Greg and CJ walked along the sand of the barren Las Vegas desert, hand-in-hand. They had long since left the restaurant and now they were just catching up on old times.
"It really is beautiful out here, isn't it?" Greg asked after a few moments of silence. He had never been one for dead air.
CJ enjoyed the warmth of his hand, the warmth of a gentle touch, but she really just wanted to get home and go to bed. "It is. The sunset was beautiful, Greg," she smiled, stopping in her place. "But I need to get back to the hotel."
He just smiled and sat down on a nearby rock, motioning for her to come closer. She sat in his lap and looked out over the desert sand again. "Remember when it was like this all the time, baby?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Greg, we can't live in the past. Remember what else it was like back then? All the fighting, arguing, and the yelling? We are two strong-willed people and that doesn't work out," she told him, hoping to squelch that fire before it ever started.
He just tightened his grip around her. "We were younger then, Ceej. We could make it work now. You want a new start. Move here. Come to Vegas. Live with me. Work with me. Be with me," he pleaded.
But CJ just stiffened against him. "I don't want a new start dependent on anyone else, Greg. I want to know that I can do it myself."
He laughed. "You of all people should know that you have to give a little to get a little," he told her.
Staring at the sand again, she thought about his words. She didn't want to believe them, but she knew he was right. She would never be able to make it on her own. She spent too much time making it on the charity of others. She didn't even know where to start. Sometimes she felt that it would always be like that.
As she was coming to this realization, Greg began to kiss her shoulders and her neck, coordinating each kiss with the rub of her hips and down her legs. She began to wriggle uncomfortably. Hadn't she already told him that she didn't want this with him?
"Come on, Greg," she sighed.
He laughed cynically. "What?" he asked.
She stood from his lap and stared at him. "I don't wanna do this. And I certianly don't want to do it in the middle of the desert!" The thought of being with him was starting to turn her off more than it had ever turned her on in the past. She wasn't sure where her sudden burst of morality was coming from, but she knew better than to kick against it.
"CJ, come on, baby," he continued to prod. "We can get it back. Let me show you how much I miss you," he said as he started to unhook his pants.
With a horrified expression on her face, CJ's mind froze, unsure of how she was supposed to handle the situation. He was clearly expecting to get his way, and she was just as defiant, in her own mind, that he wouldn't. But he was bigger. Stronger. Faster. There was no way she was going to be able to avoid it.
------
Randy kicked the sand of the Vegas desert and cursed to himself. He could get in the ring tomorrow and be worshiped by women he would never know. But he would still feel the same when he left the arena. He would still wonder who she was and what she was doing in all the same cities he had been in. If only had had never seen her at all. If only he hadn't noticed her.
Sure, he would think about a face like that for a little while, but it would have been out of his head long before now.
He was shaken from his thoughts by rising, angry voices over the dunes. The voices were muffled, but a feeling in his gut told him to go toward them. He wasn't sure why - he wasn't the kind of guy to just interject himself into a fight he had nothing to do with. But his mind was telling him to go.
As he topped one of the dunes, he saw her. She was flailing her arms and back away from the man from the restaurant. His pants were undone, but still resting on his hips as he advanced toward her, telling her to relax, and not to make him do anything stupid.
Anger rose in Randy until his face felt hot and he couldn't think. All he could see was a vivid shade of red as he moved toward this monster who was about to rape his angel. Instinct kicked in as he ran over the dune and past her. Grabbing the man's shoulder, he tackled him to the ground.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The man tried to shrug him off, but Randy was stronger. "Who the fuck are you? Get the fuck off me!"
CJ just stared, trying to collect herself, but unable to find her legs as she collapsed to the sand. It was the kid from the restaurant, the kid from Dallas. Why was he helping her? Did he recognize her?
"Why don't you get the fuck outta here," Randy said to the man in his grasp. He was trying so hard to remember what he had learned in anger management classes. He wouldn't swing unless this motherfucker did first, but he couldn't help but pray he would try.
His prayer was answered quickly. As Greg swung his arm back to lower a crushing blow, Randy caught it over his head and twisted the arm back until the older man cringed. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
With another wrenching twist, Randy shoved Greg onto the ground. "Get the fuck outta here," he growled.
Glaring at CJ, Greg rolled his eyes. "You're not worth the fucking trouble."
CJ wiped her matted hair out of her face and tried to stand, but her legs were still shaky and weak. Randy rushed to her and steadied her with an arm. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
She stood and looked into those crystal blue eyes again. He did recognize her. He didn't say it, never tipped her off with his words, but it was hidden behind his eyes. Something unspoken passed between them. "I'm fine," she insisted. "He didn't touch me."
Because there was something powerful about his presence. Not just the strong arms that were holding her up, but the karma that she could feel flowing through him. The aura that he possessed, which she wasn't sure he was aware of.
"Do you need a ride back?" he asked, his voice softening from the animalistic, demanding tone he had used with Greg.
This guy had just "saved" her, even though there had been nothing to save her from as of yet, and she couldn't stand in the face of someone who thought she was weak. "Um, thanks," she shrugged, wiping her hand through her hair. "But I can manage." She turned away without looking back.
Unfortunately, she lost her footing and started to stumble.
"Look, I don't know what I walked into back there," Randy said, catching up to her with ease. "But it obviously wasn't good. I saw you at the hotel earlier, and I'm just offering you a ride back. You don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to," he said, and he obviously wasn't going to take "no" for an answer.
She just held her chin out and followed him back to his car, which turned out to be an impressive red Hummer. He was kinda cute. Really cute, actually. Too bad it'll never be anything.
---
"Dude, where the hell have you been?" Edge asked as Randy let himself back into his hotel room only to find his friends waiting for him.
Shaking his head, Randy sat on the couch. "Just go back to your rooms," he snapped. He wasn't trying to be rude, but he was in no mood to talk to anyone.
They left without a word and Randy ran his hands over his face. He had gotten his wish. He had held his angel. "You got what you wanted, Orton. Nothing happened! Get the fuck over it."
But when he thought about steading her in the sand, feeling her body pressed against his side, his arms still tingled. You saved her, a little voice in his head sounded. She's not your angel, man. You're hers.
He bolted upright and stared at himself in the mirror. Was that it? Had she been stuck in his brain for weeks because he was supposed to watch over her? Maybe he was her angel.
Reality crashed in on him when he realized the weight of that thought. Even if angels existed, I sure as fuck am not one.
The simple thought seemed to help steel his resolve. As soon as Joey arrived the next morning, things would go back to normal. It had to.
