matter.

"Hunter, you were great out there!" Stephanie exclaimed when she and Chris reached the place where Trish and Hunter were standing. She observed her husband, noticing that he looked a bit preoccupied. "You look kind of out there, honey. Something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Hunter said quickly, forcing himself to smile. "I'm just a little tired now. You know, fighting Kane and all, it's tiring. Very tiring."

"Aw, you poor thing," Stephanie said, deciding to push her luck and go in for a hug. She thought that maybe since he had hugged her earlier that he wouldn't mind if she hugged him now. She knew that he hadn't really touched her in six months, but maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't push her away.

"Oh, Steph, you don't really want to hug me right now. I'm really sweaty and everything," Hunter said, putting one hand up to stop her in her tracks. He glanced over and saw Trish watching the whole scene intently, and he saw Chris watching as well... But what was that look on Chris's face? Concern? Anger? It didn't matter, though. He turned back to Stephanie. "I'll meet you in your office in a few. I need to go get a shower."

"Ok," Stephanie said dejectedly, feeling like a fool. She watched her husband walk away, not bothering to press the matter any further. He had refused to hug her in front of Trish and Chris. Her own husband wouldn't hug her... She felt like an idiot for even trying.

"Chris, I need to go talk to Kane," Trish said, after watching Hunter walk away.

"Really? What for?" Chris asked absently, trying to appear interested. The truth was, he was worried about Stephanie and what she was probably feeling like right about now. Her assclown of a husband wouldn't even hug her. What was wrong with him?

"I just need to see if he's ok, you know, after the chairshot and the sledgehammer beating," Trish lied. Before he could say anything else, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you in a few," she said quickly, and then she hurried off in the direction Kane had gone in.

"Guess it's just me and you again," Chris said after a moment of quietly observing Stephanie.

"Yeah, I guess," Stephanie said in a sad voice. She turned to look at him. "Did you see that? I tried to hug him and he brushed me off!"

"I saw," he said, nodding. "And, like I've said I don't know how many times, he's a fucking idiot."

"I love that 'idiot' but he's making this relationship really hard for me," she said, putting her hand up to massage her temple. "I mean, I know relationships shouldn't just depend on physical contact or whatever but-"

"But every relationship needs a little physical contact," he finished for her. He reached out and pulled her to him, giving her a hug. "I'm here for you, though. I'm probably not the one you want right now, but I'm here."

"Thank you," she whispered, hugging him back. "I can't imagine what I would've done if you hadn't come back to my office yesterday."

"Let's not imagine," he whispered back, letting her go. He looked around, wondering if anyone had seen him and realizing that he didn't care if someone had. He just had this natural inclination to want to make her happy, to take away her fears, and to help her undo all the damage her so-called husband had done to her self-confidence...or what was left of it anyway. "Want to go grab something to eat from catering?" he asked her.

"Sure," she said, not even having to think about it. Hunter didn't seem to want to be around her, so why shouldn't she go with Chris? "Yeah, let's go," she said a little more confidently. They looked at each other and shared a smile, then headed off to the catering area together...

Kane's locker room...

Trish stood in front of Kane's locker room door, contemplating on how to go about doing this. Her plan was the most important thing to her at the moment, more important than her relationship with Hunter and definitely more important than her relationship with Chris. The fact of the matter was, she was using both of them. She didn't love Chris at all. She had cared about him once, had thought that she could grow to love him, but then she and Hunter had started hooking up and whatever chance she had of growing to love Chris had basically disappeared. Now, she was still with Chris, but that was just to keep up appearances. She stayed with him simply because he was great in bed. More importantly, everyone liked him, so they accepted her. Without him, they would scorn her, and she knew it. She also knew that she would never be able to love him...

Now Hunter was a different story. She hated to admit it, but she felt something strong for him, stronger than just plain old "like." She didn't know if it was love, though, because it was all so new to her... She knew that he loved her, and she felt strangely guilty because she knew that she was using him, but he didn't know that. He wouldn't know that until it was all over... She had been working so long and hard on this plan of hers, and she just had to go through with it. She couldn't let anything or anyone stand in her way...

With that in mind, she finally summoned up the courage to knock on Kane's door.

"Come in!" Kane called from inside. He was sitting on a steel chair with a towel around his neck, just thinking about what had happened out there in the ring. Did Hunter really not care about his own wife? Why was he so willing to cheat on such a wonderful person with Trish Stratus of all people? If he just had to cheat on his wife, why didn't he do it with someone better? Or, better yet, with no one at all? He shook his head and smiled to himself. If only Trish and Hunter knew who was sneaking into a deserted locker room earlier... They'd be so pissed! He laughed as he remembered seeing Stephanie and Chris sneak into the locker room earlier. He could only imagine what they'd been doing in there...

"Kane. Just the person I wanted to see," Trish said, reaching behind her to lock the door. "Tell me, Kane, how are you?"

"Considering the fact that I got beat down with a sledgehammer, I'm reasonably sore," Kane replied, looking up at her. "But we both know that's not the real reason you're here. You don't give a damn about my well-being. So what do you want?"

"I need you to tell me what you think you know about me and Hunter," she said, leaning against the door. "Tell me everything."

"I know more than I want to know, that's for sure," he muttered. "I've seen you two sneaking around together, kissing and doing everything else. You're not as sneaky and crafty as you think you are, believe me."

"So you know everything?"

"Everything."

She started playing with some loose strands of her blonde hair as she looked at him. "So... What do I have to do to keep your mouth shut?" she asked him in a low voice.

"You can get out," he said simply. "Get out of my locker room."

"I can't do that. Too much is riding on this," she said, sauntering over to him. She walked behind him and started giving him a massage. "Does that feel good?"

"Leave."

"I thought I told you I couldn't do that," she said, leaning down to kiss his neck. She walked around in front of him, sitting on his lap and putting her arms around him. "What do you say I give you something I know you want and you keep my little...indiscretions...to yourself?"

"You don't know what I want, but I'll tell you that what I want isn't you," he said, looking into her eyes. "Now leave."

"I want you to give it to me, Kane," she purred, right before she leaned down to kiss him. "I want you...right...now..."

"I'm not weak like Hunter. You can't seduce me," he said, pushing her away before she could kiss him. He stood up and she fell to the floor. "Do yourself a favor and get the hell out of here."

"You won't be able to push me away next time," she promised, getting up to her feet and heading for the door. "You're going to want me, Kane, you'll see."

"Sure I will," he agreed in a voice full of sarcasm, folding his arms across his chest and snickering at her. "When pigs fly and your boobs are natural."

She swore softly under her breath and slipped out of the door. Once out, she leaned against it and closed her eyes. She couldn't believe that Kane had resisted her charms. Usually, seduction never failed... "That didn't work. Now I have to try to think of something else..."

A/N: I'm working on trying to update some of my other stories as well... I have TOO many to update, and I just keep coming up with more of them! It's like the ideas just never stop! I have TWO new ones I started on, but I don't think I should post them until I finish some of the ones I already posted... Anyway, R & R! Thanks!